This course surveys the implications of globalization for the production, circulation, and consumption of media. In this course, we will look across both analog and digital media (radio, TV, film, video, pop music, podcast, etc) in relation to a series of questions: How do media (and media industry) represents localities for a global audience? How can media practices create a feeling of belonging to the world/community? How may global media tell us about different material infrastructure, social imagination, and political desires? Students will explore media phenomena and critically examine media texts often beyond North American experiences. By the end of the class, students will be able to articulate how media connects to global flow of finance, cultural product, labor, and social aspirations.
We will explore a range of programming languages, systems, and activities designed to help learners acquire computational skills and become creative problem solvers and project designers, including arts and interactive projects. We will create projects in turtle geometry, animation, and programmable embroidery (Snap!, Turtle Geometry, TurtleArt, and TurtleStitch), and in simulation systems which model complex systems in the life and social sciences in order to acquire a deeper understanding of their underlying phenomena (NetLogo). The course is fundamentally about ideas, and how some powerful ideas from computation can empower a learner to be a better creator and problem solver, acquire a deeper understanding of social and scientific phenomena, and become a self-directed learner. We will identify these ideas and actively engage with the pedagogical theories that underlie embodying them by creating with systems designed for children, beginners, or people coming from disciplines which traditionally had less emphasis on computing-based tools. We will emphasize reflection on our own learning within the course.”
“The practice of using light and motion as artistic media traces its roots back to the architectural design of spiritual structures in ancient cultures and the use of fire and shadow in religious ceremonies. However, not until the invention of electricity, the incandescent bulb, and electric motors did light and motion really become artistic media themselves. The current availability of cheap and abundant sources of motion and light have opened up new possibilities for the creation of sculptural objects which compose structures in light and movement. Drawing upon the combined histories of lumia, kinetic sculpture, and op art, we will be investigating the historical and current developments of kinetic art and light art. Students will create kinetic light sculptures of their own design, building upon and expanding their knowledge of digital fabrication, physical computing, and generative software systems. They will learn how to compose in color, light, rhythm, movement, and space and how to install and present their work in a public setting.”
What is the place of human creativity, agency and intelligence in complex technical networks? This class aims to build a foundation for studying how automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, digital image production, predictive software, and eco-technologies signal the ascent of a posthuman society. It provides a selection of texts and case studies that introduce basic philosophical and sociological questions about posthuman technologies and support creators, writers and thinkers in conceptualizing the posthuman nature of new media. The class is a combination of lectures and writing workshops. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: IMA/IMB elective.
In this foundation course students will learn the fundamentals of computation, software design, and web technologies, through a series of creative projects. The course is intended to equip students with the skills to develop artistic and business projects that include a significant computational component. Topics such as variables, functions, components, and functional and reactive programming will be brought together to create interactive applications, generative art, data visualization, and other domains. Within the framework of these creative projects students will develop a greater understanding of how computer programs operate, be exposed to various concepts used to create experiences and interactions, and become more familiar with some of the technologies that constitute the internet. This course is intended for students with no prior programming background. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: CORE AT; IMA Major Other Foundation; IMB Major Emerging Media Foundation.
Architecture has always been considered as an immediate extension of the human civilization, and its connection with state-of-the-art technologies has always been essential. In our current highly mediated and augmented environments, architecture shifts from static, solid, and predefined, to a fluid, interactive, and ever-changing. Computational, interactive, and media technologies challenge our understanding of what architecture is, redefining our engagement with exterior and interior spaces. The course investigates the area of media architecture from a contextual and critical perspective, examining and implementing in theoretical and practical scenarios current emerging trends. Students are expected to develop a comprehensive understanding of media architecture, to thoroughly investigate the media cityscape (including motivations, social implications, technological requirements), and to develop installation work that utilizes contemporary media development practices and demonstrates artistic, technological, and scientific rigor. Prerequisite: None
In this course, students will work in teams to design digital learning resources and experience designs at the intersection of music, coding, arts, and technology. The course will begin with an introduction to emerging trends in learner engagement and design-based research, especially related to web- and mobile-based musical experiences and principles of making music with new media. Innovations in and applications of musical creativity, interactive technologies, user-centered design & engagement, scaffolded learning, creative learning, pedagogies of play and making, and educational entrepreneurship in Chinese contexts will also be explored. The market for creative educational experiences in afterschool settings for youth in China is exploding. For-profit educational service companies are competing and searching for differentiated, learning experiences in music, coding, and creative project based learning that will attract high-paying parents looking for the best supplemental education for their children. This practical, hands-on course will explore questions such as: How can we design engaging, creative learning experiences that are relevant to the cultural goals and needs of today’s youth in China, while laying the foundation for creative learning for the workforce of tomorrow? What are engaging, effective creative learning resources, and how are they best implemented in Chinese learning settings? How can we take advantage of young people’s near ubiquitous love of music and technology to facilitate creative learning? Students will work together in teams and paired with a partner audience of learners and teachers in Shanghai drawn from local and regional international schools (e.g. Alibaba’s Cloud Valley), local afterschool programs (e.g., Music Lab), and cultural partners (e.g., Shanghai Symphony). Together they will assess the needs and opportunities of partner students and teachers, and engage in a two-stage iterative and reflective co-design process prototyping custom learning resources and experience designs with their partner end users. At the end of the course, students will present and demo their learning resources as part of a public showcase to an external audience of partners, educators, technologists, musicians, entrepreneurs, and experience designers in Shanghai. Prerequisites: None.
