Synthetic Architectures (ITPG-GT 2177)

Credits: 4
Duration: 14 Weeks
Dates: Wed

For better or worse humanity is heading down the virtual rabbit hole. We’re trading an increasingly hostile natural environment for a socially networked and commercially driven artificial one. Whether it’s the bedrooms of YouTube streaming stars, the augmented Pokestops of Pokemon Go, the breakout rooms of a Zoom meeting, or even the “airspace” of Airbnb; we are witnessing a dramatic transformation of what occupying space means. The socially distanced measures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have only accelerated this societal embrace of the virtual. So where are these dramatic spatial paradigm shifts occurring? Who owns and occupies these spaces? Who are the architects and what historical and ethical foundations are they working from? What world do they want to build for humanity and where does the creative individual fit into it? Will it be a walled garden, a role-playing adventure or a tool for creating more worlds? The course will ask students to embrace the role of virtual architect, not in the traditional brick-and-mortar sense of constructing shelter, but in terms of the engagement with the raw concept of space. However this virtual space must be considered and evaluated as a “site,” that is activated and occupied by real people and all the limitations of physical space that they bring with them from the real world. This is the foundation of synthetic architecture; simulated space met with biological perception. This conceptual architecture is free from the confines of physics but host to a whole new set of questions: How do we embrace the human factors of a dimensionless environment? How do we make or encourage meaningful interactions within the limits of current technology? New models of interaction must inform and shape the architecture of virtual space – what does that look like? How can architecture and aesthetics inform the creation of virtual environments and immersive narratives? How do we acutely consider the psychological and social impacts of the worlds we design and what is the metaphorical ground plane to make sense of this virtual world, unbound by physics? About Jonathan Turner: http://www.jonathanwilliamturner.com/about/

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Subtraction (ITPG-GT 2719)

Subtractive fabrication is a common manufacturing process that produces durable and functional objects. This class will cover multiple techniques on machining and milling raw material into custom parts. We will focus on both traditional and digital fabrication tools: lathe, CNC router, 4 axis mill, etc. We will cover CAD, CAM, and machine setups as well as research affordable desktop milling solutions for personal shops. The class will be hands on and fabrication heavy, paying close attention to precision, accuracy, and craftsmanship. There will be weekly fabrication exercises, a midterm, and a final project. It’s mill-er time.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)


ITPG-GT 2719-000 (22906)01/30/2020 – 05/07/2020 Thu9:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Morning)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Light, Benjamin

Homemade Hardware (ITPG-GT 2767)

Hardware is not hard, and rapidly prototyping circuit boards is easier than ever with new tools available at ITP. Students will learn how to grow from a breadboard to a custom surface mount board, all without leaving the floor. This class is about artists and designers taking control of their hardware, and exploring the potential of embedding their projects into the world around them. Students will learn the multitude of tools and processes required to make a DIY circuit board. These include Eagle CAD, micro-milling machines, drawing schematics, ordering parts, surface-mount components, acid etching, solder paste and stenciling, reflow, pick-and-place, and others. In-class demonstrations will be done for each of the above, and students will complete assignments using online reference notes and videos. Two smaller projects and one final project will be assigned (3 total), each a circuit of the student’s’ choosing. These three assignments will be designed to work off the most recently taught subjects, and to get the students to fail early. It’s a lot of new material to be learning across multiple domains, so the students will need the entire semester to iterate.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2024)


ITPG-GT 2767-000 (14754)01/26/2024 – 05/03/2024 Fri9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Sigler, Andrew

Connected Devices and Networked Interaction (ITPG-GT 2565)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue

