Proposal for Major Departure

Philip Boonyew Tan ’01

MIT ID: 972386792

3 Ames Street, Box 306

Cambridge, MA 02142-1305

(617) 225-6339

philip@mit.edu

The courses in Film and Media Studies (FMS) and Media Arts and Sciences (MAS) complement each other well. MAS courses focus on developing new forms of communication and digital interaction. The FMS department examines the exchange between media technologies and society. Majoring in Course 21-S allows me to study media technologies from both technical and philosophical angles.

This is an exciting opportunity for me. I am specifically interested in the digital communication of ideas and concepts. After my studies, I will return to Singapore to work for my sponsor, the National Computer Board. The knowledge and experience that I can gain from this multidisciplinary course will undoubtedly be useful in implementing Singapore’s nation-wide computerization projects. Furthermore, the plan detailed below enables me to graduate in summer 2000. Within the constraints of my sponsorship, this allows me to follow up with a two-year Master’s program of in-depth study.

The courses listed below include both technology & methods and societal impact. Looking at technology & methods, MAS.160 (Signals, Systems and Information for Media Technology) addresses computational problems in transferring and extracting digital information. 21L.708 (Technologies of Humanism: Erasmus to E-mail) is an important examination of historical and current developments in print technology and culture.

I view entertainment media as innovative means of conveying information. Many of the courses look at what makes a ‘story’. I have begun work on a self-conceived UROP project within the Media Laboratory. Palm Fiction is a series of experiments in presenting fictional stories using digital palmtop technology. This project culminates in summer 1999 as part of MAS.849 (Special Topics in Multimedia Production) and as the core of my Undergraduate Thesis (also used to fulfil the Phase II Writing Requirement).

Regarding societal impact, classes such as 21L.434 (Science Fiction) illustrated the role of media technology as a mirror for social anxieties and mind-sets. STS.065 (Identity and the Internet) is an informed analysis of digital interpersonal interaction. MAS.123 (Tools for Thought) discusses possible impacts of future inventions on human thought processes.

Though most of the courses address both societal impact and technology & methods, each course takes a different, unique approach to these issues. I thus have the opportunity to explore a wide variety of angles while remaining focused on the field of media technology.

Media is a tool, a resource, a social phenomenon and a living organism. As members of modern society, we meet media in every form and function. The knowledge gained from each department will allow me to contribute well-reasoned, alternative opinions in all my classes. More importantly, the mix of the engineer’s and the media scholar’s points of view will empower me to be a more responsible user and recipient of media.

TOTAL UNITS TOWARD DEGREE REQUIREMENT: 294

SUBTRACT UNITS USED TOWARD G.I.R.: 108

ADJUSTED TOTAL UNITS (MUST BE AT LEAST 180): 186

*As stated in the course guide, all but two HASS-D subjects may satisfy the departmental program. 21L.021 (Comedy) is not being used to satisfy the FMS criteria for seven departmental electives plus a prethesis tutorial and a thesis. 21L.021 (Comedy) satisfies the HASS-D distribution.

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Philip Boonyew Tan, Student

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Henry Jenkins, Major Advisor

Film and Media Studies

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V. Michael Bove, Undergraduate Studies

Media Arts and Sciences

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Philip S. Khoury, Dean

School of Humanities and Social Science