TCF 389 New Media
Interim 2000 - Section 001

TCF389 will introduce you to critical concepts and hands-on skills related to so-called "new media"--which, as we shall see, are mostly a reconfiguration and recontextualization of older media such as film, television, and graphic design for print publications. However, in some very important ways new media phenomena such as the World Wide Web and multimedia CD-ROMs/DVDs do modify the user's experience of text, image, and sound. TCF389 will consider these significant shifts in the reading/viewing/listening experience while remaining mindful of new media's connections with the old.

Our specific focus in this course will be Internet-related new media:  the World Wide Web and computer-mediated communication (CMC) media such as e-mail, Usenet, and instant messaging (e.g., ICQ). You will engage in actual Web production and CMC exercises, and read critical essays about Internet culture. Our objectives are (1) to make you a more alert, perhaps critical, consumer of new media products, (2) to provide the basic steps toward your own work in new media, and (3) to offer approaches for scholarly research in new media.

1. Website reviews. Each student will write two reviews (2-3 paragraphs) of Websites--evaluating the usefulness of its content, the quality of its design, its level of hipness (is it too cool, or what?) and including that Website's address. Each review will be posted to the "Web Review" forum on the class' WebCT bulletin board, which may be accessed through a Web browser. Three points each for a total of 6. More information is available online.
2. A "demonstration" Web page or a personal Web page. Each student will create a Web page that demonstrates or teaches something--e.g., how to tie a bow tie--or is his/her own personal Web page. 24 points. Due Wednesday, May 24th, 4:45 p.m. Place your site on a Web server and turn it in on a floppy disk(s) to Jeremy Butler's mailbox in the TCF office (room 484). More information is available online.
3. A final Web project. Each student will create a final Web project that will be either:
   • A critical analysis of a film or TV program
   • A creative piece (probably narrative, but not necessarily so), or
   • An informational/commercial piece for a real or fictitious entity

   This project must incorporate all of the course's lessons in Web design. 30 points. Due Friday, June 2nd, 10:00 a.m. Place your site on a Web server and turn it in on a floppy disk(s). More information is available online.

4. Exams. Exams will be given on May 25th and June 1st (Thursdays) . They will cover the readings and all in-class material (lectures, discussions, tutorials). Make-up exams will be given at the discretion of the instructor. Worth 20 points each.

TCF389 relies heavily on your participation and Interim term goes by quickly (only 15 class periods in 3 weeks!). Consistent attendance is essential for successful completion of the course. You are permitted three absences. After these three, one point will be deducted from your final score for each absence. (Maximum penalty is three points.)

If a job, jury duty, elective surgery, or etc. is going to occupy your time 10:00-1:00 M-F, we suggest enrolling in an alternative course.

• Julian Dibbell, "A Rape in Cyberspace, or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society," CyberReader (454-72) and www.levity.com/julian/bungle.html
• Jennifer Niederst, Web Design in a Nutshell (Cambridge: O'Reilly, 1999). UA bookstore. Companion Website for the book.
• Andrew Ross, "Hacking Away at the Counterculture," in Technoculture, edited by Constance Penley and Andrew Ross (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1991): 107-134. Reserve, University of Rochester, and online .
• Victor J. Vitanza, CyberReader 2/e (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1999). Companion Website for the book. UA bookstore.
• The TCF389 e-mail discussion group
  • You must subscribe to the TCF389 list by e-mailing MAISER@TCF.UA.EDU from your primary e-mail account and putting the following in the first line of the message:
    subscribe TCF389
    
    • An archive of the TCF389 group's messages is available online.
• Online periodicals: Internet Tourbus, NewsScan

• Mark Dery, "Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing and Sniping in the Empire of the Signs". Reserve and online.
• William Gibson, Neuromancer (New York: Ace, 1984). Reserve, local bookstores, and online.
• Hacker News Network: Defaced Pages Archive.
• Howard Rheingold, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier (New York: HarperCollins, 1993). Reserve and www.well.com/user/hlr/vcbook and, alternatively, a newer, HTML-ified version: www.rheingold.com/vc/book .
• Lynda Weinman, Designing Web Graphics .3 (Indianapolis : New Riders Pub. 1999). See her Website at www.lynda.com . Reserve and UA bookstore.
• E-mail publications:
  • NetSurfer Digest (but you'll need an HTML-capable e-mail client)
  • NTK ("Need To Know," a enjoyably snide and snarky British publication)
• Online resources:
  • A variety of useful tutorials, references, software and other resources may be found online.