The World Wide Web no longer stops at the edge of your screen. When it comes to products, if it powers up, it talks to another device. This class provides an overview of methods for connecting the physical world to web-based applications. We’ll consider what the emerging interaction patterns are, if any, and we’ll develop some of our own as needed. This class can be seen as a narrower and more interaction design-based complement to Understanding Networks. The latter class provides a broader overview of the dynamics of communications networks, while this class focuses specifically on the challenges of connecting embedded devices to web-based services. Neither class is a prerequisite for the other, however. This class will introduce network connection techniques for devices using microcontrollers like the Nano 33 IoT and MKR series or ESP8266 and processors running an embedded operating system like the Raspberry Pi. Prerequisites: Intro to Physical Computing and Intro to Computational Media, or equivalent experience with the topics covered in those classes. Learning Objectives: Students will gain an understanding of the basics of network programming for devices with limited computing power. They will learn about current protocols for communication between devices and networked servers, and about the rudiments of security for that communication. Reading: There will be an article or two to read each week, to foster discussion about the design of connected things. Assignments: There will be several one-week software and hardware assignments to get familiar with different technologies and communications protocols, and one hardware and software final application project.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Dynamic Web Development (ITPG-GT 2577)

Credits: 2
Duration: 6 Weeks
Dates: Fri

This 7-week, 2-point course will provide a framework for learning how to develop and program web applications. It will focus on server side development using JavaScript, Node.js with the Express framework, and persistent databases on cloud based infrastructure. Additional topics will include login and session management, web services and APIs, and will lightly touch on front-end web development. The course will be a mixture of lecture and in-class collaborative coding, with weekly programming and reading homework.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
2 credits – 6 Weeks

The Nature of Code (ITPG-GT 2480)

Credits: 4
Duration: 14 Weeks
Dates: Wed

Can we capture the unpredictable evolutionary and emergent properties of nature in software? Can understanding the mathematical principles behind our physical world world help us to create digital worlds? This class focuses on the programming strategies and techniques behind computer simulations of natural systems. We explore topics ranging from basic mathematics and physics concepts to more advanced simulations of complex systems. Subjects covered include physics simulation, trigonometry, self-organization, genetic algorithms, and neural networks. Examples are demonstrated in JavaScript using p5.js (https://p5js.org). Much of the class time will be dedicated to in-class exercises and self-study as the course is available online through a video series (https://www.youtube.com/user/shiffman/playlists) and textbook (http://natureofcode.com/book).

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Recurring Concepts in Art (ITPG-GT 2586)

As a response to developing technologies, artists working in areas of new/digital media are continually inventing new concepts for self-expression – interactivity, the passage of time and resolution, just to name a few. Yet these concepts are new only in the sense that they are being adapted to new media. For example, the notion of interactivity, frequently observed as original and specific to the user-interaction component of computer-mediated works, was equally, if differently, specific to Gianlorenzo Bernini’s 17th-century Baroque sculpture and architecture. Indeed the very concept of new media, and the concomitant implication of critically significant artistic development, applies throughout history. Oil revolutionized painting in the Renaissance, as did house-paint (on canvas) in the 1950s; in the 1910s, the found object indelibly altered definitions of art, the importance of the object being subsumed by that of the concept in the 1960s. This course examines how artists working before the boom of digital technology utilized other media, techniques and approaches to effect formal, conceptual and experiential dynamics comparable to those being investigated by new media artists today. The objective of the course is to provide students with not only knowledge of the immensely rich history of artistic creativity, but also a platform through which that knowledge might be utilized to reconsider new media strategies of artistic expression. It is the goal that through observation, discussion, reading and projects (both written and hands-on), students acquire mental tools to approach their own work with an expanded understanding of artistic possibility. Organized thematically, each class focuses on a different concept derived from the field of new media production and examined with regard to artistic precedents. The course focus primarily, though not exclusively, is on 20th/21st-century art. It is conducted as a combination lecture/discussion class. Critical theory is incorporated into the readings and discussions, but this is not strictly a theory course. The course has been conceptualized and designed to enhance understanding through a variety of means, from basic observation, to exploratory conversations, to more rigorous thinking informed by lectures, readings and focused discussions.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
2 credits – 5 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)


ITPG-GT 2586-000 (23425)01/31/2020 – 03/06/2020 Fri9:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Morning)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Krantz, Georgia

