The course title, “Veillance” is a reference to the root of “surveillance” and “sousveillance”, watching from above and watching from below respectively. As digital media becomes a greater part of our everyday lives, it is important to understand the new forms of surveillance that it enables as well as to harness these capabilities and perhaps to create systems of sousveillance. Through the course, we’ll critically examine technologies that have become integral part of our lives; the technologies that drive the internet, the capabilities of web browsers, mobile phones, and the emerging class of networked devices such as IP cameras and Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. Through the course of this examination, we’ll look at how this technology works, the policies that govern their use, what their benefits are, and finally look at what we are giving up by embracing them. This will be a hands-on endeavor; we’ll develop software to illustrate their use and misuse as well as looking for ways that we can harness their “veillance” capabilities for creative, educational, and possibly subversive purposes. Of course, in this process, we’ll pay particular attention to ethical and moral concerns. The course will have weekly reading and technical assignments, encompasses group work, and will culminate final projects.

ITPG-GT.2469.1 () | Instructor: Shawn Van Every | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date