Today there appears to be no limit to what computers can do, but this has not always been the case. The first electronic digital computers of the 1940s, for instance, were little more than exotic calculators. They were designed to manipulate alphanumeric symbols, and nothing else. Computer-generated images, Artificial Intelligence, Tinder and Facebook and Twitter: all the wondrous affordances of the so-called Digital Age we have had to extract, or render visible, from these elementary symbol-processing devices.
This course will introduce students to critical topics at the intersection of sexuality and visual culture through a case study of computing. In particular, we will focus on the ongoing historical struggle to visual-ize computers. How have we managed to derive so many images—and so many visions and desires and fears—from machines that are reducible, at least in principle, to meaningless binary digits?
During the first five weeks of the semester we will examine the relationship between computing and vision. What does it mean, for instance, to say that the computer is a visual medium? What can GUIs and computer art teach us about modern conceptions of visualization?
For the remainder of the semester we will examine the historical relationships between computers, visibility, and sexuality. Why, for instance, is the labor of early female computer programmers often described as invisible or hidden? How do computers help us visualize our essentially in-visible notions of sexuality, and vice versa?
Overall, this course takes an in-depth look at computing in order to help students grasp the complex political and aesthetic stakes surrounding gender, sexuality, and technology.
Required Films:
Required Texts:
Final grades will be calculated from a composite of five items throughout the semester:
This course will be conducted in a seminar format, and a high seminar grade will reflect regular, attentive, and thoughtful contributions to our discussion. Be prepared to ask questions, to respond to other students’ discussion posts, and/or to make claims about the assigned text.
Discussion, like any other skill, requires time, patience, and practice to develop. Everyone is coming to this course with different levels of exposure to the course's concepts and with various ranges of experience discussing fictional, theoretical, and scholarly texts. My only expectation is that everyone will try to keep discussions generative and inclusive.
Students are allowed three absences (the equivalent of one week of class). Any absence beyond the third will result in an immediate reduction of the seminar grade.
Throughout the semester students will write eight responses to the assigned readings or films. You may choose which readings and films you will respond to. The first three discussion posts must be completed by Week 5, the next three must be completed by Week 10, and the final three must be completed by Week 16. Please note that this adds up to nine total responses; I will only be grading eight discussion posts, so feel free to skip one as you see fit.
Each discussion post should be submitted by midnight prior to the class for the assigned reading or film (i.e. twelve hours before class meets). After midnight the discussion board will lock, and you will no longer be able to add a discussion post. When writing your discussion post, you may choose either to begin a brand new thread or to respond to a thread already started by a classmate.
Discussion posts should include any of the following: reflections, questions, close readings; you can discuss how a particular text relates to the course as a whole, you can draw comparisons and contrasts with prior readings, and you can comment upon your classmates' responses. In order to keep the conversation open to your classmates, please refrain from discussing media not assigned in this course.
Each response should include substantive analytic engagement with the assigned reading or film. If you ask a question, you should tell us why are you asking this question—why, in other words, is it important for us to seek an answer to this question? If, alternatively, you want to reflect on an interesting passage, do not simply inform us of your opinion; tell us why the text interests you, how it contributes to the themes previously explored throughout the course, etc. If, alternatively, you respond to a classmates’ discussion post, be careful not to simply agree or disagree with them; you must find a way to build upon what they have already contributed.
Discussion posts may be brief (~250 words), but be prepared to comment upon them at greater length. It is possible that your reading responses will be referenced and discussed during class.
Reading quizzes will be administered at random throughout the semester. Each quiz will be graded on a pass/fail basis. You only need to score 50% or higher to pass.
Everyone will begin the semester with a quiz grade of “A.” After a first quiz failure, this grade will remain unchanged. After a second quiz failure, this grade will be reduced to a “B,” and then, after a third failure, to a “C,” and so on.
I reserve the right to institute regular quizzes if flagging participation indicates that students are not keeping up with the readings.
A 5-page analytic essay will be assigned during Week 5 and will be due in my mailbox (430 Burrowes Bldg) by 2pm on October 21, 2019.
You must complete the midterm essay in order to pass the course. A late midterm will receive a grade no higher than "D."
A 7-page analytic essay will be assigned during Week 13 and will be due on Canvas by 11:59pm on December 16, 2019.
You must complete the final essay in order to pass the course. A late final essay will receive a grade no higher than "D."
If you have questions or concerns regarding these assignments, I will gladly discuss them with you.
Please bring the following items to each class:
I expect myself and everyone else to maintain a safe classroom environment. Discrimination or harassment of any form—and particularly on the basis of race, color, disability status, nationality, sexual and gender identity, or religion—will not be tolerated.
If you require any acommodations in order to participate in this course, please let me and/or Penn State's Student Disability Resources office know as soon as possible. It is your right to have these accommodations met.
The Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state of federal authorities. The Pennsylvania State University does not discriminate against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources Web site provides contact information for every Penn State campus: http://equity.psu.edu/sdr/disability-coordinator. For further information, please visit the Student Disability Resources Web site: http://equity.psu.edu/sdr.
In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation: http://equity.psu.edu/sdr/applying-for-services. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
Except for the "required texts" listed above, all readings are available on Canvas, including PDF copies of articles from the web. Readings should be completed prior to, not after, the date listed. Due dates for assignments are marked in red.
Week One (8/26)
Week Two (9/2)
Week Three (9/9)
Week Four (9/16)
Week Five (9/23)
Week Six (9/30)
Week Seven (10/7)
Week Eight (10/14)
Week Nine (10/21)
Week Ten (10/28)
Week Eleven (11/4)
Week Twelve (11/11)
Week Thirteen (11/18)
Week Fourteen (11/25)
Week Fifteen (12/2)
Week Sixteen (12/9)
Finals Week (12/16)
header image: Manfred R. Schroeder, "Images from Computers" (1969)