| Instructor: Dr Harvey Molloy |
Syllabus
The first five weeks of the course are conducted as interactive lecture and discussion sessions in either Seminar room 1 or Seminar Room 2. These classes require a computer project and a visualiser.
At week three, session one, we begin to move into the multimedia lab. From then onwards, as we begin work on the final project, class time is split between one hour lecture and discussion and one hour computer labs. Please note that additional readings may be assigned.
Unit 1: The novel.
Week 1
Session 1
- What is literature?
- Readings: Davis.
Session 2
- Reading: Tolkien: Chapters first 1/4 of FOTR. The difference between story, plot and narrative. See Landow's notes on How to read a novel.
- Class visit by Mark Bernstein, Chief scientist, Eastgate systems, Ltd.
Week 2.
Session 1
- Reading: Tolkien: Second 2/4 of FOTR.
Session 2
- Reading: Tolkien: Second 3/4 of FOTR.
Week 3.
Session 1
- Reading: Tolkien: Second 4/4 of FOTR. Basic concepts for film criticism.
- Film and adaptation. The Great Train Robbery (1903). Additional information at the Filmsite web site includes Tim Dirks' account of the film's numerous innovations.
Session 2
- HTML workshop. Cyberarts Studio.
Unit 2: From page to screen: Hypertext.
Week 4.
Session 1
Borges: The Garden of Forking Paths.
Session 2
Borges: The Aleph.
Alan Taff's Flash movie adaptation of The Aleph.
Daniel Merlin Goodbrey's highly abridged adaptation of The Aleph.
Barbara Joan Schaffer's short paper on the Aleph.
Borges: Borges and I.
Week 5
Session 1
- Robert Coover: 'The Babysitter.'
Session 2
- Landow: Hypertext 2.0
- Hypertext systems: Storyspace workshop.
- Landow's notes on Hypertext.
- Michael Joyce. 'Afternoon.' Cyberarts Studio
[Go the Literature section of the Interface Web for more on Afternoon].
- Assignment one due
.
Week 6
- Michael Joyce. 'Afternoon.'
Week 7
Session 1:
- Michael Joyce. 'Afternoon.' Cyberarts Studio.
Session 2:
- Shelley Jackson. Patchwork Girl. Cyberarts Studio.
[Go the Literature section of the Interface Web for more on Patchwork Girl].
Here is a simple guide for reading Patchwork Girl.
Recess
Week 9
- Shelley Jackson. Patchwork Girl.
Session 2
- Writing Hypertext workshop. Cyberarts Studio.
- Lars Hubrich. 'Killing me.'
Unit 3: Narratives and interactivity.
Week 10
Session 1
- What are computer games?
- Discussion of early games. Narrative games. Cyberarts studio.
- Reading: Aarseth.
- Visit by our Artist in Residence, Charles Lim. Please read "Why have a Life when you can have a SIMS?" an interview between Charles Lim and Tien
.
Session 2
- What is interactivity?
- The Sims
.
- Reading: Laurel. Computers as Theatre.
Week 11
Session 1
- Narrative, Immersion and Interactivity
- Tomb Raider to be reviewed in class.
- Reading: O'Riordan and Murray.
- Design brief due.
Session 2
- Games workshop: How should we talk about games?
- From game to film. Tomb Raider.
- Reading: Lars Hubrich. 'Killing Me'
- Reading: Ryan. What is immersion?
- Selected games to be reviewed in class.
- Project workshop.
Week 12
Session 1
- Virtual Reality. Trip to The Cave (to be confirmed).
Session 2
- Games and Criticism. Reading: Darley.
- Project Workshop
Week 13.
Session 1
- Class showing of Existenz
Session 2
- Reading: McCaffrey. (6 pages of theory.) Reading. Gibson. Extract from Neuromancer (about 25 pages of fiction).
Week 14.
Session 1
- Final presentations of class projects.
- Visit by Emeritus Professors, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, USA.
Session 2
- Conferences.
- Final project due on April 19. To be submitted on Zip, CD or floppy disk.
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