Social Studies > Comparative Media Studies > Interactive and Non-Linear Narrative: Theory and P

Interactive and Non-Linear Narrative: Theory and P posted by duggu on 12/9/2007

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Abstract/Syllabus

Courseware/Lectures

Test/Tutorials

Course Highlights

This course features sample student work in the assignments section, and a comprehensive list of readings.

Course Description

This course covers techniques of creating narratives that take advantage of the flexibility of form offered by the computer. The course studies the structural properties of book-based narratives that experiment with digression, multiple points of view, disruptions of time and of storyline. The class analyzes the structure and evaluates the literary qualities of computer-based narratives including hypertexts, adventure games, and classic artificial intelligence programs like Eliza. With this base, students use authoring systems to model a variety of narrative techniques and to create their own fictions. Knowledge of programming is helpful but not necessary.

Special Features

Student projects

Technical Requirements

Special software is required to use some of the files in this course: .mov.

Syllabus

Course Description

The contemporary understanding of communication and narrative is quickly shifting in a world where media is ubiquitous. This course explores the properties of non-linear, multi-linear, and interactive forms of narratives as they have evolved from print to digital media. The "language of new media" is the thematic used in this course to discuss contemporary and historic forms of non-linear narrative. Writers on communication culture, gaming, television, digital aesthetics, contemporary art and film, as well as synchronic narrative will be addressed. The course is structured as a theory and practice class: students will produce short papers and a final media project. The focus is to develop critical tools to analyze contemporary media as well as a minimal level of practical implementation. We will look at writers including Borges, Julian Dibbell, Steven Johnson, Friedrich Kittler, Jan Murray, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, films by Quentin Tarantino and Chris Marker, and game culture platforms such as Second Life, LARPs and ARGs, and various MMOs. This course is open to students of all levels, with assignment modification for graduate students.

Students will develop digital and non-digital collaborative projects that explore the complex relationships of narrative and interactivity in a hands-on, workshop format. The goal of this course is to expand our understanding of narrative and refine our skills in the critical analysis of interactive formats through a combination of project development, readings on the theory and practice of non-linear/interactive narrative, and close analysis of digital and non-digital narratives.

Course Requirements

Class participation and attendance
Written and media assignments
Final Media Project (Working Groups)
- Media project + 5-page project description (co authored) + bibliography, or
- 20-page research paper

Class attendance and participation are required. Assigned reading must be done in time for the class for which it is assigned. All written assignments are to be typed. One unexcused absence is allowed during the course of the semester. Should there be a circumstance where a student has cause to be absent for more than one session, please contact the professor in advance.

Working Groups for Media Projects

A media project shall be presented at the end of the course based on the research interests and technical design of a Working Group. Groups may contain between 2-3 people. Permission is required from instructor for larger groups. A minimum of 2 meetings outside of the class is required of the Working Groups.

Grading System

Grading criteria.
ACTIVITIES	PERCENTAGES
Class Participation and Attendance	20%
Written and Media Assignments	40%
Final Media Project (Working Groups)	40%

Calendar

Course calendar.
LEC #	TOPICS	EVENTS
1	Introductory Lecture: Pulp Fictions
2	Borges, Wright and Pearce, Janet Murray: Three Important Thinkers/Authors on the Structure of Non-Linear Narrative	Supplementary lecture by Cory Doctorow
3	President's Day: No Class
4	Metamedia	Guest lecture by Kurt Fendt Class presentation: Assignment 1, written non-linear narrative Break into work groups for semester-long game play
5	Games People Play	Class presentation: Assignment 1, written non-linear narrative (cont.) Filmstrip. Gilliam, Terry. Twelve Monkeys, 1995.
6	Final Cut Lab Session	Class meets at the MIT New Media Center
7	Cybernetics and Feedback	Class presentation: Assignment 2, audiovisual non-linear narrative
8	Mobile Media
9	Patriot's Day: No Class
10	Rules of Play / ARG	Class presentation: Assignment 3, game diary Filmstrip. Marker, Chris. La Jetée, 1962.
11	Ubiquitous Computing	Guest Lecture by David Mindell Class presentation: Assignment 4, game chart
12	ICA Living in Motion: Design and Architecture for Flexible Dwelling	Class Field Trip: ICA Boston
13	Final Project Presentations	Class presentation: Assignment 5, final media project
14	Final Project Presentations

Readings

Readings are also listed by session.

