CIME 260 - Media Ecologies

FC ARHU CD

4 credits
Storage media like the cloud are familiar to users of modern technology. But where does the environmental metaphor of the “cloud” come from? Taking as a starting point the insights from the field of media ecology, which, as Neil Postman defines it, involves “the study of media as environments,” this course explores relationships between media and the environment. In our discussions of clouds, glaciers, oceans, and cows, telegraphs, photographs, novels, and computer games, we will survey diverse approaches to media in/as environments and environments in/as media. We will study foundational texts in media theory alongside literature and art, and our work in class will be complemented by object study at the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Readings and discussions in English.

This course is cross-listed with GERM-260