ENGL-V294 REMIX: Music, Art, Culture Summer 2014
Instructor: Dr. Timothy Welsh Office Hours: Thursday 8-10pm on Google Hangout Office: Bobet 328 Email: [email protected] Class Meeting Location: ONLINE, Google+ Community Course Website: http://www.timothyjwelsh.com/courses/14mv294
Course Description:
This course will be the significance of remix as an artistic form and cultural practice. Students will discuss the aesthetic, social, and political questions raised by the remix as they explore the role it played in development of both avant-garde and pop culture throughout the 20th century.
N.B. This course counts for an Advanced Common Curriculum or a Creative Arts and Cultures elective. Please discuss which applies to your DPCL with your advisor.
Goals and Outcomes:
1. Goal: To acquire the basic vocabulary of an art (s). 3. Goal: To develop an understanding of the creative arts in society. a. Students acquire an appreciation of the importance of the creative arts. b. Students explore the role of the arts in cultures past and present. c. Students explore an artistic movement and its historical context. d. Students explore social justice, values, and responsibility in and through the arts. 4. Goal: To develop the ability to think, write, and speak critically about the arts. a. c. Students acquire an understanding of a creative art(s) within a cultural context through research and analysis.
Assignments Posts: 35% Students make six (7) posts of 200-400 words over the course of the term. Posts are due each week by Wednesday at 10pm, beginning with the first week. A post can take one of several forms. It can set up a discussion question, bring an outside example into our discussion, explicate a quotation from our reading, define an important term from the reading, or pose a theory with textual support. (Common Curriculum Outcomes A1, A3, C1, C3, C4, D3)
Discussion: 25% Students are expected to make 300 words or more of substantial comments on Posts. A substantial comment makes reference to some specific element of a preceding comment,
1 makes a new point that advances the conversation, and supports it with evidence, usually from the text. (Common Curriculum Outcomes A1, A3, A7, C1, C3, C4, D3)
Projects: 40% Students will complete a series of four projects requiring the application of course concepts. They will create a collage and reflect on the collision of images (5%), breakdown a remix into its constituent parts (10%), keep a media journal for a week and reflect on the accumulation (10%), and compose an argument using only sampled media from other sources (15%). Projects are due bi-weekly on Sundays by 10pm. (Common Curriculum Outcomes A1, A2, A3, A7, C1, C3, C4, D3)
Grading scale A = 94-100 B+ = 88-90 C+ = 78-80 D+ = 68-70 F = 0-60 A- = 91-93 B = 84-87 C = 74-77 D = 61-67 B- = 81-83 C- = 71-73
Required materials may include Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky, Rhythm Science, MIT Press, 2004 ISBN: 978-0262632874 [$26] David Shields, Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, Vintage, 2011 ISBN: 978-0307387974 [$12] Optional: Lawrence Lessig, Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, 2009 978-0143116134 [$14] *All other materials will be made available in the Google Drive shared folder.
Schedule of Readings (subject to adjustment) Week01 [5/19] > Lessig, Remix video Hopkins Guide to Digital Media, “Remix,” “Mashup”, “Sampling” Week02 [5/26] > Navas, Remix Theory, Chapter 1 Benjamin, “Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Berger, “Ways of Seeing,” episode 1
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Policies and procedures
Weekly Rhythm Each week will run roughly the same way with different activities falling on different days. Monday: The professor will post a short lecture that will outline our goals for the week and what to look for in the reading as well as a prompt for upcoming activities and projects. Tuesday: Students should work in the reading and contribute to the writing activity. Wednesday: Students submit their Post for the week. Thursday: The professor will be available for office hours, 8-10pm on Google+ Hangout. Friday: Students complete their contributions to online discussion by 10pm. Saturday: Nothing assigned, leaving time for students to work toward completing Projects or reading ahead. Sunday: Projects due by 10pm every other week.
Assignments Posts will be turned in on Google+ by 10pm on Wednesday of each week. Weekly contributions to discussion must be completed by 10pm on Friday of each week. Projects are due bi-weekly on Sundays by 10pm.
Because of the pace of summer classes, no late work can be accepted and no extensions can be granted. Please plan accordingly.
All grades will be posted to Blackboard. Blackboard, however, will not be used to calculate your scores, so please do not take its report of totals as reflective of your performance.
Contacting the Professor As this is an online course, office hours work a little differently. Google+ allows students to contact the professor via Hangouts, or instant messages. I will be available every Thursday evening from 8-10pm or by appointment on Google+ Hangout. You can also contact me anytime time I happen to be online or via email.
There is the possibility of scheduling group video chats via Hangout. I can see several possibilities here for discussion, particularly during peer-review sessions. Once we get underway we will talk about the feasibility of scheduling Hangout events.
Academic Integrity To uphold the academic integrity of this class and the Loyola community, it is incumbent on all of us to avoid academically dishonest behaviors such as cheating and plagiarism. For more information about plagiarism and how to avoid it, go to http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/. Students who are concerned that they
3 might inadvertently commit plagiarism should talk to one of the instructors, see a WAC lab tutor, or consult one of the reference librarians in Monroe Library. Students are responsible for understanding and avoiding academically dishonest behavior. In accordance with Loyola University policy, students found cheating, plagiarizing, or misrepresenting someone else’s ideas as their own will be reported to their dean and will likely receive a failing grade in the course (not just on the assignment).Obviously, the question of borrowing from another’s work is central to the concepts of this course. The key distinction, as Navas points out, is whether the sampling party attempts to obscure the original or pass off sampled material as their own. When in doubt, please contact your professor so we can avoid problems.
Academic Accommodations If you have a disability and wish to receive accommodations, please contact Disability Services at 504-865-2990. If you wish to receive test accommodations (e.g., extended test time), you will need to give the course instructor an official Accommodation Form from Disability Services. The Office of Disability Services is located in Marquette Hall 112.
In Case of Emergency At times, ordinary university operations are interrupted as a result of tropical storms, hurricanes, or other emergencies that require evacuation or suspension of on-campus activities.
To prepare for such emergencies, all students will do the following during the first week of classes: 1. Practice signing on for each course through Blackboard. 2. Provide regular and alternative e-mail address and phone contact information to each instructor. In the event of an interruption to our course due to the result of an emergency requiring an evacuation or suspension of campus activities, students will: 3. Pack textbooks, assignments, syllabi and any other needed materials for each course ad bring during an evacuation/suspension 4. Keep up with course work during the evacuation/suspension as specified on course syllabi and on-line Blackboard courses. 5. Complete any reading and/or writing assignments given by professors before emergency began. Assuming a power source is available.... 6. Log on to university Web site within 48 hours of an evacuation/suspension. 7. Monitor the main university site (www.loyno.edu) for general information. 8. Log on to each course through Blackboard or e-mail within 48 hours of an evacuation/suspension to receive further information regarding contacting course instructors for assignments, etc. 9. Complete Blackboard and/or other online assignments posted by professors (students are required to turn in assignments on time during the evacuation/suspension period and once the university campus has reopened.)
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10. Contact professors during an evacuation/suspension (or as soon as classes resume on campus) to explain any emergency circumstances that may have prevented them from completing expected work. Further information about student responsibilities in emergencies is available on the Academic Affairs web site: http://academicaffairs.loyno.edu/students-emergency- responsibilities
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