Required Readings

Bleecker, Julian. "A Manifesto for Networked Objects - Cohabiting with Pigeons, Arphids and Aibos in the Internet of Things." research.techkwondo.com.

Borges, Jorge Luis. "The Garden of Forking Paths." Hypertext.

———. "The Garden of Forking Paths." Collected Fictions. Translated by Andrew Hurley. New York, NY: Penguin, 1999. ISBN: 0140286802.

Bush, Vannevar. "As We May Think." Atlantic Monthly, July 1945.

Chaplin, Heather, and Aaron Ruby. "Will Wright and the Model of Everything." Smartbomb. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin, 2005. ISBN: 1565123468.

Dibbell, Julian. "A Rape in Cyberspace." My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World. New York, NY: Henry Holt & Company, 1999. ISBN: 0805036261.

Gilliam, Terry. Twelve Monkeys. 1995.

Gladwell, Malcolm. "Tilly and Focus Groups."

Marker, Chris. La Jetée. 1962.

McGonigal, Jane. "Experimental Gameplay: I Love Bees." Lecture Notes. March 2005. (PDF - 1.6 MB)

———. "Alternate Reality Gaming: Experimental Social Structures for MMOs." Lecture Notes. October 2005. (PDF - 2.9 MB)

Mindell, David A. Between Human and Machine. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. ISBN: 0801880572.

Momus. "I Dance, Therefore I Am." Wired News.

Morville, Peter. Ambient Findability. Cambridge, MA: O'Reilly, 2005. ISBN: 0596007655.
See Chapter 1 at the O'Reilly Web site. (PDF)

Murray, Janet H. Hamlet on the Holodeck. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. ISBN: 0262631873.
See the book's Web site.

Nelson, Theodor H. Literary Machines. Sausalito, CA: Mindful Press, 1981. ISBN: 089347052X.

Salen, Katie, and Eric Zimmerman. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. ISBN: 0262240459.

Sterling, Bruce. Shaping Things. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN: 0262693267.

Turing, A. M. "Computing Machinery and Intelligence." Mind 49 (1950): 433-460.

Turkle, Sherry. "Virtuality and Its Discontents: Searching for Community in Cyberspace." The American Prospect 7, no. 24 (1996).

Wright, Will. "Sims, BattleBots, Cellular Automata God and Go: A Conversation with Will Wright." By Celia Pearce. Game Studies (July 2002).

Readings by Session

Course readings.
LEC #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Introduction Lecture: Pulp Fictions
2	Borges, Wright and Pearce, Janet Murray: Three Important Thinkers/Authors on the Structure of Non-Linear Narrative	Borges. "The Garden of Forking Paths." Borges. "The Garden of Forking Paths." Hypertext. Will Wright and Celia Pearce Interview. Murray. Hamlet on the Holodeck. Chapter 2.
3	President's Day: No Class
4	Metamedia	Will Wright and Celia Pearce Interview. Murray. Hamlet on the Holodeck. Chapter 2. Bush. "As We May Think." Nelson. Literary Machines.
5	Games People Play	Turkle, Virtuality and Its Discontents: Searching for Community in Cyberspace. Dibbell. "A Rape in Cyberspace." Chaplin and Ruby. "Will Wright and the Model of Everything." Momus. "I Dance, Therefore I Am."
6	Final Cut Lab Session
7	Cybernetics and Feedback	Turing. "Computing Machinery and Intelligence."
8	Mobile Media
9	Patriot's Day: No Class
10	Rules of Play / ARG	Salen and Zimmerman. Rules of Play. Chapters 5, 6, and 7. McGonigal. "Alternate Reality Gaming." ———. "Experimental Gameplay."
11	Ubiquitous Computing	Mindell. Between Human and Machine. Introduction and chapter 4. Morville. Ambient Findability. Chapters 1, 2, and 7. Sterling. Shaping Things. Chapters 5, 6, 11, and 12. Bleecker. "A Manifesto for Networked Objects."
12	ICA Living in Motion: Design and Architecture for Flexible Dwelling	Salen and Zimmerman. Rules of Play. Chapters 5, 6, and 7. Gladwell. "Tilly and Focus Groups."
13	Final Project Presentations
14	Final Project Presentations