CMS 315 B: History of New Media

Autumn 2023
View in MyPlan View in Time Schedule
Meeting:
MW 12:30pm - 2:20pm / MGH 231
SLN:
23201
Section Type:
Lecture
Instructor:
ROBOTS AND VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

CMS 315B: History of New Media: Robots and Virtual Assistants

 

Still frame of Angela Childs--a light-skinned Black woman with blue hair--sitting in a waiting room. Angela is looking at Kimi, an Alexa-like smart speaker which sits in the foreground. Kimi is dark gray and shaped like a cone. In this photo, Kimi's base is lit up with pink lights, indicating that it is listening to its surroundings.

Date and Time: Monday/Wednesday 12:30 pm-2:20 pm

Location: Mary Gates Hall, rm. 231 

Professor: Golden M. Owens (gmowens@uw.edu)

TA: Yandong Li (yandong@uw.edu)

My Office Hours: By appointment only: https://calendly.com/gmowens/office-hours 

Yandong's Office Hours: By appointment



Course Description: 

This course will engage and explore robotic and virtual servants and assistants in film, television, and commercial advertisements from the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will watch, analyze, and discuss media from a range of decades and genres, examining these AI and robotic assistants as new media and considering their intersection with race, gender, sexuality, and class. How have media representations of these assistants changed, and not changed, over time? To what extent do these depictions vary across genre and medium? How do fictional assistants compare to their real-world counterparts, such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa? How and why are fictional and real-world virtual/robotic assistants raced, gendered, and classed, and what are the implications of these markings? And what purpose—beyond simply service or assistance—do these aides ultimately serve for global consumers? 



Expectations:

Students must engage the assigned readings and media carefully and come to the seminar prepared to thoughtfully contribute to the in- class discussion. Bring all readings, and your notes on them, to class, and be ready to debate, unravel, and critically engage all texts. While I will work collaboratively to facilitate discussion, you are tasked with the intellectual engagement of the seminar. In other words, the quality of the discussion will depend on what you bring to the conversation. On another note, please be respectful of your classmates. The content in this class will, at times, be heavy and sensitive. Be courteous and exercise collegiality and tolerance of divergent perspectives during these times. Furthermore, be supportive of your colleagues, and learn from them. And when in disagreement, please be sincere and respectful of dissenting opinions. This class is not only about the course material but is also an exercise in learning about the diversity of intellectual thought from your colleagues.



Office Hours:

These are an opportunity for you to speak with me about ideas you have for assignments (and solicit advice on finding sources), confusion and/or concern about assignments, and your overall experience of the course. Office hours are a chance for me to assist you in succeeding and excelling in this class. While office hours are optional, I am requiring that students schedule one office hour meeting sometime this quarter. This mandated session is 10% of your final grade. Sign-up slots for this mandatory meeting can be found on Canvas. Meetings may be virtual or in person. 



Coffee Hours:

In addition to formal office hours, I also invite you to schedule informal Coffee Hours meetings. Where Office Hours are a space to discuss questions about and ideas for course assignments and requirements, Coffee Hours are a place for informal conversations and/or discussions about professional development and/or your academic goals or challenges. Sign-up slots for Coffee Hours can be found on Canvas. Meetings will take place at a coffee shop of your choosing on or near campus. 



COVID/Illness Policy:

This is an in-person class. Please feel free to wear a mask at any time if doing so will make you feel more comfortable, and especially if you feel sick or believe you have been exposed to someone who has COVID or any other airborne illness. If you are feeling sick, please do not feel obligated to come to class. If you test positive for COVID, please do not attend class until you have begun testing negative. 



Participation:

Participation is 10% of your final grade. Because I recognize that comfort with speaking in class varies for all students, I will be measuring participation via more than just verbal contributions. Specifically, I will be measuring participation by verbal contribution, participation in in-class activities, timely submission of response papers, and non-required office/coffee hour meetings.



Assignments:

Assigned reading must be completed in advance of each class meeting. While not every session has required media viewing, students must watch all films, TV, and other media assigned prior to the session where this media will be discussed. 

Please come to class prepared to discuss assigned media and all assigned reading.

