Tuesday, August 31, 2010

flickr assignment

flickr assignment for digital media production.

1. take some time walking around campus and/or its immediate surroundings. find a place (or places) that has meaning for you - somewhere you find beautiful or miserable, inspiring or daunting, a place that makes your mind soar or makes your heart go boom boom boom. or just find a place you think is cool.

2. take some photographs of this place (or places). before you snap a picture, put some thought into what you are trying to capture. take as many photographs as you want.

3. if you do not already have a flickr account, create one. if you have an interest in photography, seriously consider opening a pro account ($25/year). if not, sign up for a free account.

4. upload 3-5 of your favorite campus photographs from your camera or phone to flickr. make sure you title each photograph.

5. put your photographs into a flickr set. be sure to title your flickr set.

6. once finished - and no later than 9 am on friday, september 3rd - tweet about it. include a link to your flickr set so that your classmates and people who follow you on twitter can see your work.

7. in class on friday, be prepared to demo your work.


rules:

1. follow all directions.

2. give yourself some time with this assignment. flickr is not overly difficult but it's not overly simple.

3. keep in mind that the goal of this assignment is not to take the greatest photograph ever of USF or san francisco - you have a whole semester to accomplish that! instead, the goal of this assignment to get you up and running on flickr.

4. if you have not completed the assignment by friday, do not come to class.

5. finally, if this assignment isn't fun, you're doing something wrong.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

twitter assignment

twitter assignment for digital media production.

1. if you have not yet joined twitter, join twitter.

2. create a profile. in either your user name or bio (or both), use your real name.

3. make your profile public. if you already have a twitter account that is private and wish to keep it that way, create a new account for this class.

4. find and follow all members (students and professor) of our class.

5. search for and follow all people whose work (writings, video, web) is assigned each week. if after a week you find their tweets less than amusing, by all means unfollow them.

6. post at least one tweet!

7. all of this must be complete by midnight on wednesday thursday.

8. please get into the habit of checking twitter at least once a day.

Monday, August 23, 2010

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.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

community garden outreach (fall 2010)

i'm teaching two classes this fall. one of them is community garden outreach which i'm co-teaching with melinda stone. classes begin august 25, 2010.


Community Garden Outreach
Environmental Studies 145
Wednesdays 11:45 am - 3:25 pm
Hayes Healy Formal Lounge

Professor David Silver
Office: Kalmanovitz 141
Office Hours: Mon and Wed 9 – 10 am & by appointment
Contact: dmsilver [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu

Professor Melinda Stone
Office: Kalmanovitz 120
Office Hours: Tues 10 am – noon & by appointment
Contact: stone [ at ] usfca [ dot ] edu / 422-5755

Course Description:
Community Garden Outreach introduces students to environmental, cultural, social, political, and philosophical issues that circulate through and around food production, preparation, preservation, and distribution. Through readings, films, and class discussions, students will learn about sustainable and unsustainable systems of food production. Through field trips, homestead workshops, and an on-campus farmstand, students will engaged directly with various food production, preparation, preservation, and distribution practices. This service learning course is offered in tandem with Justin Valone’s Urban Ag I and both are part of USF’s Garden Project living learning community.

Learning Goals:
1. Discuss some of the key contemporary issues revolving around food and food production;
2. Develop practical skills in preparing, preserving, and distributing food;
3. Design, implement, and manage the campus farmstand;
4. Create and distribute farmstand recipes that engage and educate the campus community; and
5. Demonstrate effective and creative collaboration.

Book:
Michael Pollan’s Second Nature: A Gardener's Education, 1991.

Course Calendar:
August 25:
In class we will introduce ourselves, the course, and course expectations. At the end of class, we will field trip to the Upper Haight Farmers Market. Your homework, in addition to your weekly reflection, is to visit the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on either Thursday, August 26 or Saturday, August 28.

