"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.
Coding Creativity
Cindy Bishop
| Jan/19 | Tue | 01:00PM-03:00PM | E15-335 |
| Jan/20 | Wed | 01:00PM-03:00PM | E15-335 |
| Jan/27 | Wed | 01:00PM-03:00PM | E15-335 |
| Jan/28 | Thu | 01:00PM-03:00PM | E15-335 |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/18
Limited to 18 participants
Attendance: attending all sessions will be most beneficial
In today's hi-tech world, minimal coding skills should be the norm, even for those in non-tech fields. Want to create a website? Perhaps make a cool interactive video or sound installation? I can get you started. We will introduce Javascript and perhaps Processing as ways of creating interesting online content. Depending on the interest of the class, we can get more technical or less so. Everyone is welcome to attend, no prior experience is necessary.
[THIS CLASS IS NOW FULL, WITH A WAITLIST. CONTACT ACTIVITY LEADER TO BE ADDED TO WAITLIST]
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Cindy Bishop, csbishop@mit.edu
Coiling, Corking, Crochet: Simple One-Tool Handcrafts
Jeanne Wildman
| Jan/04 | Mon | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 2-103 |
| Jan/11 | Mon | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 2-103 |
| Jan/25 | Mon | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 2-103 |
Enrollment: sign-up before each session encouraged but not required
Limited to 12 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Traditional handcrafts offer many benefits even in this technological age. Working in colorful fibers and beads with simple tools allows for creative expression, tactile satisfaction and production of practical custom goods (plus there is a bit of research associating crafting with improved mental health). In this three-session series, learn basic techniques that are portable enough to take to a café or on the T. Coiling is an ancient form of basketry using materials as different as pine needles and plastic grocery bags. Corking, also called spool knitting or round knitting, is a fast way to produce cords and jewelry. Crochet can convert many types of fibers into wearable items as well as housewares. Each Monday afternoon session, which can be taken separately, will take you far enough to produce a small project; there will be some craft examples and/or history, tea and socializing along the way. Advance sign-up strongly encouraged (so that materials will be available for you).
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Jeanne Wildman, jwildman@mit.edu
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!)
Create Your Own Comic! (Artistic Ability Optional)
Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze, Ph.D, Lecturer, CMS/W
| Jan/11 | Mon | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 56-167, bring laptop |
| Jan/12 | Tue | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 56-167, bring laptop |
| Jan/13 | Wed | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 56-167, bring laptop |
| Jan/14 | Thu | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 56-167, bring laptop |
| Jan/15 | Fri | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 56-167, bring laptop |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/08
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None
Collaborate with peers to write stories, create scripts and storyboards, create comics, and publish on our class blog. We’ll discuss students’ favorite comics and graphic novels, as well as those from the broad range of genres, styles, and media currently available. We’ll discuss different theories of comic and graphic novel form, including those from the US, Asia, and Europe. Brief in-class writing assignments, story drafts, scripts, and story-boards will be published on our class blog. Students will collaborate to create comics, in genres and styles of their choice, informed by our discussions.
Please sign up via email. Include your name, MIT email address, your student status or MIT title, MIT department/section, and a sentence or two about why you're interested in the workshop.
Special Instructions: The work we do in class will be published on our class blog, but you can opt out of sharing your work online. After signing up via email, on Jan. 11 please bring your laptop and charger, your favorite comic or graphic novel (a link online is ok), and a couple of ideas for short stories - from real life or your imagination - that you’d like to create in graphic or comics form. Estimated work on comic outside of class: 1-2 hours per day on first four days.
Sponsor(s): MIT-SUTD Collaboration, Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze, E39-115AA, rtb@mit.edu
Global Game Jam 2016
Rik Eberhardt, Studio Manager, MIT Game Lab
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/29
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Register now at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/global-game-jam-2016-at-mit-tickets-19781298396
The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world's largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today’s heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games – it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity.
We open our doors on Friday, January 29th at 5pm and run until midnight that day. Our site is open Saturday, January 30th from 9am until midnight, and Sunday, January 31st from 9am until 6pm.
The Global Game Jam is a 3-day event, but our site closes at night so participants can go home and get rested for the next day. Participants should plan to attend the entire duration of the event as your team will need you to complete your game!
Participants must register to attend: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/global-game-jam-2016-at-mit-tickets-19781298396
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Game Lab
Contact: Richard Eberhardt, E15-329, 617 324-2173, REBERHAR@MIT.EDU
| Jan/29 | Fri | 05:00PM-08:00PM | 32-123 |
The jam begins with a keynote, presentations about the Jam, and reveal of the Jam topic.
Teams will be formed by 8:00pm.
| Jan/29 | Fri | 08:00PM-11:45PM | 32-124 & 32-144 |
| Jan/30 | Sat | 09:00AM-11:45PM | 32-124 & 32-144 |
| Jan/31 | Sun | 09:00AM-03:00PM | 32-124 & 32-144 |
Work days for the Jam. Participants will be working in teams to create their games.
| Jan/31 | Sun | 03:00PM-06:00PM | 32-123 |
Game Jam participants will present the work they created over the weekend and postmortem their process.