 

In addition, students must submit a short response paper (250-500 words) due to Canvas by 11 am each Wednesday during weeks 3, 7, and 9. For the response papers, you should identify and discuss one element in the reading that you found interesting, noteworthy, or confusing and relate it to at least one assigned media object (film, TV show, commercial, etc.) that we have engaged with before each paper is due. More specifically: your week 3 response paper may discuss any reading and any media assigned during prior to week 3; your week 7 response paper may discuss any reading and any media assigned between weeks 3 and 7; and your week 9 response paper may discuss any reading and media assigned between weeks 7 and 9. This assignment is designed to encourage you to reflect on and draw connections between course materials as the quarter progresses. If you choose to write a critical analysis paper for your midterm and/or final, you may expand on one or more of your response papers in these longer papers.

 

Response papers will be graded on a four-point scale: 

 

4 points = The paper shows deep engagement with the reading and media
3 points = The paper engages with the reading and media on a surface level.
2 points = The paper fulfills some but not all of the requirements of the assignment.
1 point = The paper does not adequately fulfill any of the requirements of the assignment. 

 

Students must also submit a midterm assignment at the end of week 5. This assignment must be one of the following:

  1. A short critical media analysis essay (5-7 pages, double-spaced) on a topic of your choice. Must analyze at least one of the films/TV episodes/commercials assigned in this class.
  2. A short observational essay (4-6 pages, double-spaced) examining how AI is being discussed and used on social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Youtube) 

 

Your midterm assignment is due by 11:59 pm on October 27th.

 

Finally, students must submit a final assignment during finals week. Your final assignment must be one of the following:

  1. A final paper (8-10 pages, double-spaced) related to the readings, media, and overall themes of the course. The topic of this paper is your choice. If you chose to write a short analysis paper for the midterm paper, this paper may be an extension of that paper. 
  2. A final paper (6-8 pages, double-spaced) discussing how ChatGPT wrote a final paper for this class based on a prompt you provided, focusing on what you learned from the experience and what you would have done differently if you were writing the paper yourself.

 

Your final assignment may be submitted as early as December 8th, and MUST be submitted by 11:59 pm on December 11th. Both assignments should be submitted on Canvas; we will discuss specifics about all assignments closer to their due dates. I encourage you to speak with me, during office or coffee hours, about your plans and ideas for these assignments. 

 

Should you need extensions on any assignments, please let me know AT LEAST 48 hours before the assignment is due. Any requests made after this deadline will NOT be granted, unless in the event of an extreme emergency. 



Grading Scale:

 

A: 90-100 (3.6-4.0)   B: 80-89 (3.0-3.5)   C: 70-79 (2.0-2.9)   D: 60-69 (1.0-1.9)   F: Below 60 (0.0-0.9)



Grading Breakdown:

Mandatory Meeting: 10% of grade

Participation: 10% of grade

Response Papers: 15% of grade

Midterm Assignment: 30% of grade

Final Assignment: 35% of grade



Extra Credit:

Students may submit up to 2 additional response papers in unassigned weeks for extra credit. Each additional response paper will raise the student’s grade by up to 3%.



Attendance Policy:

All class meetings are required parts of the course. If you need to miss class, please let me or your TA know ahead of time; you do not need to disclose your reasons for missing class. It is your responsibility to catch up on the material you missed by consulting with a classmate. 



Academic Integrity:

Students are expected to comply with University regulations regarding academic integrity (https://www.washington.edu/cssc/for-students/academic-misconduct/). If you are in doubt about what constitutes academic dishonesty, speak to me before the assignment is due and/or examine the University website. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an exam (e.g., copying others’ answers, providing information to others, using a crib sheet) or plagiarism of a paper (e.g., taking material from readings without citation, copying another student’s paper). Failure to maintain academic integrity on an assignment will result in a loss of credit for that assignment—at a minimum. Other penalties may also apply, including academic suspension. The guidelines for determining academic dishonesty and procedures followed in a suspected incident of academic dishonesty are detailed on the website. 