• UA computer account on bama.ua.edu--for e-mail and a personal Webpage. Here's how to get an account.
• WebCT account. Each student will be given a WebCT account through which to access his/her grades, the TCF389 bulletin board and calender, online chat and other resources. Your personal WebCT homepage is over here.
• One MS-DOS-formatted (or IBM-formated; not Mac-formatted) Zip disk for storing your work.
• Two MS-DOS-formatted floppy disks for turning in assignments.
• Headphones.
• Optional: one CD-R disk for shareware.

Week One	Topics	Readings/Tutorials
Mon.	Introduction to Course WarGames (Badham, 1983)	Survey (select TCF389.fp5)
Tues.	Hypertext & HTML Basics HTML Layout & Tables	Basics Tutorial Table Tutorial Recommended: Gibson, ch. 1
Wed.	New Media: An Introduction Internet Structure/Culture	Vitanza, part 2, 473-476 Reference: Niederst, ch. 5-10 (except pp. 98-101, 137-144); Weinman, ch. 17 Recommended: Rheingold, chs. 4, 6
Thurs.	Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) I: E-mail, Usenet, ICQ & IRC FTP Basics Web Graphics I: Optimizing With Fireworks	NetMechanic Reference: Niederst, chs. 2-3, 14, 15; Weinman, chs. 5-6
Fri.	HTML Editors: Dreamweaver Basics Web Graphics II: Scanning for the Web	Reference: Weinman, ch. 20
Week Two
Mon.	Law, Regulation, and Copyright Web Aesthetics/Usability Web Review Due @ midnight	Vitanza, 318-350
Tues.	Cyberspace & Virtual Reality Tron, (Lisberger, 1982) excerpt; The Simpsons (1989-); The Matrix (Wachowski Brothers, 1999)	Vitanza, 1-35, 49-58 Recommended: The Simpsons homepage; Animated Homer (400k); VR samples
Wed.	A History of Information Technology Nerds 2.0., parts 1 & 3 (PBS, 1999) Demonstration Web Page Due @ 4:45 p.m.	Nerds 2.0.1 Review of Terms/Names Hobbes Internet Timeline
Thurs.	Exam 1
Fri.	Interactivity I: Web Searching, Web Scavenger Hunt Image Maps Web Graphics III: Animation With Fireworks	Image Map Tutorial Ani. Tutorials, Ani. GIF samples Reference: Niederst, pp. 98-101, ch. 18, 21; Weinman, ch. 21, 25
Week Three
Mon.	Interactivity II: HTML Forms & CGI Scripts Web Graphics IV: Transparent/Interlaced GIFs Culture Jamming: Hacking/Cracking & the Panopticon Cryptography Web Review Due @ midnight	Forms Tutorial Transp./Inter. GIF Tutorial Ross; Vitanza, part 3 Reference: Niederst, 137-144, 269-277, ch. 12; Weinman, chs. 13, 15 Recommended: Dery
Tues.	Gender Issues Graphics V: Fireworks, Continued	Vitanza, 173-183, 190-201, 210-226, 454-472 NavBar Tutorial Disjoint Rollover Tutorial Reference: Niederst, ch. 22, pp. 373-8; Weinman, ch. 22
Wed.	Hackers (Softley, 1995)	Hackers official homepage Hackers, hacked Hacker News Network
Thurs.	Exam 2
Fri.	Final Web Project Due @ 10:00 a.m. Course Evaluations	Exit Survey

Disability Access

To request disability accommodations, please contact Disabilities Services (348-4285). After initial arrangements are made with Disabilities Services, contact Jeremy Butler.

Academic Misconduct Policy

All acts of dishonesty in any work constitute academic misconduct. The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.

Computer Resources
Acceptable Use and Security Policy

Most of the work for TCF 389 will be conducted in the TCF Computer Lab. The University's Computer Resources and Acceptable Use and Security Policy defines what constitutes responsible behavior in this Lab. Violations of this policy will not be tolerated.