[iDC] sharing "new media" curricula/potentials

[rachel beth egenhoefer]

Greetings iDC List,

There are a lot of really good questions that have been raised by 
Tiffany (and by Margaret from last week) that I would like to respond 
to, and also expand a bit on what Shawn Lawson had added in...

I think both Margaret and Tiffany brought up some very valid points 
that "New Media" departments are often advertised as interdisciplinary 
but in reality are quiet focused in isolation.  What I think has 
happened is that "digital media" has infiltrated into many different 
disciplines; photography, design, sculpture, textiles, painting, etc.  
So when before the photo kids would come to "digital media" to learn 
say Photo Shop or digital video, now those students can take those 
classes within their own department.  Just as digital technology is 
immersing itself into everyday life, it it immersing itself into every 
day curricula of other departments.  This leaves "digital media" 
departments left to think "Well, how are we different? What can we 
teach that these other departments can't?" (this here also gets into 
department politics, enrollment numbers, and course offerings...) And 
the answer many times is that the "digital media" department then 
decides to, instead of being all combining and interdisciplinary, they 
focus in and narrow in on one particular topic.  And that is when we 
see departments become isolationist.  The focus of the department 
becomes only about mobile media, or data visualization, or software 
art, etc.  So while these tiny communities do show elements of being 
interdisciplinary they only interest the few who then become isolated 
into a tiny topic rather than this large all encompassing idea.

Which leaves a good question, how do "digital media" departments 
situate themselves in a place of their own without closing themselves 
off?

Shawn raised a good question stating: "The computer's presence and 
ubiquitousness is very intoxicating. One device for web, phone, radio, 
tv, email, writing, messaging, gambling, gaming, and more. My concern 
is for students of new media who live this singular point of 
multi-connectedness. The availability of internet access in the 
classroom is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Should curriculum 
look at addressing this?"

YES!  I think curriculum must address this.  (In fact my "Introduction 
to Digital Media" curriculum does address this.)  Students today live 
in an interconnected world where they are surrounded by technology, 
just as other departments are also surrounded by technology.  On one 
hand, students are coming to the classroom with more technical skills 
than before.  Many students already know how to use PhotoShop and 
iMovie, they know basic HTML from customizing their MySpace pages, and 
how to compress their quicktimes in order to post them on YouTube.  So 
one place I would argue that "digital media" departments can 
distinguish themselves from other departments using technology is to 
directly address these issues.  While other departments might use 
digital tools, we need to address the concepts/ causes/ effects of 
these tools.  Curriculum does need to address the conceptual and 
cultural framework that has made us an inter-connected society.

And here of course comes the catch 22... While it is important to teach 
students to question why they have blogs, and what it means for them to 
post images on the web, and what impact all of this technology has on 
the larger world both artistic and cultural, often what the 
administration, and the parents, and the students want to learn is... 
software.  So while they do come in knowing more and more and having an 
obvious familiarity to technology they also come wanting to know Flash, 
and PHP, and DVD Studio Pro, and all the other "cool programs".  As a 
young faculty member myself, I see the demand for professors who can 
teach software to be ever increasing.  In many departments the younger/ 
newer faculty juggle teaching software and theory at the same time, 
while faculty who have been around for much longer have no idea even 
how to make a simple web page or apply a filter in Photo Shop.  It 
becomes a never ending and sometimes frustrating task to keep up with 
every upgrade and new version of software to teach the newest tricks.  
So while in the past, the focus of "digital media" programs has been 
purely on concept, it seems to now be driven by software.  (And 
ironically back to the same question of how does a "digital media" 
department approach teaching software that is different than the way 
Communications teaches Final Cut Pro or Computer Science teaches Java 
or Photography teaches Photo Shop?)

So while I think I raised more questions than I answered, I will end 
with a few notes on how I teach this confusing topic of "digital 
media"... I don't like to teach software, but rather teach students how 
to teach themselves software because by the time they graduate there 
will be a newer version or a newer program and there won't always be a 
teacher there to show them.  Likewise I encourage them to question 
every tool they use and what impact that has on the message of their 
work.  I look at ways that our inter-connected society blurs the line 
between art and culture and encourage students to actively engage in 
the world around them questioning how these technologies impact them 
and their art. The university demands that the technical aspect of 
"digital media" be there, and the field demands that the conceptual 
aspect be there.  But rather than isolate into "new media" land, it is 
important to remain open and constantly question how this technology 
interacts with the larger social, cultural, and artistic world.

Rachel Beth Egenhoefer


Rachel Beth Egenhoefer
rachel at cadre.sjsu.edu
www.rachelbeth.net
http://dma.sjsu.edu/~rachel
.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .
Interim BFA Advisor, Lecturer
CADRE Laboratory for New Media
San Jose State University
http://cadre.sjsu.edu/
.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .
Faculty Advisor
SWITCH New Media Art Journal
http://switch.sjsu.edu

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 6327 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.thing.net/pipermail/idc/attachments/20070123/24243e79/attachment-0002.bin