A NOTE ABOUT COURSE MEDIA AND THEIR CONTENT:

Some of the content we engage with in this class can be considered “adult,” in the sense that they may represent complex and difficult subject matter, with plots that may reference murder, infidelity, rape, slavery, child abuse, racism, eating disorders, incarceration, domestic violence, war, suicide, hate crimes, and the like. If you are a particularly sensitive viewer or know that you are consistently triggered by such topics, please familiarize yourself with the films on the syllabus in advance, and talk with me about any concerns that you may have right away. All University of Washington students should be aware of the mental health and psychological counseling resources available to them on campus. Please visit this website for details: https://wellbeing.uw.edu/unit/counseling-center/

 

Religious Accommodations Policy:

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

 

Students with Disabilities:

In compliance with University of Washington policy and equal access laws, I am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that you may require as a student with a disability. Please make all known requests for academic accommodations by the first full week of the quarter, or if applicable, as soon as possible once the need for accommodation arises, so arrangements can be made. Students should contact Disability Resources for Students (DRS) for verification and determination of reasonable academic accommodations. For more information, visit: https://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/drs/legislation/



Sexual Harassment Policy: 

It is the policy of the University of Washington that no member of the university community—students, faculty, administrators, staff, vendors, contractors, or third parties—may sexually harass any other member of the community. Sexual harassment is any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, which includes, but is not limited to, unwelcome sexual advances; the use or threatened use of sexual favors as a basis for academic or employment decisions; conduct that creates a hostile, intimidating, or offensive academic or working environment; conduct that has the effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance; and other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive to limit a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from an educational program or activity. Sexual harassment is a type of conduct prohibited under the University’s Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct, which can be found at https://www.washington.edu/dsl/title-ix-policies-against-sexual-harassment/. For more information, visit this site.



Diversity/Safe Space:

I am firmly committed to diversity and equity whereby barriers are removed to create space for all individuals to fully engage in all areas of campus life. Each student's voice has something of value to contribute and students are therefore encouraged to communicate and participate during class meetings. We must take care to respect the individual backgrounds, personal identities, intellectual approaches, and demographics expressed by everyone. Individual differences can deepen our understanding of one another and the world around us, thus making us global citizens. I strongly adhere to the University of Washington’s non-discrimination policy (https://www.washington.edu/admin/rules/policies/PO/EO31.html) and reserve our classroom as a safe space for unique and meaningful dialogue. 

 

Course Schedule

 

Week 1: Welcome!

Wednesday, 9/27: 

First Order of Business: Introduction/Syllabus Review

In-Class Reading + Discussion: 

  • Lisa Gitelman, “New Media,” from Keywords about Media (1 page)
  • Wendy Chun, “Did Somebody Say New Media?” from New Media, Old Media (10 pages)

In-Class Activity: 

  • 5 minute writing assignment: What do you hope to learn/gain from this course? 



Week 2: What’s “New,” Scooby Doo?

Monday, 10/2: 

Readings for Discussion: 

  • Lev Manovich, “What is New Media?” (6 pages)
  • Alexander Galloway, “What is New Media?” (9 pages)
  • Roger Silverstone, “What’s New About New Media?” (3 pages)
  • Eric Sarrion, “What is ChatGPT?” from Exploring the Power of ChatGPT (5 pages)

In-Class Activity: Looking for “New Media”

 

Suggested Reading:

  • Lev Manovich, “New Media: a User's Guide” (1 page)

 

Wednesday, 10/4:

Readings for Discussion: 

  • Ruha Benjamin, “Introduction:” from Race after Technology (32 pages)
  • Neda Atanoski and Kalindi Vora, “Introduction: The Surrogate Human Effects of Technoliberalism” from Surrogate Humanity (26 pages)

 

Suggested Reading:

  • Mark B.N. Hansen, “Introduction,” from New Philosophy for New Media (19 pages)
  • Lisa Gitelman, “Introduction,” from Always Already New (23 pages)



Week 3: How it Started

Monday, 10/9:

Screenings Discussed: 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968; 2h 29m)

Readings for Discussion: 

  • R.U.R. (Karel Čapek, 1920; 16 pages)

  • Liz Faber, “Introduction,” from The Computer’s Voice (24 pages)

 

Suggested reading:

 

Wednesday, 10/11:

*response paper due by 11 am*

Screenings Discussed: “The Lateness of the Hour” (The Twilight Zone, 1960; 25 min.)