Comics (ITPG-GT 2925)

Code without content gets boring fast. This seven week course will show you how to create stories around which you can weave the technology learned in other classes. When content comes first, interesting problems arise to solve. Participants will get solid grounding in how to tell a visual story using words and images in a traditional format, so then they can take that format and reimagine it in entirely new and unique ways. The first few classes are devoted to getting basic comic skills. The remaining classes will hone and expand these abilities while posing the question: what can be done differently, and how can technology add to what we have created? At the end of the semester you will have a something that sets you apart; – original content AND technological know how. Students will combine words and images, look at each other’s work, look at examples of published works. Reimagine how these stories can be told in new and unique ways. This a demanding course. There is a lot of work involved, they will end up with a lot of original content. During the first half we look at and make traditional comics. Second half we experiment with comic format WHILE honing storytelling skills. Relevant speakers will come in to discuss what they do and how they work etc.

Interactive Telecommunications (Graduate)
2 credits – 6 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)


ITPG-GT 2925-000 (22870)01/28/2020 – 03/10/2020 Tue9:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Morning)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by White, Tracy

4D Fundamentals (ART-UE 314)

Course introduces student artists to the 4th dimensional concepts of TIME & MOVEMENT as the necessary building blocks of Art created by Photography, Video, Digital & Performance medias. Students will explore the attributes of TIME & MOVEMENT through project assignments that use the methods of photography, video, digital, & performance art. The course also includes a brief art history of 4D concepts spanning a wide array of subject matter from cave painting to contemporary art.

Studio Art (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2022)


ART-UE 314-000 (12755)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Mon,Wed1:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Dasgupta, Priyanka


ART-UE 314-000 (12756)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Tue,Thu9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by McQuilkin, Alexandra

Video Art I for Non-Majors (ART-UE 305)

Video art has become one of the most widely used media art forms because it allows both the artistic concentration of photography & the free flowing imagery of movement. Students acquire rudimentary skills in shooting & editing while working toward a personal statement in video.

Studio Art (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2022)


ART-UE 305-000 (12392)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Fri9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by


ART-UE 305-000 (12860)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Thu1:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Pryor, Gerald

User Experience Design (IMNY-UT 262)

This course aims to provide students with the critical thinking and practical skills for creating effective and compelling interfaces. We will dissect what a compelling user experience is and discuss and apply design methods for creating one. Throughout this 14-week course we will examine a wide range of examples of interfaces with a focus on understanding the attributes of a successful interface and applying proven research, mapping and testing techniques. The class format will include lectures, case studies, student presentations, discussions of readings and in-class design exercises. The format is very hands-on with assignments that focus on problems that are typical of those a UX designer will encounter in the professional world.

Undergraduate

Creative Approaches to Emerging Media (IMNY-UT 205)

We live in a world where we have more data, computational power, and access to digital connectivity than ever before. But how do we make sense of the promise inherent in this reality while holding space for the challenges that it presents for different groups and communities? How do we situate the technologies that we have come to take for granted? And more importantly, how do we leverage an artist’s perspective to creating active responses that interrogate and hint at the potential for different futures? This course examines emergent technological fields, spanning topics like data collection/representation, digital archives, artificial intelligence, social algorithms, and automation and asks how the technologies inherent to each can be leveraged for artistic response, creation, and critique. While this course is primarily conceptual and art theory-based, the content covered will be technical in nature and students will be tasked with making three creative responses to the content in the tradition of the new media, digital, and conceptual art worlds.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)


IMNY-UT 205-000 (23270)01/28/2020 – 05/07/2020 Tue,Thu9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Onuoha, Chisom

Introduction to Fabrication (IMNY-UT 242)

An introductory course designed to familiarize students with all the IMA prototyping shop has to offer. We will cover everything from basic hand tools to the beginnings of digital fabrication. You will learn to use the right tool for the job. There will be weekly assignments, created to develop your fabrication techniques. There will be in class lectures, demos, and building assignments. Emphasis will be put on good design practices, material choice, and craftsmanship.

