 TEACHING
Media Archaeology
Profs. Galloway & Kafka
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E58.2134, Spring 2008
Time: Wednesdays 4:55-7:05pm
Location: Conference Room, 239 Greene St, 7th Floor
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SYLLABUS
Overview
Over the last decade or so, scholars in several disciplines have
embarked on a series of media-archaeological excavations, sifting
through the layers of early and obsolete practices and technologies of
communication. The archaeological metaphor evokes both the desire to
recover material traces of the past and the imperative to situate those
traces in their social, cultural, and political contexts--while always
watching our steps. This graduate seminar will examine some of the most
important contributions to the field of media archaeology.
The course follows a research studio format in which students undertake
archaeological projects of their own in the area of forgotten, obsolete,
or otherwise "dead" media technologies. This might include papyrus,
Athanasius Kircher's seventeenth-century magic lantern, or the common
slide projector, discontinued by Kodak in 2004. Our goal is to introduce
students to the skills and resources necessary for producing rigorous
research on such obsolete and obscure media. It will include an exposure
to scholarship in media archaeology; an intensive introduction to
research methods; instruction on the localization and utilization of
word, image, and sound archives; and an emphasis on restoring media
artifacts to their proper social and cultural context. The course stems
from the premise that media archaeology is best undertaken, like any
archaeological project, collaboratively. Hence the course follows a
research studio model commonly used in disciplines such as architecture
or design.
Class Format
The central focus of this course will be the excavation of textual,
visual, and sonic materials and their arrangement into a series of "dead
media" dossiers on specific topics. Students will be required to work in
small groups as well as individually. Each topic is pursued over a
two-week period. Upon completion of one topic a new topic is selected
and the cycle repeats itself. The dossiers are published online using
Wiki software.
Classroom time consists of student groups presenting their research
findings for the week, followed by criticism and feedback from the
instructors and other students. Since the weekly course requirements are
relatively demanding, the course does not have any additional exams or
papers. Over the course of the semester a collection of research
dossiers will accumulate based on the students' work. These will remain
online as public documents, accessible both to other students as well as
the general public.
SCHEDULE
January 23—Course Introduction
PART I—THEORY AND CONTEXT
January 30—Media as World Formation
- Artifacts: Printing press; Movable type; Composing stick.
- Reading:
- Friedrich Kittler, "The History of Communication Media," http://www.hydra.umn.edu/kittler/comms.html.
- Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" (PDF).
- Martin Heidegger, "The Age of the World Picture" (PDF).
- Suggestions for Further Reading:
- Bernard Stiegler, Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998).
- Samuel Weber, Mass Mediauras: Form, Technics, Media (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996).
February 6—Writing, Archives, Discourse
- Artifacts: Mystic Writing Pad.
- Reading:
- Sigmund Freud, "A Note upon the 'Mystic Writing Pad'" (PDF).
- Jacques Derrida, "Freud and the Scene of Writing" (PDF).
- Michel Foucault, "The Discourse on Language" (PDF).
- Suggestions for Further Reading:
- Jacques Derrida, Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998).
- Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge (New York: Pantheon, 1972).
February 13—Matter and Form, Or "Why Do Typewriters Go 'Click'"
- Artifacts: Typewriter; Stenotype.
- Reading:
- Vilém Flusser, The Shape of Things: A Philosophy of Design (London: Reaktion, 1999).
- Suggestions for Further Reading:
- ADILKNO, Media Archive (New York: Autonomedia, 1998).
PART II—MEDIA ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRACTICE
February 20—Nineteenth-century Optical Toys
- Artifacts: Camera obscura; Camera lucida; Magic Lantern; Stereoscope.
- Reading:
- Jonathan Crary, Techniques of the Observer: On Vision and Modernity in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990).
- Suggestions for Further Reading:
- Gitelman and Pingree, Eds. New Media, 1740-1915 (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003).
February 27—Seriality and Inscription
- Artifact: Piano Roll.
- Reading:
- Lisa Gitelman, Scripts, Grooves, and Writing Machines: Representing Technology in the Edison Era (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000).
- Suggestions for Further Reading:
- Siegfried Zielinski, Deep Time of the Media: Toward an Archaeology of Hearing and Seeing by Technical Means (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006).
March 5—1st student crit
March 12—Sound
- Artifacts: Wax cylinder; Phonograph.
- Reading:
- Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002).
- Suggestions for Further Reading:
- Barbara Stafford and Frances Terpak, Devices of Wonder: From the World in a Box to Images on a Screen (Los Angeles: Getty, 2001).
March 19 spring break, no class
March 26—2nd student crit
April 2—Do Media "Determine Our Situation"?
- Artifact: Tax Forms.
- Reading:
- Friedrich Kittler, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter (Palo Alto, CA: Sanford University Press, 1999).
- Suggestions for Further Reading:
- Eva Horn, editor, "New German Media Theory," Grey Room 29 (Fall 2007).
April 9—3rd student crit
April 16—"The Worst Neighborhoods of the Real"
- Artifact: Telephone; Switchboard.
- Reading:
- Avital Ronell, The Telephone Book: Technology, Schizophrenia, Electric Speech (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1989).
April 23—4th student crit
April 30—Course conclusion
REQUIRED BOOKS
Jonathan Crary, Techniques of the Observer: On Vision and Modernity in
the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990).
Vilém Flusser, The Shape of Things: A Philosophy of Design (London:
Reaktion, 1999).
Lisa Gitelman, Scripts, Grooves, and Writing Machines: Representing
Technology in the Edison Era (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press,
2000).
Friedrich Kittler, Gramophone, Film, Typewriter (Palo Alto, CA: Sanford
University Press, 1999).
Avital Ronell, The Telephone Book: Technology, Schizophrenia, Electric
Speech (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1989).
Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound
Reproduction (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002).
REQUIREMENTS
All students are required to attend class and complete all assigned
reading. Four different dossiers on a specific piece of dead media are
required. Two dossiers will be drafted collaboratively in small student
groups; two will be solo. Each dossier will be presented orally to the
class and will receive criticism from the instructors and from other
students. Each dossier must be historical and/or critical in nature.
Dossiers may include textual, sonic, or visual material. Each dossier
must be authored in Wiki software, and therefore will be subject to
public viewing and possible revision.
GRADE FORMULA
Dead media dossier #1: %20
Dead media dossier #2: %20
Dead media dossier #3: %20
Dead media dossier #4: %20
Class participation: %20
GRADING RUBRIC
A — Excellent. Student exhibits exemplary creativity through historical
research and critical analysis. Research and writing is lucid and
engaging with zero mistakes.
B — Good. References to the course material are well-selected and
topical. Critical analysis is present, but largely rehearsed from class
lecture and discussion. Student's style is clear and has very few
mistakes.
C — Satisfactory. References to the course material are well-selected
and topical, but student performs little or no historical or critical
analysis. Problems exist in student's work. Work consists mostly of
underdeveloped ideas, off-topic sources or examples, inappropriate
research, or anecdotes.
D — Unsatisfactory. Student does not engage with the material and no
historical or critical analysis is present. Substantial problems exist
in student's work.
F — Fail. Student does not submit work, or work is below unsatisfactory
level.
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