September 1:
Discussion about farmers markets and our farmstand. Class guests will include a few past Garden Project students who will share their experiences with running farmstand. Class will also include a visit from Sarah Klein, who will help us assess our kitchen and garden. Keep in mind: On Thursday, September 2, we will have our 1st campus farmstand!

September 8:
Prior to class, read Mollie Katzen's "Useful Tools," from The New Moosewood Cookbook, pp. xvi- xvii; and Joan Dye Gussow, “Is It Worth It?” from This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader, pp. 200-214. Full kitchen/cooking day with Sarah Klein. At the end of class, be ready to commit to particular tasks for this semester's farmstand.

September 15:
Prior to class, watch Food, Inc., which we will discuss in class. We will end class with a discussion and early assessment of our farmstand.

September 22:
Prior to class, read Michael Pollan’s “Introduction” & “Two Gardens,” pp. 1-34, which we will discuss in class.

September 29:
Prior to class, read Joseph Radabaugh's "A History of Solar Cooking," "Designing & Building Your Own Solar Cooker," and "Building the SunStar," from Heaven's Flame: A Guide to Solar Cookers, pp. 1-4, 71-110. Homestead workshop: Solar Ovens and Sour Dough Crackers.

October 6:
Prior to class, read Molly Katzen's “An Illustrated Guide to the Baking of Yeast Bread,” from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, pp. 86-95; Mark Bittman's Making No-Knead Bread (Video – 4:58), New York Times, December 29, 2006; and Brother Rick Curry, S.J., “Making Bread,” from The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, pp. 11-21. Homestead workshop: Baking Bread.

October 13:
We will not have our regular Wednesday class this week in preparation for our field trip to Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC), on Friday and Saturday, October 15-16.

October 20:
Prior to class, read Kim Severson's “Neighbor, Can You Spare A Plum?” New York Times, June 10, 2009; Fallen Fruit, “Take Back the Fruit: Public Space and Community Activism,” from Food, edited by John Knechtel, pp. 94-103; Roxanne Webber's 10 Ways to Barter for Food, Chow, August 6, 2009; and Pollan’s “The Harvest,” pp. 137-149. Homestead workshop: Green Media.

October 27:
Prior to class, read Pollan's “Compost and Its Moral Imperatives,” pp. 66-75. Homestead workshop: Canning.

November 3:
Prior to class, watch Chet Bentley's Elixir of Life, from How-to Homestead (2010); and David Owens, Brittany Rowles and Reece Snyder's Jerusalem Artichokes, from How-to Homestead (2009). Homestead workshop: Gleaning & Preserving.

November 10:
Prior to class, watch Ruth Stout’s Garden (23 minutes); Close to Nature Garden (24 minutes); and Garden Song (28 minutes). Be ready to discuss the three films in class.

November 17:
Prior to class, read Pollan's “Weeds Are Us,” pp. 98-116. (Important: Field trip to GFE has been postponed until spring semester) Field trip to Garden for the Environment.

November 24:
No class: Thanksgiving

December 1:
Prior to class, watch Dirt! which we will discuss in class.

December 8:
Wrap up first semester and prepare for Vision Day, Thursday, December 9.

Grading:

o Weekly 1-page reflection papers - 25%
o Classroom, field trip, and workshop participation - 25%
o Farmstand participation - 25%
o Creating and distributing farmstand recipes (Students enrolled in 2 units will be required to create – either individually or collectively – 2 farmstand recipes; students enrolled in 4 units will be required to create 4.) - 25%

Please note: Students enrolled in 2 units will be expected to work at least 2 hours a week towards our campus farmstand; students enrolled in 4 units will be expected to work at least 4 hours a week towards our campus farmstand.

Course Rules:
1. Starting September 1, no drinking out of non-reusable containers in class and during farmstand. Be creative with your thirst-quenching solutions.
2. In class, on field trips, and during farmstand, try your best to listen to and learn from everyone.
3. No late work accepted.