"Theory" and its Quotation Marks
Lilia Kilburn, Katie Arthur
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
The aim of this course is to provide an opportunity to explore (and a community with which to do so) the longstanding dialogue in the humanities commonly known as "theory," using inroads offered by certain modifiers (queer theory, feminist theory, media theory, critical race theory, affect theory and so forth). "Theory" is a word to which some people express an allergic reaction, but we posit that the transformative potential of many of these theoretical writings, and the power of the critiques they render, make them worth the occasional difficulty.
Everyone is welcome, with or without any background or experience in theory or literature! We will provide short readings for each session, and we recommend that you commit to the full program, however, you may also attend individual sessions.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Lilia Kilburn, liliak@mit.edu
| Jan/19 | Tue | 03:00PM-06:00PM | 14N-112 |
Beginning with Freud and with Deleuze and Guattari's 'Anti-Oedipus,' continuing through Hocquenghem and Butler, and resting on some contemporary feminist and trans writings, this session will offer a primer on queer theory and the recent history of theorizing desire.
| Jan/21 | Thu | 05:00PM-08:00PM | 14N-112 |
Beginning with an examination of Foucault's famous analysis of Bentham's Panopticon, one which will use Jeremy Bentham's letters to foreground that which tends to fall out of contemporary accounts of the Panopticon, this session will then shift to Foucault's Archaeology of Knowledge and to recent selections in media archaeology.
| Jan/29 | Fri | 05:30PM-08:30PM | E15 3rd floor screen |
To cap off IAP, come watch Vertigo! We'll be gathering around the big screen on the third floor of the Media Lab to watch Hitchcock's 1958 masterpiece. We'll distribute a primer of ways to read the film, and those interested can stick around for a short discussion.
Abstract and Experimental Film
Laura Ryan, Film Office
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This series will explore films that reject or challenge the narrative tradition that has been a hallmark of Hollywood film. We will investigate the use of framing, camera movements, and editing to discover how they create meaning without plot or character. Recurring themes will include time, humans and their relationship to nature, and history and memory. Attendance at all screenings is strongly encouraged but not required.
Screenings (Wednesdays)
1/6 3-7pm 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick
1/13 3-7pm Sans Soleil Chris Marker
1/20 3-7pm The Mirror Andrei Tarkovsky
1/27 3-7pm Aguirre: Wrath of God Werner Herzog
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Susan Wiedner, 14N-407, 617 258-5629, SWIEDNER@MIT.EDU
| Jan/06 | Wed | 03:00PM-07:00PM | 3-370 |
2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick (1968)
Aggressive apes, space machinery, killer A.I., and psychedelic time warps. This is Kubrick's epic space opera masterpiece.
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Laura Ryan - Film Office
| Jan/13 | Wed | 03:00PM-07:00PM | 3-370 |
Sans Soleil Chris Marker (1983)
Chris Marker takes us on a tour across 3 continents in this unique cine-essay that combines travel footage, dictated letters, and early experiments with video synthesizers.
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Laura Ryan - Film Office
| Jan/20 | Wed | 03:00PM-07:00PM | 3-370 |
The Mirror Andrei Tarkovsky (1975)
Personal and national history become deeply interwoven in this poetic dream-like journey through the time and space of rural Russia. This film is pure visual poetry at its best.
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Laura Ryan - Film Office
| Jan/27 | Wed | 03:00PM-07:00PM | 3-370 |
Aguirre: Wrath of God Werner Herzog (1972)
A heroic quest? Or a descent into madness? The story of a 16th century quest in search of El Dorado.
There will be a break in between screening and discussion. Following the screening, the discussion will run between 1 hour and 90 minutes. Not all sessions will run until 7pm.
Laura Ryan - Film Office
Comics Culture from Print to Screen
James Paradis, Lacey Lord
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/18
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This IAP activity will address formal and cultural shifts in the comics medium in North America and Europe with a particular focus on the US. The goal of this activity is to explore comics as texts and cultural artifacts in class discussions, viewings, readings, and some activities. Readings will include a mixture of academic writing and comics, including print, short film clips, and digital selections.