Undergraduate

Augmenting the Gallery (IMNY-UT 9001)

Wall labels, audio guides and informative maps are just some of the ways galleries and museums convey additional information about an art collection. How can we utilize new interactive mixed reality tools to design and deliver immersive experiences that breathe new life into an exhibit. Augmented and virtual reality are powerful tools for new media production and storytelling, but how can these tools serve to enhance our Wall labels, audio guides and informative maps are just some of the ways galleries and museums convey additional information about an art collection. How can we utilize new interactive mixed reality tools to design and deliver immersive experiences that breathe new life into an exhibit. Augmented and virtual reality are powerful tools for new media production and storytelling, but how can these tools serve to enhance our gallery experience without distracting from the power and importance of a pre-existing collection? This production course seeks to experiment with new ways to experience a museum collection through mixed reality. Topics covered include exhibition installation and curation, mixed reality production in Unity, mobile development for Augmented Reality.

Undergraduate

Numerical Computing (CSCI-UA 421)

Introduction to numerical computation: the need for floating-point arithmetic, the IEEE floating-point standard. Importance of numerical computing in a wide variety of scientific applications. Fundamental types of numerical algorithms: direct methods (e.g., for systems of linear equations), iterative methods (e.g., for a nonlinear equation), and discretization methods (e.g., for a differential equation). Numerical errors: How can you tell if you can trust your answers? The use of graphics and software packages such as Matlab. Programming assignments.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2022)


CSCI-UA 421-000 (7822)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Tue,Thu11:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Overton, Michael

Theory of Computation (CSCI-UA 453)

This course takes a mathematical approach in studying topics in computer science, such as: regular languages and some of their representations (deterministic finite automata, non-deterministic finite automata, regular expressions); proof of non-regularity. Context free languages and pushdown automata; proofs that languages are not context free. Elements of computability theory. Brief introduction to NP-completeness.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2022)


CSCI-UA 453-000 (9017)01/24/2022 – 05/09/2022 Tue,Thu9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Khot, Subhash

Causal Inference (DS-UA 201)

Causal Inference provides students with the tools for understanding causation, i.e., the relationship between cause and effect. We will start with the situation in which you are able to design and implement the data gathering process, called the experiment. We will then define causation, identify preconditions required for A to cause B, show how to design perfect experiments, and discuss how to understand threats to the validity of less-than-perfect experiments. In this course, we will cover experimental design and then turn to those careful approaches, where we will consider such approaches as quasi-experiments, regression discontinuities, differences in differences, and contemporary advanced approaches.

Data Science (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)


DS-UA 201-000 (20565)01/27/2020 – 05/11/2020 Wed,Fri2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Strezhnev, Anton


DS-UA 201-000 (20567)01/27/2020 – 05/11/2020 Mon2:00 PM – 2:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by


DS-UA 201-000 (20568)01/27/2020 – 05/11/2020 Wed11:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by

Make Believe (INTM-SHU 217T)

We live in an era of information where the information can be written, accessed, shared, and also eliminated with a single stroke. As a result, the objective “truth” is brought to a question. In the last decade, artists have been experimenting with the fakeness of the truth and the truthfulness of the fake by creating fake documents, staged marriages, an arguably authentic artifact, imaginary advertisements both historical and contemporary. What does it mean to tell the truth in the context of art? How does art cross the boundaries between the real and the fake, truthfulness and misrepresentation? This course will examine social engagement of art and how “truth” is treated, interpreted, and presented. The class will take a field trip to a propaganda museum, have readings and discussions, and analyze artists working with fiction as a medium in art making. Students will work on projects to construct believable reality through object making (3D fabrication) and narrative construction (audiovisual material). Prerequisites: Interaction Lab or Communication Lab or Application Lab

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2020)


INTM-SHU 217T-000 (23355)02/03/2020 – 05/15/2020 Thu9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at ShanghaiInstructed by