Lives Online: CyberCultural Studies

I’ve updated the Course Calendar for the readings/assignments for April 9th through the 16th, so check that out.

For Monday April 9th, make sure you’ve read Louis Althusser’s “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses,” in the orange (second) edition of the Media and Cultural Studies. If you’ve got the first (blue) edition of the MCS, I’ve scanned the article and posted it to the WebCT page, so get it from there.

And read it. Hint. Hint.

I’ve been collecting URLs and images and video clips for the past few weeks with the intention of posting a long list of briefly-noted items that may spark your interest, imagination, and may even lead to a meditation. That list has grown so unwieldy that it has become psychically oppressive.

So I’ve decided to break it up into little, easy-to-swallow caplets, which I’ll call a “Digital Dartboard.” Think about the series this way: if you’re struggling for a meditation topic, print these out, stick them to a dartboard, and let the magic of chance indicate to you which item(s) the universe thinks you should be writing about.

I’ll be posting Digital Dartboard entries over the next week, so keep your eyes peeled. To read the first installment of the Digital Dartboard, click the link.

Read the rest of this entry »

Howdy,

I got this e-mail yesterday from a former student, so I’m passing it along now to you. And to sweeten the deal, if you upload a movie to YouTube as part of the project, I’ll give you extra credit.

In less than a year, YouTube has saturated our culture and interested an entire world in online digital media. It has opened doors to communication between different cultures and countries, allowing a free flow of content across borders.

Some of the significant impacts of YouTube have even yet to be realized.

The following is a link to an International Collaboration Challenge. In an effort to test the boundaries of online video, this project has been planned to test the immediacy of digital video, online video, and rapid communication.

Please pass this email on to interested parties in digital communication, media, or video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1kEuFsWbUc

PLEASE HELP! This video collaboration needs to be completed ASAP!

Here’s the way it works… A very simple first video has been posted. There’s a main character the camera follows and that character changes either when the camera cuts or any creative way you can think of. The starting video finishes with a guy in an elevator and the doors closing…

From here, anyone anywhere can add on. You start your movie from the inside of an elevator with the doors opening and take it from there.

Your movie should be anywhere from 15 to 45 seconds in length and can include as many character changes as possible. Post video responses to the most recent video, ideally so all that will need to be done is to put the pieces together.

The goal for this project is to reach as many countries as possible in a limited amount of time.

Be as creative as you want, but remember, time is of the essential. The deadline for submissions will be Sunday Feb. 25th. Make sure you start your movie from the latest movie posted; the best addition will be chosen and added on to the original. End your movie at the beginning of a transition, ie. on one side of a door, so anyone anywhere can pick up where you leave off!

Please message me on YouTube if you’re planning on making a movie, remember, if you take too long making a movie, the connection point may change before you have time to upload!

Leave audio out! I will be adding music at the very end and may be editing your video to fit the music!

Hi,

If you’re still having trouble accessing the WebCT page, here’s the link to Monday’s reading: click here (this link has been removed).

Greetings!

This is the blog for English 112 — Lives Online: Cybercultural Studies, a seminar I will be teaching at the University of Vermont in the Spring 2007 semester.

Check back in January for more info.