We will start with the early history of comics and its relationship to other media, and then move on to the current state of comics as the medium transitions from print to digital modes. In the final session, we will ask you to bring in the comics you want to discuss.
Sessions may be attended individually, but we strongly suggest that participants attend all sessions. Advance signup is required to guarantee a seat. To sign up, please email lglord@mit.edu the following information: name, MIT email address, your status or MIT title, MIT department/section, and a sentence or two about your previous experience with comics. All experience levels are welcome.
Notes:
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Lacey Lord, lglord@mit.edu
| Jan/19 | Tue | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
Early Comic History, from the The Yellow Kid to Flipbooks and Cartoons
| Jan/20 | Wed | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
Comics and Early Animation: KrazyKat, Mickey Mouse, and Company
| Jan/21 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
The Panel and the Screen, from Watchmen to Framed
| Jan/22 | Fri | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
Comics and the Senses, from Issues to iPads
| Jan/25 | Mon | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E17-122 |
Comics Appreciation Session: BYOC (Bring your own comics!)
EMBRACING THE OUTSKIRTS
Jo Ivester '77
| Jan/12 | Tue | 05:45PM-07:15PM | 3-133 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/12
Limited to 50 participants
The 1960s South was a time of turmoil, change, and struggle for equality.
In 1967, when MIT alum Jo Ivester ('77) was ten years old, her family moved from Boston to a small, all-black town in the Mississippi Delta, where her father ran a clinic, her mother taught at the local high school, and Jo was the only white student at her junior high.
Simply by being there - one of only two white families and the only Jews - they had a unique, front-row view of racism in America and were pulled into the heart of the civil rights movement.
In this half-hour talk, Jo will share anecdotes and perform readings from her new book, The Outskirts of Hope, which chronicles her family's experience.
She writes, "My story presents a moment in our history. Unfortunately, racial relations today are still an issue and we all have to do our part to make a difference."
To register: http://upop-portal.mit.edu/events/view/?id=823
Sponsor(s): Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program -UPOP
Contact: Kate Moynihan, 1-123-B, 617 253-0041, KATEJM@MIT.EDU
MIT Writers' Group
Steven Strang
| Jan/04 | Mon | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E39-335 |
| Jan/11 | Mon | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E39-335 |
| Jan/25 | Mon | 12:00PM-01:00PM | E39-335 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/03
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: none
Calling all creative writers! Want to write something creative but need some motivation or support or some thoguhtful readers? Join other MIT writers to get advice about your own writing, to be a reader of other writers' work, and/or to get inspiration to write something. Any type of creative writing is welcomed: e.g., fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, memoirs, personal essays, plays, blog entries, book reviews. We help each other get started on a creative writing project, we help each other develop ideas and style, we function as engaged and encouraging readers of each other's material. The Group includes emerging and established writers. We meet every Monday from noon-1:00 p.m. in E39-335 (the same building that hosues Rebecca's Cafe in Kendall Square). Open to MIT undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, lectuers, staff and faculty.Please note that this is not a class and not a group for technical writing or for thesis writing.
Please email <smstrang@mit.edu> to register.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Writing and Communication Center
Contact: Steven Strang, E39-115C, 617 253-4459, SMSTRANG@MIT.EDU
Mobile Reading Marathon: The Arabian Nights
Susan Wiedner, Staff, Diana Henderson, Professor of Literature
| Jan/27 | Wed | 09:30AM-11:00AM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/27 | Wed | 11:00AM-01:00PM | Lobby 10 |
| Jan/27 | Wed | 01:00PM-03:00PM | 1-236 |
| Jan/27 | Wed | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 7-338 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Scheherazade is calling you!
Or, to return from Rimsky-Korsakov to her Persian roots, Shahrazad: join the Literature community and friends as we explore her stories from The Arabian Nights during our sixth annual Mobile Reading Marathon. Not a thousand and one nights, just one special day of animated reading (of selections) out loud.
