Media Module (DigiMyths)

Description

Individuals who were raised in a culture other than that of their parents and family or their ethnic background, often have a deeply complex sense of who they are and where they belong; i.e. in a place that exists in concept only. Deepened by the impact of COVID-19, this place fades as connecting with family in-person and trips to visit their familial lands become sporadic or inaccessible, and holding on to one’s heritage becomes harder.

In the second portion of IDFA 470, The Media Module (DigiMyths), we will explore how writing and language tied to a space can expand and iterate beyond its textual beginnings into embodied, dynamic, computational forms that converse with geophysicality, place and heritage in different ways. By the end of this module, students’ initial stories will have grown into iterative multimedia experiences with the goal being to provide a new perspective, regardless of which way students choose to present their stories in the end.

This course will be interested in addressing questions such as:

• Who or what has informed our relationship to our ancestry and how can be channeled through digital means?
• What do computer technologies and network culture offer as a medium for exploration of our own heritage?
• How can we connect with our histories through mediums and spaces that matter to us?
• Why is so much of our understanding of our respective cultures tied to geo-physicality?

Over the course of the next four weeks, we will be iterating on your story to create new multimedia ways of experiencing the words.

Materials

• Google Drive
Due to my inability to access Blackboard, we will be submitting our work through Google Drive.
• Computer
We will occasionally be doing work in class that will require the use of a computer.
• Glitch Account
We will be using glitch for our coding portion of the course during week three.
• Zoom
We will set the Zoom Policy during class today.

Outcomes

• Students should have gotten the time and space to translate their short stories into new experiences
• Time to speculate, research, decide and mockup concepts for potential work.
• Been introduced to network culture and alternative relationships to technology that can be connected to their story and heritage.
• Feel supported by a community of peers who they could lean on for advice, feedback and assistance during the run of the program.

Class Outline

Click on the links below to be taken to our agenda and class document for the day!

• Week 7: Module Overview & Computer Culture
• Week 8: Software and Heritage, Explored
• Week 9: The Web & Intro to HTML
• Week 10: Intro to CSS & Open Lab

IDFA 470: Special Topics in Art, Media & Communication

Syllabus

The class objectives include an exploration of story through examining place in black history, culture and heritage. The class will be interdisciplinary and begin with introductions by all instructors on September 30. The class structure is in three parts and includes:

1. Storytelling and Creative Writing (September 13 - October 4, 2021)
Arola by Zakes Mda for students to write a single-effect character-driven short story with flat and round characters that have adequate motivation and justification underlying their actions, and whose conflict develops in a narrative arc to its climax. This means that this class is not interested in pieces that are sustained only by voice or in open-structure stories. Our focus is on the traditional narrative structure.
2. Network Cultures using Digimyths with Kevin Cadena (October 11- November 1, 2021)
Dynamic, Interactive, Interconnectivity, archival sense of being seen digital tools that include. This ongoing research class will culminate each year in multi-dimensional presentations.
3. Mapping and PPGIS with Charla Burnett (November 8 - 29, 2021)
Looking at ways that storytelling can exist in participatory mapping can be used to broaden access to spatial data and technology for socially and economically marginalized groups to facilitate decision-making.

Concept Objectives and Timeline

• Explore our spatial understanding of African worlds through the arts, network cultures, and storytelling
• Encourage a curiosity and passion for research, writing and performance with a digital application component to discover new ways of looking at the world
• Enlighten the Towson community into appreciating black history and achievements in the family of humanity.

Credits

This course is a reinterpretation of DigiMtyhs, an artist run project with origins as a alternative educational program exploring permutations of "Digital Folklore". The project seeks to give artists opportunities to explore their unique intersection of interactive media and cultural storytelling. Many thanks also go to Mukwae Wabei Siyolwe for coordinating this course and giving us the opportunity as well as Zakes Mda and Charla Burnett for being co-teachers.

This class site was built with HTML, CSS, A little JS and most importantly, Love and Care by Kevin Cadena.