This course emphasizes on the 3D animation through digital modeling / sculpting techniques, keyframe and blend-shape animation . The course breaks down into 4 stages : 1. basic topology of head model, 2. high-poly sculpting and projection texturing, 3. Keyframe and blend-shapes animation, 4. 3D animation final project. In the final project, students get to choose either lip-sync animation or conceptual piece utilizing the created head models. An overview of digital editing / compositing and sound design will also be introduced to assist with students’ final project at the end of the semester. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: IMA/IMB elective.
Sound is all around us. The way we perceive or experience these sounds are largely dependent upon their environments, whether artificially constructed or naturally present. In this studio-based course, students will learn about the development of sound art through readings and listenings by artists, musicians and designers who investigate our sonic environment through sound sculptures, multi-channel immersive installations, soundscapes, audio tours, podcasts and field recordings. The course will begin with an introduction into the physics of sound with time for deep listening exercises. We will read selected texts and listen to pieces by those working in the field of Acoustic Ecology, an interdisciplinary field that employs ethnographic practices to create sound studies or art. We will look at artists who employ narrative techniques to engage the audience. We will study musicians such as Alvin Lucier and John Cage and the history of experimental music that takes into consideration the physical space its recorded or played in. There will be weekly exercises that will help develop the student’s spatial awareness of sound and music. We will take listening and recording trips into the field to understand the acoustic urban environment. We will use different types of microphones such as hydrophones and binaural mics. Students will learn how to build their own contact microphones. Students will have the opportunity to create works for multi-channel speakers. The final project can take on any form within the realm of sound art–multimedia, narrative, non-narrative, music, installation.
“How would you like to pay?” A simple question may provoke diversified answers in the digital age. The financial applications of digital technologies, or so-called fintechs have engendered many alternative forms such as QR codes, mobile apps, and Bitcoin for financial activities including payment, loans, and investment. What technologies make these innovations possible? What are the aesthetic norms embedded in fin-tech app designs? How do the fin-tech companies interact with banks, policy-makers, and regulators? While Ant Financial and Tencent Finance make China the leader of fin-tech innovation, how does the global map of fin-tech innovation look like? After all, how have fin-techs re-shaped people’s everyday life, and perhaps will reform human being? Through a weekly three-hour meeting, this course is to make sense of fin-techs from a wide variety of perspectives. Integrating lectures with workshops and company visits, this course will equip students with critical thinking and practical skills that allow them to dialogue with various actors, such as computer programmers, project managers, investors, as well as academic intellectuals. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: IMA Major Electives; IMB Major Business Elective/Interactive Media Elective; Business and Finance Major Non-Finance Electives; Business and Marketing Major Non-Marketing Electives.
This course is about designing your life. What if you used the same innovation principles that startups use and applied them to your own lives? Students are introduced to design thinking as a framework to process their college experience and explore life after graduation. This course will use rapid prototyping methods to test out career interests, engage in behavior design, and ideate on multiple futures. The course will be delivered in a studio setup with in-class design workshops, group discussions, personal reflection, individual coaching and field trips. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: IMA Major Electives; IMB Major Business Elective/Interactive Media Elective; Business and Finance Major Non-Finance Electives; Business and Marketing Major Non-Marketing Electives.
Design Thinking is a theoretical, methodological and practical framework that has the potential of bringing about socially responsible innovation. This course will introduce the core concepts and toolkits of design thinking as the foundation of innovative thinking and practices. It requires you to step out of your comfort zone and to examine and challenge your own assumptions. Critical thinking, teamwork, and empathy are the three pillars of this course. Prerequisite: None
This course is about designing your global experiences. Students are introduced to design thinking as a practical tool to make the most out of their NYUSH experience and prototype opportunities offered by NYU’s Global Network. This course will use rapid prototyping methods to test out academic and career interests, visit global organizations in Shanghai, and meet with leaders with multinational experience. The course will be delivered in a studio setup with in-class design workshops that explore topics such as the purpose of college, educational wayfinding, global perspectives, and innovating on career paradigms.
This course examines the role of language in media, culture, and communication. Topics will include language ideologies, register-formation, language politics, standardization, raciolinguistics, code-switching, voicing, speech and text genres, orthographies, fonts, and more. Students will learn to analyze interpersonal and mediated communication-in-context, with attention to pragmatics, performativity and participation frameworks, using key analytics and methods from the fields of socio-linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and semiotics.
A hands-on introduction to the technical & creative uses of digital photography. The class will explore the use of digital technologies to compose, shoot, scan, alter, & print images, as well as considering the ways in which photographic meaning has been changed by the use of the computer. Student provides their own camera & paper.
New art and new definitions of art and artist are discussed. Major attention is paid to the New York scene with guest lectures by artists and visits to galleries, museums, and other major sites in the current art system.
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with basic concepts, research findings and theories related to the way in which human characteristics, capabilities and limitations, including physiology and psychology, affect system design and performance. Students will develop a basic understanding of methods for studying and assessing human behavior and for analyzing human performance. It will introduce aspects of system, interface, organizational design and physical setting as they influence operators and performance. Satisfies an HuSS Elective. | Prerequisites: Completion of first year writing requirements.
This course looks at how people interact with their environments: how settings affect behavior; how people change environments to fit their needs; and how people can become an active part of the environmental-design process. The course discusses how people use space and the way environmental design meets (or fails to meet) human needs. These concerns are valid for very-small-scale design problems (as in human-factors engineering); mid-size spaces (architecture and interior design); large-scale spaces (communities, urban areas). | Prerequisites: Completion of first year writing requirements . Co-requisites: None. Notes: Satisfies a HuSS elective.