Drop by, listen, join in, or not: no threats of execution for the tongue-tied. Be among the intrepid few who stay from start to finish, or come for just a bit; all are welcome. Books and good fellowship provided. Costumes, props, and other imaginative contributions encouraged. We may even have a lunchtime excursion into the world of music….
When: Wednesday, 27 January 2015; 9:30am-5pm
Where: 14E-304 9:30-11a; Lobby 10 11a-1p; Spofford Room (1-236) 1-3p; Stella Room (7-338) 3-5p
Tweet as you participate: #ArabianNights
Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Susan Wiedner, 14N-407, 617 258-5629, SWIEDNER@MIT.EDU
Pleasures of Poetry 2016
David Thorburn, Professor of Literature
| Jan/04 | Mon | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/05 | Tue | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/06 | Wed | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/07 | Thu | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/08 | Fri | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/11 | Mon | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/12 | Tue | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/13 | Wed | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/14 | Thu | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/15 | Fri | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/19 | Tue | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/20 | Wed | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/21 | Thu | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/22 | Fri | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/25 | Mon | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/26 | Tue | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/28 | Thu | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
| Jan/29 | Fri | 01:00PM-02:00PM | 14E-304 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
This popular activity –- which aims to reach all lovers of poetry -- has been offered every IAP for the last twenty years. Each one-hour session is devoted to a single poet, usually a single poem. The goal is discussion and shared pleasure. No lectures or professorial arrogance allowed. Some participants attend every session, but many others attend only once or twice to read and discuss a favorite poet or poem. The roster of poets is always immensely diverse: from ancient Chinese masters to contemporary American poets laureate, from such famous Greats as Shakespeare, Keats, and Auden to Dr. Seuss and Bob Dylan. Discussion and collaborative close reading are the aim and ideal of each hour. A packet of all the chosen texts will be posted online (lit.mit.edu) and will be available in hardcopy from the Literature Office.
Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Susan Wiedner, 14N-407, 617 258-5629, SWIEDNER@MIT.EDU
Video Games as Media Hybrids
Michal Zmuda
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Video games are deeply grounded in a culture of technological progress. They are promoted as a new form of entertainment, after all they introduce new aesthetics and new ways of engagement. This notion often overshadows the fact that video games are hybrids, not only games but also a conglomerate of different medialities, like movies, literature, drama, radio etc...
This series will explore how video games approach old media they were built upon. We will see how they implement, interpret and refashion them. We will try to examine: how the historical and sociological context of given media is adapted by games, how the gameplay influences and reshapes those medialities, what those medialities can tell us about video game medium itself.
The series of 3 meetings will consist of lectures and discussions. Sessions may be attended individually, but it is recommended that participants attend all of them.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Michal Zmuda, mzmuda@MIT.EDU
| Jan/21 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 56-162 |
Video Games and Remediation
Introduction to Jay David Bolter's and Richard Grusin's concept of remediation. We will explore how it applies to video games.
| Jan/26 | Tue | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 56-162 |
Video Games as Interpretation of Literature
Can the concept of intertextuality be used for interpretation of video games? We are going to find out by analyzing games based on literary works.
| Jan/28 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:00PM | 56-162 |
Historical remediation
We will discuss how games create historical authenticity not only with gameplay and narration, but also with the use of different media languages.
What's Old is New: Recent Additions to our Special Collections
Stephen Skuce, Rare Books Program Manager
| Jan/22 | Fri | 10:00AM-11:00AM | 14N-118 Archives |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
This year the Institute Archives and the Lewis Music Library have added some very cool things to their special collections. Lewis Music has acquired a 15th century chant book that's got to be the biggest volume you've ever seen. For balance, they've acquired a teeny tiny miniature book to go with it. The Archives has some "new" acquisitions too: want to see a 4,000 year old cuneiform tablet? How about a second-folio copy of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar from 1632? If you prefer something more recent, we'll have a mid-20th century lab notebook from a founding member of the Center for Cancer Research. Come get an up-close look at these treasures and several others. Drop in between 10 and 11 am.
Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Stephen Skuce, 14N-118, 617 253-0654, SKUCE@MIT.EDU
Contact Information
COPYRIGHT 2016