Interactive Spaces: Radar Redux / SYLLABUS

IM 348: Interactive Spaces: Radar Redux /Livingston/Fall ’08
Wednesday 9am-3pm.
Brown Center MICA/ room 206
Contact: jlivingston@mica.edu
Office: MICA’s Bank Building,
113 West North Ave,
First floor, west entrance
Office hours: by appointment

Course Instructor:
Jack Livingston

Course Description:

Students will participate in the ongoing creation of a public arts and culture online publication serving the Baltimore community. The Baltimore region is home to a diverse arts community that produces work in all disciplines. Students, in conjunction with visiting professionals, will investigate the needs of the Baltimore community and define the mission of the publication and engage in all aspects of its development as well as develop an experimental network of converging media. Students will produce creative content utilizing their individual areas of expertise while working together as a professional organization. They will write articles, contribute to site design, stream performances and events, create podcasts, and learn about physical to virtual information spaces. This class will establish a solid base upon which cross-institutional collaborations may expand, and a platform for participating students to continue to work in the future.

This is a cross-institutional class offered by the Maryland Institute College of Art and Johns Hopkins University. The class will operate using an expansive group exploratory “think tank” model. A strong emphasis will be placed on the student’s collaborative participation and creative experimentation. Students with differing backgrounds in media will approach this project from different perspectives. These differences will be valued and cultivated.

Course Objective:

The goal of this course is to empower students through classroom and real-life experience to become active innovators in the field of socially engaged interactive media. RADARREDUX.net will be used as the experimental locus from which the course objectives are achieved

Course Requirements:

Students are expected to attend class regularly, to participate in class discussion and to complete assignments. They are expected to initiate discourse, conduct and share research on relevant topics and experiment in creating web-based content.

Evaluation and grades:

Grades in this course will be based on rigorous class participation, collaborative effort, regular class attendance, and quality of class assignments completed on deadline. There will not be a final exam during finals week. Final grades are subject to the following criteria:

A - Well exceeds class expectations. Highly motivated. Outstanding participation in all areas, including collaborative, creative, independent and technical aspects. Consistently produces high quality work relevant to class goals on deadline. Engages class in ways that influences and motivates others. Perfect attendance.

B - Exceeds expectations. Superior motivation and participation in all areas. Consistently produces quality work relevant to class goals on deadline. Engages class in ways that motivates others.

C - Meets expectations, average participation and engagement, turns in assignments on deadline.

D - Well below expectations. Produces below average work, problems with deadlines, participation, and attendance. Attitude problems.

F - Unsatisfactory work, attendance, and participation.


Attendance:
Two unexcused absences will lower your final course grade one full letter; three unexcused absences from class will result in failure. Two unexcused late arrivals, or early departures will be marked as the equivalent of one absence. Absence from a class is not an excuse for skipping an assignment, for not participating in a group assignment or for not posting an assignment.

Readings:

There is not a textbook for this class. Readings will either be online or handed out on hardcopy. Students will be expected to expand on readings and group discussions by researching assigned topics and sharing the results. Editorial critiques and group discussion will be the primary way information is disseminated in class.

Supplies:

External hard drive.

Note: When using a school computer at MICA or Hopkins, either in class or in the lab, all work done must be saved to either your external hard drive, CD-R, server space, flash drive, ipod, etc… at the conclusion of session. There will be many, many other students using these computers and anything saved on them will be permanently removed shortly after the conclusion of a session.

Food and Drink in the Computer Labs:

No.

Technical Assistance and Media Equipment:

Media equipment is provided in the media departments at both schools. Students should use the department of their home school only to check out equipment. Students may have to pass proficiency tests to use certain equipment. MICA’s Interactive Media Department and the JHU Digital Media Center have numerous computer work stations with the latest software installed, as well as recording and broadcast studios. Depending on the school and the room, students may have to sign up in advance and show proficiency per school requirements to use during off class hours.

