Description

> Syllabus

Assignments

Class Blogs

Instructor:
Anastasia Salter
anastasia.salter@ubalt.edu
Office Hours:
12:30-1:30 Thursdays and by appointment

Syllabus

Readings are listed on the date they will be discussed in class.

Week 1 - 9/4 | Introduction and Course Overview

Week 2 - 9/11 | Explaining Cyberpunk

Readings:

• Philip K. Dick — Do Androids Dream (First half)
• Phillip K. Dick — http://www.philipkdick.com/new_exegesis.html
• ELIZA: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/if/canon/eliza.htm

Week 3 - 9/18 | In Class Film and Discussion: Blade Runner

Readings:

• Philip K. Dick — Do Androids Dream (To end)
• Bruce Sterling — Introduction to Mirrorshades

Due: Journal Entry #1—In a short (minimum 2 pages) paper, consider the question: what is a Cyborg? Answer this question using any perspective or material you chose. Examples to start with include Phillip K. Dick's androids in Blade Runner, the Terminator, Ghost in the Shell, and any others you are familiar with from the examples in class and your own experience. You can chose to consider only hypothetical Cyborgs of film and other media, or look at some of the "real" developments in cybernetics today. Are you threatened by the possibility of a future that includes Cyborgs, or excited by it? Would you embrace computer technology being used to supplement or replace your own physical body? Do you believe such a future might come to pass-or are we already there?

Week 4 - 9/25 | William Gibson

In Class Film and Discussion: Johnny Mnemonic
Readings:

• William Gibson — The Gernsback Continuum
• William Gibson — http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/johnny_mnemonic/
• William Gibson — Rolling Stone Interview
• Bruce Sterling and William Gibson — Red Star, Winter Orbit
• **Begin reading ahead — Diamond Age

Due: Journal Entry #2: In a short (minimum 2 pages) paper, consider the ideas presented in William Gibson's short stories and cyberpunk as a whole. Examine William Gibson's biography at http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/and research Gibson and cyberpunk on the World Wide Web. Consider Sterling's definitions of cyberpunk in his introduction to Mirrorshades. In William Gibson's stories, different potential future relationships with the real versus the virtual are explored. Choose one of these stories and analyze it with close attention to the text itself. How does it fit into the cyberpunk genera? What is your reaction to the ideas presented? Do they seem fearful for the future, or optimistic about the possibilities technology presents'and do you agree?

Week 5 - 10/2 | Flavors of Cyberpunk

Readings:

• Selected Stories from Mirrorshades
• **Continue reading ahead — Diamond Age

Due: Journal Entry #3

Week 6 - 10/9 | Virtual Identity, Virtual Learning

Readings:

• Neal Stephenson — Diamond Age (First half)

Due: Journal Entry #4

Week 7 - 10/16 | Diamond Age and Neal Stephenson

Readings:

• Neal Stephenson — Diamond Age (Second half)

Due: Journal Entry #5

Week 8 - 10/23 | Midterm Exam!

In Class Film and Discussion: The Matrix

Readings:

• **Read ahead — I, Avatar and Halting State

Due: Journal Entry #6

Week 9 - 10/30 | Self in the Digital World

Readings:

• Mark Meadows — I, Avatar
• Cyborg Manifesto — http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Haraway/CyborgManifesto.html

Due: Journal Entry #7

Week 10 - 11/6 | Post Cyberpunk

Readings:

• Charles Stross — Halting State (First half)

Due: Journal Entry #8

Week 11 - 11/13 | Halting State

Readings:

• Charles Stross — Halting State (To end)

Due: Journal Entry #9

Week 12 - 11/20 | Near Future and Current Influence

Readings:

• Cory Doctorow — Little Brother (To end)

Due: Journal Entry #10

Week 13 - 11/27 | No Class — Thanksgiving

Week 14 - 12/4 | Post-post Cyberpunk?

Readings:

• Cory Doctorow's Blog — http://craphound.com/
• Lawrence Lessig's Blog — http://www.lessig.org/blog/
• Bruce Sterling's Blog — http://blog.wired.com/sterling/

Week 15 - 12/11 | Due: Final Project!