Please bring a laptop to class if you have one. It’ll come in handy for our Wednesday labs.
All readings will be either provided for you in hard-copy (e.g., I bought you all copies of David Rees’s How to Sharpen Pencils) or posted here, on our class website. To access password-protected readings, you’ll be prompted to enter the user name <___> and password <___>. Not so secret, eh?
A few notes about the bi-weekly readings/screenings/listening exercises:
- I think we can better appreciate the complexity, relevance, and resonance of each of our weekly themes by approaching them from multiple theoretical, historical, practical, and creative directions. That’s why, for each week, I’ve put together a mini “anthology” rather than assigning a single definitive text. Yes, sometimes those reading lists might look intimidatingly long – but the weekly total number of pages hardly ever exceeds 75 (and a lot of those pages are illustrated!), which is a more-than-reasonable workload for an undergraduate student. Plus, each text on that list is there because it has the potential to add a distinctive voice to our conversation.
- That said, my selection of a particular text does not constitute an endorsement of it. Sometimes I choose texts that annoy me, or with which I disagree, for a few reasons: because they’re widely cited and I think it’d behoove you to be aware of them, because I want to allow you to exercise your own judgment, and because I’m pretty sure they’ll make for good conversation. In short: you’re not compelled to agree with everything you read!
- We will not address all the readings in our in-class discussions. Some readings are primarily factual, some are self-explanatory, some simply present interesting illustrations or case studies; we needn’t discuss these sorts of texts in-depth – but they’re still worth your time! They provide valuable nuance and color that will inform our discussions, shape your own understanding, and, ideally, inspire ideas for your own projects.
I’ll also post relevant links to my Pinboard. Check out our Arena channels, too!
OTHER RESOURCES
For assistance with coursework assigned during the semester, you are encouraged to schedule tutoring sessions at the University Learning Center (ULC). Individual appointments are offered in Writing (all levels), Math, Adobe, Computer Programming, Oral Presentations and Time Management. Sessions are interactive, with both tutor and student participating. Appointments can be scheduled on WCONLINE or you can stop by for a walk-in session. The ULC is located on the 6th floor of 66 West 12th Street. Academic and skill-building workshops are also offered. For a complete list of services, workshops, and general information, visit www.newschool.edu/learning-center.