Johns Hopkins’ Digital Media Center can be used by any full-time student in the JHU Schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering. The center is a non-academic facility open to students of all majors and enrolled in all courses. Students are welcome to work on both academic and non-academic projects. MICA students can use these facilities when working in collaboration with Hopkins students.

The DMC comprises several professional staff, as well as trained student staff. In addition to the director there are digital audio and digital video specialists, and a technical support specialist. Many levels of instruction are available for the students, from basic book/CD-based tutorials to staff-run demonstrations and workshops. One-on-one assistance from student lab coaches can be arranged by appointment. The lab features high-end Dell and Apple computers, scanners and tablets. Lab software enables digital video editing, creation of transitions/effects, vector graphics, web site creation, animation, photo and image manipulation, 3-D modeling and virtual drawing and painting. The digital music suite contains a state-of-the art composition, recording and editing system complete with synthesizers, keyboards, effects processing and digital recording. After participating in prerequisite training, students can check-out video cameras, light and sound kits, cables, and assorted peripherals. The center is open from noon to midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 10pm on Friday and Sat. Please check the web site http://digitalmedia.jhu.edu/ for additional information of contact the Director Joan Freedman at digitalmedia@jhu.edu

Students are urged to take full advantage of all these opportunities throughout the course.

Visiting Professionals:

Throughout the semester a variety of professionals whose expertise is relevant to the class discussion will be invited to participate, either in class, off campus or by way of recorded interviews. Students may submit names for consideration regarding visiting professionals.

Transportation:

When traveling between Johns Hopkins University and Maryland Institute College of Art the Collegetown bus offers an excellent alternative to driving and alleviates parking concerns.

http://www.baltimorecollegetown.org/asp/shuttle.asp

Academic Honesty:

In this course, you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include, plagiarism, reuse of assignments, improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition. These violations will lead to failure in the course and possible expulsion from the university. Plagiarism is defined by the MLA Handbook as “[giving] the impression that you have written or thought something that you have in fact borrowed from someone else.”

Final class date:

The final class date for MICA students is Wednesday, December 17.
The final class date for Johns Hopkins University students is Wednesday, December 1.


ADA Compliance Statement

Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact Jack Livingston/ Interactive Spaces: Radar Redux Instructor privately to discuss specific needs. Please contact the Learning Resource Center at 410-225-2416, in Bunting 458, to establish eligibility and coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information please refer to: http://www.mica.edu/learningresourcecenter/

Health and Safety Compliance
From the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS):

The Office works to provide EHS support for all member’s of the MICA community. The primary goal of the Office is to be proactive in establishing a culture of safety in which each member of the community shares ownership responsibility that allows each person to be involved in maintaining a healthy work and studying environment. EHS uses several methods to achieve this objective.

First, the EHS office looks at the totality of the EHS requirements by combining campus needs with state and federal requirements and clearly communicating the shared policies and procedures. Second, EHS identifies training needs and develops guidelines for the use of equipment, material and procedures. Third, we ensure compliance with policies through evaluations, inspections, and committees.


It is the responsibility of faculty and students to understand health and safety policies relevant to their individual activities and to review MICA's Emergency Action Plan, as well as to participate in training, drills, etc. It is also each faculty member's responsibility to coordinate with the EHS Office to ensure that all risks associated with their class activities are identified and to assure that their respective classroom procedures mirror the EHS and Academic Department guidelines. Each of the Academic Department's also publish EHS procedures and policies such as a dress code, the use of personal protective equipment, fire safety, training, and how to properly dispose of chemical waste. Each of these policies and procedures must be followed by all students and faculty. Most importantly, it is the responsibility of the faculty to review, test, and assess each student's awareness of basic safety procedures, such as evacuation routes, use of chemicals, fire prevention, and all other guidelines posted by the Environmental Health and Safety Office, (e.g., smoking policy, independent studio policies, pet policy, disposing of hazardous and chemical waste, etc).


To become a member of the Faculty EHS Committee or for any questions relating to EHS, please contact Denelle Bowser, EHS Manager, at dbowser@mica.edu or by calling 410.462.7593. You can also visit the department online at www.mica.edu/ehs