The Digital City -- Schedule

The Evergreen State College

2001 - 2002
Part-Time Studies

The Digital City

Fall Quarter, 2001 Schedule

http://www.scn.org/edu/tesc-ds/2001-2002/fall/schedule.html

Change history (Updated: October 11, 2001; 12:43 PM):

[Week 1] Introduction
Wednesday, September 26, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Introduction to the program: Faculty, administration, syllabus.
Introduction to The Digital City: Why focus on cities? Why focus on communication?
Workshop: City Game group work and debriefing
Group discussion of projects

Assignments:

Bring in project ideas for next week (October 3);

Seminar writing piece #1 (due October 3): Q1: Who owns the media we use? Keep a tally of the media sources you use this week for news or entertainment--e.g., newspapers, books and magazines you read, television channels you watch, music you listen to, Internet sites you visit. Find out who owns these sources. What patterns, if any, do you see in these discoveries? Q2: Try to recall as many sources as you can of information you obtained about the World Trade Center attacks. These can include media (print, electronic, Internet) or individual and/or group discussions, listservs, email, etc. Any conclusions?

Assignments due: Signed covenants (in class);
Handouts: Syllabus, schedule, group project description, covenants
Notes: Each workshop scribe will send their notes to dc@scn.org?

[Week 2] Communications and How They're Organized [Steve]
Wednesday, October 3, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Presentation (30 - 50 minutes) -- Steve
Seminar (60 - 90 minutes)
More progress on project (30 - 60 minutes); Initial idea presentation and, possibly, winnowing down total proposals.

Assignments:
Assignments due: Project ideas; seminar writing assignment #1
Readings completed: Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy, McChesney pamphlet
Handouts:

Saturday, October 6, 9:15 AM - 5:00 PM

Guest presentation: How the Organization of Communication Impacts Journalism, Norman Solomon, media critic & executive director of FAIR.
Group discussion, project list determination
Group project meeting

Project: Organizational meetings of project groups
Assignments:
Assignments due: Group project proposal due (contains working title, group members, assignments for each member). This is done in class.
Readings completed: Norman Solomon articles in reader, p. 1-14.
Handouts:

[Week 3] Digital Cities [Doug]
Wednesday, October 10, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Guided Tour of Digital Cities (Doug)
Digital City analysis workshop using "Media Analysis Cycle"

Assignments: Seminar writing #2 (due October 17) In 2-3 pages, answer only ONE of the following questions:
Explain why it matters whether you think of a city (not a "city") as a semi-lattice or a tree? (See Christopher Alexander, "A City is Not a Tree" from the course reader)
Using Keven Lynch's (The City and Its Elements from the course reader) five city elements, discuss why or why not these elements would be useful in designing digital "cities."

Assignments due:
Readings completed: From Reader, p. 14-90:

What is a city? Lewis Mumford. In reader.
The city and its elements, Kevin Lynch. In reader.
A City is not a tree, Christopher Alexander. In reader.
Toward an Urban Design Manifesto. In reader.
What would a non-sexist city look like? Dolores Hayden. In reader.
The reconstruction of social meaning in the space of flows, Manuel Castells. In reader.

Handouts:

[Week 4] More changes in how communications are organized [Steve]
Wednesday, October 17, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Group project meeting
Seminar (week 3's readings)
Presentation on Microsoft (Steve)
Introduction to Microsoft Trial workshop (preparation for next week)

Assignments:
Assignments due: Seminar writing #2
Readings completed: Ken Auletta, chapter on Nathan Myhrvold. In reader, p. 91-102.
Handouts: Microsoft trial issues
Notes: Doug will be in Japan at the Digital Cities Symposium. He presents in Kyoto on October 18th.

[Week 5] Microsoft Trial / Kyoto Debrief
Wednesday, October 24, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Workshop: Microsoft trial
Presentation: Digital Citizens in Digital Cities (Doug)

Assignments: Question for seminar writing #3 (due October 31). Describe how the authors of two or more assigned articles suggest that aspects of the physical city influence the virtual city and vice versa.
Assignments due:
Readings completed:

Digital City Kyoto: Social Information Infrastructure for Everyday Life, Toru Ishida. In reader, p. 103-111.
Seattle Community Network: A Digital City for the People, Doug Schuler. In reader, p. 112-114.
Digital Citizens and Digital Cities, Doug Schuler. http://www.scn.org/ip/commnet/Papers/digital-citizens.html

Handouts:

Saturday, October 27, 9:15 AM - 5:00 PM

Mostly project work
Video(s)??

Assignments:
Assignments due:
Readings completed:
Handouts:

[Week 6] Geographic Information Systems [Doug]
Wednesday, October 31, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

A presentation on Evergreen's GIS capabilities
Seminar

Assignments: Seminar writing #4: "Discuss the impact of satellite technology on communications" (due November 7)
Assignments due: seminar writing #3
Handouts:
Readings completed, p. 115-157:

Electronic Space and Power, Saskia Sassen. In reader.
Cities without Maps, Iain Chambers. In reader.
Where on Earth is the Internet, Martin Dodge and Narushige Shiode. In reader.
Sensing the City, John Urry. In reader.
From City Space to Cyberspace, Jennifer Light. In reader.

[Week 7] Communications Technology, Part I. Cable, Satellites, and the CNN Story [Steve]
Wednesday, November 7, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Presentation: Steve

Seminar

Assignments: Seminar writing #5 (due November 14)
Assignments due: Seminar writing #4
Readings completed: chapter on Ted Turner by Ken Auletta. In reader, p. 158-163.
Handouts:

Saturday, November 10, 9:15 AM - 5:00 PM

Guest Presentation: Peter Vesey, former Senior VP, CNNInternational
Project meetings

Assignments:
Assignments due:
Readings completed:
Handouts:

[Week 8] Citizens and the City [Doug]
Wednesday, November 14, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Workshop -- Information and Communication for Citizens: What's there and what's not there. Does it work?
Seminar #5

Assignments: Seminar writing #6: "Is the Internet the Answer?" (due November 28)
Assignments due: Seminar writing #5.
Readings completed, p. 164-211:

From dirt road to information superhighway: advanced information technology (AIT) and the urban poor, Bishwapriya Sanyal. In reader.
Cyberspace or Human Space: Wither Cities in the Age of Telecommunications, William Beyers. In reader.
Planning Cyber-Cities? Integrating Telecommunications into Urban Planning, Stephen Graham and Simon Marvin. In reader.

Handouts:
[Thanksgiving Break -- November 19-24]

[Week 9] Communication Technology, Part II. The Internet and the RealNetworks Story [Steve]
Wednesday, November 28, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Presentation: The Internet and the RealNetworks Story
Seminar

Assignments:
Assignments due: Seminar writing #6
Readings completed: Control Revolution, Shapiro, pages TBA
Handouts:

Saturday, December 1, 9:15 AM - 5:00 PM

Informal group project presentations

Assignments:
Assignments due: Group project status reports due (with standard structure). 1-pager to class. "Formal" report due to faculty. Brief stand-up status presentation to class. No AV.
Readings:
Handouts:
Notes: Some debriefing?
[Week 10] Consolidation
Wednesday, December 5, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

Videos - TBA

Assignments:
Assignments due:
Readings:
Handouts:
Notes: Doug will be in Buenos Aires December 5 - 7. Project report due.

[Evaluation Week; December 10-14]
Wednesday, December 12, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM.

evaluation meetings. Formal evaluations required for students leaving the program.

Assignments:
Assignments due:
Handouts:

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