Creative Computing in the Humanities is a project based workshop. The aim is to enable course members to design, plan and implement a project, working on content from their own field and interest through digital media, from initial design to a finished form and polished presentation.

Please refer to the Schedule

Setting the scene - tools

The workshop begins with several sessions that introduce digital media and authoring tools. These will include still imagery and video, text and hypertext, mixed multimedia and hypermedia, web sites and stand alone productions, collaborative authoring. We will review some of the software and hardware design and authoring environments - image editing software, hypertext authoring, presentation software like Powerpoint, interactive media authoring like Flash.

Setting the scene - ideas

We will cover some issues in the theory of new media, considering broad topics such as the nature of authorship in digital media, whether IT represents a break with traditional media, and how digital media affect traditional forms such as narrative, performance, interactivity, and live presence.

As well as provide a review, course leaders Joe (Joseph Adler) and Michael (Michael Shanks) will take the class through their own experiments in new media, as well as intoducing some of their favorite work done by others - take a look at Resources.

Project concept and design

In week four we will focus on projects to be run by workshop members. The first stage will be to come up with the concept and design for a work in new media that can be delivered in six weeks. Class members may work alone or in groups on any body of material they wish, and to produce any kind of digital or digitally designed/produced/enhanced/delivered work. It might be an interactive narrative, an annotated slide show, a Powerpoint presentation, an online diary or blog ...

Project designs and plans will be presented in class for comment.

Production

From week five we move to a full workshop format. Support will be provided to help class members achieve their goals - a first class and personal production to be proud of.

Each session will revolve around discussion and work on the different projects. Joe and Michael will bring in any resources necessary to stimulate and inform the different projects.

The classroom and support environment

The class is held in Building 160 room 127, one of Stanford's new high-tech classrooms. Everyone has access to a personal laptop through which they may share their ideas and work. We have also set up a wiki web site (this one!) through which class members may easily interact and work on their ideas.

We have all sorts of equipment available in the metaMedia Lab in Stanford's Archaeology Center - cameras, scanners, workstations. Of course Stanford is well-equipped to support any kind of digital ambition.

Review and final presentations

Week ten will be given over to final presentation of project work. Final productions are due on Wednesday June 9.

Assessment

25% of final grade - project design and pre-presentation - due April 21

75% of final grade on final presentation/production - due June 9

We are looking for projects that are imaginative, innovative in their use of material and media. This is not to be confused with technical facility. A super smooth web site that is clichéed and produced to formula, for example, is, of course, not as interesting as a technologically less demanding text-based production that works imaginatively with a non-linear format.

Crucially this means that the course is open to neophytes as well as digital cogniscenti. Anyone with any skill level is welcome as long as they are willing to think outside the box on whatever it is that grabs them in the humanities.