digital media production (fall 2010)

this fall, i'm teaching two classes. one of them is digital media production, or DMP. classes begin august 25, 2010.


digital media production
MWF 10:30-11:35 am
Cowell Hall 313

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanavitz 141
Office Hours: MW 9-10 am
Contact: dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Digital Media Production is a production course designed around creating, sharing, and collaborating with social media. Using tools and platforms like twitter, flickr, blogs, iPad, kiva, Creative Commons, youtube, yelp, USFPool, and Wikileaks, students will explore participatory media, digital storytelling, transmedia, co-authorship, user-generated content, and collective intelligence. Readings and discussions about digital media culture will accompany and inform our production and participation.

Learning Goals:
1. To learn how to use digital media creatively and effectively;
2. To learn how to use digital media collectively and collaboratively; and
3. To learn how to learn new digital media tools quickly and independently.

Course Texts/Costs:
o All readings are either free and online or free via Gleeson Library.
o Although you will be able to complete your assignments with a free flickr account, you are encouraged to purchase a flickr pro account for $25.
o In early October, we will be field tripping to see The Social Network in a local theater which will cost approximately $10.
o All students are required to make at least one $25 micro-loan, via kiva.org, which will be returned in full.

Calendar:
Week 1:
Wed, August 25
o Introduce ourselves, the course, and course expectations.
Fri, August 27
o Read/Watch: Clive Thompson, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, New York Times Magazine, September 5, 2008; and Ira Glass, On good taste … (Video: 5:20), This American Life, August 12, 2006.

Week 2:
Mon, August 30
Read: Steven Johnson, How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live, Time, June 5, 2009; Rachel Dry, What Would Warhol Blog? Washington Post, August 16, 2009; and Peggy Orenstein, I Tweet, Therefore I Am, New York Times Magazine, July 30, 2010.
Wed, September 1
o Read: Jennifer Woodard Maderazo, Flickr Changes Lives, Launches Photog Career, MediaShift, August 2, 2007; and Chris Colin, Nasty as they wanna be? Policing Flickr.com, SF Gate, September 29, 2008.
Fri, September 3
o Demo Day

Week 3:
Mon, September 6
o No class: Labor Day
Wed, September 8
o Read: Scott Rosenberg, Putting Everything Out There [Justin Hall], from Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters (2009); and Jason Pontius, On Blog Themes, Dwell, July 12, 2010.
Fri, September 10
o Guest panel: Shawn Calhoun (@GleesonLibrary), Thomas Listerman (@usfca), and Char Lobo Soriano (@itweetUSF).

Week 4:
Mon, September 13
o Read: Ken Auletta, Publish or Perish: Can the iPad topple the Kindle, and save the book business? The New Yorker, April 26, 2010.
Wed, September 15
o Read/Watch: Frontline/World, Uganda - A Little Goes a Long Way, PBS, October 31, 2006; and additional Kiva readings TBA.
Fri, September 17
o Demo Day

Week 5:
Mon, September 20
o Prior to class, watch The Matrix (1999) and be ready to discuss it.
Wed, September 22
o Read: Henry Jenkins, "Searching for the Oragami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling," in Convergence Culture (2006), pp. 95-134.
Fri, September 24
o Read/Watch at least one other piece of Matrix-related transmedia (including but not limited to Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, the web comics, the anime, the computer game, or the massively multiplayer online game) and be ready to share your understanding of it in class.
o Project 1 due.

Week 6:
Mon, September 27
o Student-generated readings on Creative Commons, part 1.
Wed, September 29
o Student-generated readings on Creative Commons, part 2.
Fri, October 1
o Demo Day

Week 7:
Mon, October 4
o Read/Watch: Ethan Zuckerman, Listening to global voices, Ted Talks, July, 2010; and danah boyd, Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace, Apophenia blog, June 24, 2007.
Wed, October 6
o Read: Farhad Manjoo, How Black People Use Twitter: The latest research on race and microblogging, Slate, August 10, 2010; Jessica Faye Carter, A Response to Farhad Manjoo's "How Black People Use Twitter," Jessica Faye Carter blog, August 12, 2010; and Scott Poulson-Bryant, How One Black Person Responds to "How Black People Use Twitter," Scott Topics blog, August 13, 2010.
Fri, October 8
o Field trip to see The Social Network (2010).