This is open to the general public - no registration is required for this session.
Individual Consultations at the Writing and Communication Center
Steven Strang
| Jan/04 | Mon | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/05 | Tue | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/06 | Wed | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/07 | Thu | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/11 | Mon | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/12 | Tue | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/13 | Wed | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/14 | Thu | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/15 | Fri | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/19 | Tue | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/20 | Wed | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/21 | Thu | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/22 | Fri | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/25 | Mon | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/26 | Tue | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/27 | Wed | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/28 | Thu | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
| Jan/29 | Fri | 09:00AM-05:00PM | E39-115, sign up online |
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: none
The professional communication experts at the Writing & Communication Center (WCC) will continue to offer free consultations and advice about oral presentations, slide design, poster presentations, and about any writing issue, including writing strategically, finding a topic, generating ideas, turning data into a story, overcoming writer's block, improving grammar, crafting effective sentences and paragraphs, organizing ideas, using evidence, & analyzing audiences. We can help with technical writing; theses in all departments; job, graduate and med school application essays; research and teaching statements; resumes; conference talks; articles for publication; book proposals and chapters; and papers for any course. We also offer help on pronunciation. The WCC is open throughout IAP. You must be registered with our online scheduler. Go to https://mit.mywconline.com to register and to schedule appointments. Open to MIT undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-docs.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Writing and Communication Center
Contact: Steven Strang, E39-115C, 617 253-4459, SMSTRANG@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
Ride or Die: Introduction to The Fast and the Furious
Sue Ding
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
The Fast and the Furious movies have earned nearly $4 billion worldwide, and each successive installment in the series has garnered additional popular and critical acclaim. We will discover which installments are the fastest and most furious, unravel the franchise's complicated continuity, and explore how the series grew into the juggernaut it is today.
Attendance at both sessions is encouraged but not required. Both connoisseurs and newbies are welcome, although please be advised that there will be some major spoilers.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Sue Ding, sue@mit.edu
| Jan/14 | Thu | 12:00PM-01:30PM | E15-335 |
This session will be an overview of the entire franchise, covering major plot, production, and aesthetic developments. We will also cover key themes and casting, marketing, and music choices.
| Jan/15 | Fri | 12:00PM-03:00PM | 3-370 |
In this session, we will watch Fast Five, universally recognized as the best film in the series. After the screening, we will discuss the film's visual and narrative style and its engagement with race, masculinity, and criminality.
Transforming the work place through serious games
Laure Dousset, Visiting student, Scot Osterweil, Creative director - Education Arcade
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/26
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None
Are you wondering how games will be used in your future workplace? Are you interested in changing the workplace through game design? This class is for you.
Through hands-on activities, you will experience how games will transform the workplace. The class will be divided in 4 sessions. Each session, we will explore games used in companies through a particular theme. Themes include:
Recruitment: How can you be more prepared for new forms of recruitment? How can games and gamelike experiences change the rules of recruitment?
Training: How can serious games, particularly simulations, affect workplace training?
Client Focused Innovation: How can you become more innovative in using games, while keeping the client's needs in mind? How will this new type of game will impact innovation in companies?
Disruptive Innovation: We'll use a creative method to be able to innovate while thinking out of box, creating new products or services with a rubik’s cube.
In every session, we will have a short presentation, an activity on the topic (testing serious games, using methods...) and a debate oriented with questions related to the topic.
The global objectives of those workshops are to make you able to evaluate serious games, have an overview of that topic and be able to evaluate their use in companies.
Sponsor(s): Game Lab, Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Laure Dousset, LDOUSSET@MIT.EDU
| Jan/05 | Tue | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 36-153 |
During this session, we will experiment with a playful assessment tool, and discuss its potential use for recruitment.
We will also explore and evaluate two outstanding recruitment games: America's Army and REVEAL. We'll end the session with a discussion on the advantages and limitations of using serious games for recruitment.
Laure Dousset - Visiting student, Scot Osterweil - Creative director - Education Arcade
| Jan/12 | Tue | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 36-153 |
Serious games first appeared in the workplace through training games and simulations: why? We'll explore that during this session, exploring different serious games from different fields.
Our objective will be to evaluate those games and be able to develop a critical point of view on them. We'll try at the end to identify the topics in which serious games could be powerful in training, imagining the future of those games
Laure Dousset - Visiting student, Scot Osterweil - Creative director - Education Arcade
| Jan/19 | Tue | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 36-153 |
During this session, we will experiment with a serious game that will lead us to innovate using technologies: Tech it! We'll use our problem solving skills in this accessible role playing game to meet a consumer need. We will also discuss the strengths of a new type of serious game: innovation games.
Laure Dousset - Visiting student, Scot Osterweil - Creative director - Education Arcade
| Jan/26 | Tue | 02:00PM-04:00PM | 36-153 |
During this session, we will use a creative method of innovation based on a game that we all know: the Rubik's Cube. We will collaboratively develop new business models trying to disrupt the market with this creative way to see innovation. As an interactive way to build business models, we will explore how far we can go with innovation games.
Laure Dousset - Visiting student, Scot Osterweil - Creative director - Education Arcade
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.
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