A site to explore cultures, cities, and computing at varying senses and scales. Updated by Ar Ducao, with content from classes at NYU, MIT, CUNY and more.
Please upload your Synthesis/Planning diagram to this folder. I will check it during the Timed Exercise.
News (20)
Timed Exercise (25)
Upcoming exercises will have 1 question on the reading, and 1 question to help you with progress on preparing the midterm.
The midterm-related question won’t be that intense so as to give you more thinking time…
And there won’t be a bonus question.
Midterm Planning (30)
Session #8’s Midterm Planning agenda is now under the D&T menu.
Templates: I’ll demo in this template, but I set up a doc for each of you. Please check that your doc has proper edit access. I will ONLY check these docs to grade your midterms.
Work on your midterm. We will check in during 1-on-1 sessions on Wednesday. If you haven’t already, please select
the literary work(s) you’ll research
the protected identity(s) you’ll focus on, and be able to explain such identities in relation to your positionality
the disruptive technology you’ll focus on — and using today’s assigned readings, be prepared to explain why this technology was socioeconomically disruptive
the critical theory you will use to tie everything together
Announcements Agenda Timed Exercise (25 minutes) Discussion (40 minutes) Planning for the 2250-word Midterm, due October 25 at 11:59pm. If you would like written feedback, please submit your midterm paper by October 19 at 11:59pm. Exercise: Planning/Synthesis Clouds. Prof’s example cloud is here. Start mapping out the midterm you want to write. Next…
Planning for the 2250-wordMidterm, due October 25 at 11:59pm. If you would like written feedback, please submit your midterm paper by October 19 at 11:59pm.
Don’t pick something that doesn’t involve hard science (e.g. the ghost of Beloved; silence between Sonny and his brother). This includes tech in the sci-fi novels we’ll read. Don’t make this harder than it has to be!
If you pick something very like “music” or “the city,” focus on a specific technological topic like “a piano” or “a subway car.” Don’t focus on a genre like “jazz.”
If you discuss multiple fiction authors (e.g. Morrison and Baldwin), pick a tech category that is present in both eras (e.g. wrought iron, cotton loom, etc.)
Requirement: Discuss your positionality (NYU login required; see also APA Inclusive Language Guidelines)
Timed Exercises: you can use previous exercise writing to start your draft.
Positionality: building on your background, engineering major & interests
Why use the critical literary theoretical approach?
Flexible, unstructured, can include other methodologies, doesn’t require additional data collection or structured analysis
I like the broadness of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature (NYU login required); it draws on fields outside of English lit and American lit. Please use this resource to explore and choose at least one
DIAGRAM: Create a Synthesis/Planning diagram and upload it to this folder. You will need these for Monday’s timed exercise, at which point I’ll check that you’ve uploaded your diagram. I’ll only check for completion, not quality or comprehensiveness. You can use Prof’s version as a template.
READ/LISTEN/WATCH, take notes, and be ready for in-class timed exercises & discussions on:
Class Book: “take me to the water,” the first essay from James Baldwin’s No Name in the Street.
What current technology issues come to mind from your reading? Please find a news item about a relevant technology issue, and add its URL to the 9/25 tab in D&T News Items 2024.
Start to think about the class books, identity(s), and technology(s) you would like to address in your midterm paper. We will start talking about the midterm on Wednesday.
Intro: News Items (20). If you didn’t add a technology-related news item that came to mind during your reading/listening assignment, please add it now. This is a required part of your weekly assignments.
Research & Cultural Competence Skills/Announcements (25)
Read/listen, take notes, and be ready for in-class timed exercises & discussions on:
The epigraph and Introduction of Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington, available in ePub and audio. Note that this book was written in 2006; much of its information is (sadly) still correct; but some of its terminology is no longer in keeping with the MLA and APA guidelines on inclusive language.
“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, available in epub and audiobook (NYU login required).
With the audio: start in Part 3 at 35:38 and end at Part 4 at 55:37.
What current technology issues come to mind from your reading? Please find a news item about a relevant technology issue, and add its URL to the 9/25 tab in D&T News Items 2024.
Please log into Brighspace now and note the availability of all Timed Exercise extensions. All students must be caught up by this Sunday. No more extensions without an accommodation via Student Advocacy, the Moses Center, or the office of Spiritual Life.
I’m grading exercises as they come in, but will refrain from publishing grades until everyone is caught up.
Agenda
Intro: News Items (25). If you didn’t add a technology-related news item that came to mind during your reading/listening assignment, please add it now. This is a required part of your weekly assignments.