Week 8:
Mon, October 11
o No class: Fall Break
Wed, October 13
o Watch: Michael Wesch, An anthropological introduction to YouTube (Video: 55.33), presented at the Library of Congress, June 23, 2008.
Fri, October 15
o Demo Day

Week 9:
Mon, October 18
o Read: Kathleen Richards, Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0, East Bay Express, February 18, 2009.
Wed, October 20
o Read: Stephen Baker, Will Work for Praise: The Web's Free-Labor Economy, Business Week, December 28, 2008; Eric Karjaluoto, Is Tim Ferriss acting like an asshole? ideasonideas, August 11, 2009; and Stephanie Clifford, Ads Follow Web Users, and Get More Personal, New York Times, July 30, 2009.
Fri, October 22
o Read: Rob Walker, Handmade 2.0, New York Times Magazine, December 16, 2007.

Week 10:
Mon, October 25
o Brainstorm Know Your Digital Rights exhibit.
Wed, October 27
o Build Know Your Digital Rights exhibit.
Fri, October 29
o No class: David out of town.
o Project 2 due.

Week 11:
Mon, November 1
o Student-generated readings on music and social media, part 1.
Wed, November 3
o Student-generated readings on music and social media, part 2.
Fri, November 5
o Guest lecture: Bennett Grassano, Director of Development, Kiva.org. Readings TBA.

Week 12:
Mon, November 8
o Read: Raffi Khatchadourian, No Secrets: Julian Assange’s mission for total transparency, The New Yorker, June 7, 2010.
Wed, November 10
o Read: Jay Rosen, The Afghanistan War Logs Released by Wikileaks, the World's First Stateless News Organization, PressThink blog, July 26, 2010; also read 2-3 of the links Rosen includes in his blog post and be ready to share your understanding of them in class.
Fri, November 12
o Demo Day

Week 13:
Mon, November 15
o Read/Use/Explore: Everyone Says They Have the Best Pancakes in San Francisco, Gridskipper, October 4, 2007; James Barron, Taking a Walk Through J. D. Salinger's New York and Walking in Holden's Footsteps, New York Times, January 28, 2010; A Peek Into Netflix Queues, New York Times, January 8, 2010; Frank Jacobs, Sense of POPOS: Secret Spaces of San Francisco, Big Think blog, January 27, 2010.
Wed, November 17
o Read: Rob Reed, 10 Ways Geolocation is Changing the World, tonic, July 31, 2010; and Victor Keegan, Meet the Wikipedia of the mapping world, Guardian, February 4, 2010.
Fri, November 19
o Read/Use/Explore: Kim Severson, Neighbor, Can You Spare A Plum? New York Times, June 10, 2009; Roxanne Webber, New iPhone App Finds You Free Fruit, Chow, January 12, 2010; and Seasonal Ingredient Map, Epicurious.
Week 14:
Mon, November 22
o Read: John Berger, Ways of Seeing (1972), pp. 7-34.
Wed, November 24
o Read: Robert Harrison, "On the Lost Art of Seeing," from Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition (2008), pp. 114-124.
Fri, November 26:
o No class: Thanksgiving Break

Week 15:
Mon, November 29
o Read: Steven Johnson, Yes, People Still Read, but Now It’s Social, New York Times, June 18, 2010; Henry Jenkins, Why Heather Can Write, Technology Review, February 6, 2004; and Tracy Seeley, Slowing Down My Own Monkey Mind, Tracy Seeley's Blog, July 17, 2010.
Wed, December 1
o Read/Watch: Clay Shirky, How cognitive surplus will change the world, Ted Talks, June 2010; Nicholas Carr, Does the Internet Make You Dumber? Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2010; Adrian Higgins, We can't see the forest for the T-Mobiles, Washington Post, December 15, 2009; and The Slow Media Manifesto.
Fri, December 3
o Read/Watch: Jane McGonigal, Gaming can make a better world, Ted Talks, February 2010; and Michael S. Rosenwald, FarmVille, other online social games mean big business, and bonding, Washington Post, August 3, 2010.

Week 16:
Mon, December 6
o Read: Jaron Lanier, World Wide Mush, Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2010; and Caterina Fake, Participatory media and why I love it (and must defend it), Caterina.net blog, January 19, 2010.
Wed, December 8
o Class party
o Project 3 due.

Course Grading:
Reading quizzes - 10%
Homework assignments - 10%
Class participation (this includes student-generated reading exercises) - 20%
Demo Days - 10%
Projects (3) - 30%
Know Your Digital Rights exhibit group project - 20%

Course Rules:
1. No late work accepted.
2. If you have no new work on Demo Day, do not come to class.
3. Whenever possible, publish your work under your own name.
4. Starting Friday, August 27, no drinking out of non-reusable containers in class. Be creative with your thirst-quenching solutions.