Timed Exercise (25) in Brightspace.
If today is your first class, please complete the 09/04 exercise.
If today is your second class, please complete the 09/09 exercise.
Otherwise, you should be caught up and ready to complete the 09/18 exercise.
For the 09/18 exercise, you will refer to previous readings/listenings such as the 1619 Project, the PBS excerpts of Empire of Cotton, and the UN pamphlets on Bodily Autonomy.
Read/listen, take notes, and be ready for in-class timed exercises & discussions on:
The epigraph and Introduction of Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington, available in ePub and audio. Note that this book was written in 2006; much of its information is (sadly) still correct; but some of its terminology is no longer in keeping with the MLA and APA guidelines on inclusive language.
“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, available in epub and audiobook (NYU login required).
With the audio: start in Part 3 at 35:38 and end at Part 4 at 55:37.
What current technology issues come to mind from your reading? Please find a news item about a relevant technology issue, and add its URL to the 9/23 tab in D&T News Items 2024.
Reminder that today is the last day of Add/Drop. Be sure to review the syllabus carefully, particularly the reading assignments, workload, and grading, to make sure that this class is right for you. Last chance!
Next Monday, weather permitting: Underground Railroad walking tour. No Timed Exercise! 🙂
Agenda
Intro: News Items (25). If you didn’t add a technology-related news item that came to mind during your reading/listening assignment, please add it now. This is a required part of your weekly assignments.
Timed Exercise (25) in Brightspace
For today’s timed exercise, note that railroad travel was still a new, emerging, “disruptive” technology during the time period of Beloved.
Railroad travel relied on wrought iron, which itself relied on rapidly evolving manufacturing technologies during the first and second Industrial Revolutions.
Before you start today’s exercise, I recommend searching for instances of the word “iron” in the passages of Beloved you read for today’s exercise.
Read/listen, take notes, and be ready for in-class timed exercises & discussions on:
The remainder of Beloved Part 1 in the audiobook or ePub, up to “she murmured from the far side of the trees.” For the audiobook, this includes:
Section 5
Section 6
The first five minutes (00:05:08) of Section 7
What current technology issues come to mind from your reading? Please find a news item about a relevant technology issue, and add its URL to the 9/18 tab in D&T News Items 2024.
Last chance — please do this now! Sign up to facilitate 2 discussions during the semester. Be sure to choose a different author for each session. (If you don’t sign up, I’ll sign you up for 2 discussion slots.)
Reminder to please review the entire syllabus for the policies on grading, grading rubrics, weekly workload, and attendance to make sure that this course is right for you. The last day of the Add/Drop period is Monday, 9/16.
Agenda
Intro: News Items (25). If you didn’t add a technology-related news item that came to mind during your reading/listening assignment, please add it now!
Timed Exercise (25) in Brightspace. Please note that I evaluate your exercises with your names removed from your writing. Only after evaluating everyone’s writing do I enter grades.
Discussion (30) of last session’s assigned reading/listening
What current technology issues come to mind from your reading? Please find a news item about a relevant technology issue, and add its URL to the 9/18 tab in D&T News Items 2024.
Announcements Today’s timed exercise will ask you to discuss subtext. If you need a quick refresher as to what this is, here’s a dictionary definition! https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subtext Agenda Assignment
Intro: News Items (25). If you didn’t add a technology-related news item that came to mind during your reading/listening assignment, please add it now!
Timed Exercise (25) in Brightspace
Discussion (30) of last session’s assigned reading/listening:
What current technology issues come to mind from your reading? Please find a news item about a relevant technology issue, and add its URL to the 9/11 tab in “D&T Share-outs 2024.” Note: In the future, if a tab doesn’t yet exist for the next class, go ahead and create a new one!
Practice Reading/Listening (10): Beloved in audiobook & epub format
Note: For Beloved, I’m using the audiobook sections to divide up the reading. Each section is about 01:15:00. You can listen to the audiobook and/or reading the ePub. (And of course, you can purchase the book if you wish.)
While listening, please write down a question you’d like to ask the class.
Practice Discussions (20)
Assignment
Finish reading the syllabus to make sure its writing/reading-intensity is right for you.
Read/listen, take notes, and be ready for in-class timed exercises & discussionson:
Epigraph, Dedication, and Foreward of Beloved (only available in theePub version)
Beloved Part I, Section 1, up to “How fine and loose and free” (~1hr 15 min) in the audiobook or ePub
What current technology issues come to mind from your reading? Please find a news item about a relevant technology issue, and add its URL to the 9/9 tab in “D&T Share-outs 2024.”