Readings for Discussion: 

  • Runaround (Isaac Asimov, 1942; 14 pages)
  • N. Katherine Hayles, “Prologue,” from How we Became Posthuman (5 pages)

 

Week 4: How it’s Going

Monday, 10/16:

Screenings Discussed: Jexi (Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, 2019; 1h 24m)

Readings for Discussion:

  • David N. Levy, “Introduction,” from Love and Sex with Robots (24 pages)
  • Kristen V. Brown, “A Lot of People Think They Could Fall in Love with Siri” (3 pages)

 

Wednesday, 10/18: 

Screenings Discussed: Her (Spike Jonze, 2013; 2h 6m)

Readings for Discussion:

  • Donna Kornhaber, “From Posthuman to Postcinema” (22 pages)
  • Liz Faber, “Behind the Screens,” from The Computer’s Voice ( 24 pages)

 

Suggested Readings:

  • Scott Jollimore, “‘This Endless Space between the Words’: The Limits of Love in Spike Jonze's Her” (23 pages)



Week 5: New Media, Old Prejudice-The Virtual Assistants

Monday, 10/23:

In-Class Screenings: 

Readings for Discussion: 

 

Suggested Reading:

 

Wednesday, 10/25:

In-Class Screenings:

Readings for Discussion: 



Midterm Assignment due Friday, October 27th by 11:59 pm.



Week 6: New Media, Old Prejudice-The Robots

Monday, 10/30:

Screenings Discussed: “Rosey the Robot” (The Jetsons, 1962; 25 min.)

Readings for Discussion: 

  • Gregory Jerome Hampton, “Introduction,” from Imagining Slaves and Robots (9 pages) 
  • Hampton,“Racing Robots and Making Slaves,” from Imagining Slaves and Robots (16 pages)

In-Class Activity: Mid-quarter Feedback

 

Wednesday, 11/1: 

Screenings Discussed: Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014; 1h 50m)

Readings for Discussion: 

 

Suggested Reading:



Week 7: Dystopian Robots

Monday, 11/6:

Screenings Discussed: M3gan (Gerard Johnstone, 2022; 1h 42m)

Readings for Discussion: 

  • Donna Haraway, excerpt from “A Cyborg Manifesto” (33 pages)
  • Robin R. Murphy and Paula deWitte, "M3GAN: The real horror is the lack of ethics in robotics" (3 pages)

Suggested Reading:

 

Wednesday, 11/8: 

*response paper due by 11 am*

Screenings Discussed: I am Mother (Grant Sputore, 2019; 1h 53m)

Readings for Discussion: 

  • Mark Coeckelberg, "Moral appearances: emotions, robots, and human morality" (7 pages)
  • André Schmiljun, "Robot Morality: Bertram F. Malle’s Concept of Moral Competence" (11 pages)
  • Kenneth L. Mercer, “I, Robot?” (1 page)

Suggested Readings: 

  • N. Katherine Hayles, “Toward Embodied Virtuality,” from How we Became Posthuman (24 pages)
  • Alexandra Chasin, “Class and its Close Relations” (24 pages)

 

Week 8: Dystopian AI

Monday, 11/13:

Screenings Discussed: Kimi (Steven Soderbergh, 2022; 1h 29m)

Readings for Discussion: 

  • Clive Thompson, “The Gendered History of Human Computers” (12 page)
  • Mark Andrejevic, “Automating Surveillance" (7 pages)  

 

Suggested Reading:

  • Golden M. Owens, “Kimi, Turn Off” (10 pages)
  • David Alan Grier, “Introduction: A Grandmother’s Secret Life,” from When Computers were Human (8 pages)
  • Melissa Gregg and Rutvica Andrijasevic, "Virtually Absent: The Gendered Histories and Economies of Digital Labour" (7 pages)

 

Wednesday, 11/15: 

Screenings Discussed: 

  • “Fifteen Million Merits” (Black Mirror Season 1 episode 2; 2011, 1 hr.)
  • “Joan is Awful” (Black Mirror Season 6 episode 2; 2023, 1 hr.)

Readings for Discussion: 

In-Class Discussion of Final Exam

 

Suggested Reading: 

 

Week 9: Stranger than Fiction

Monday, 11/20:

Screenings Discussed: 

  • “Love or Money”(Too Hot to Handle, Season 1 Episode 1; 2020, 42 min.) 
  • “Up Ship’s Creek” (Too Hot to Handle, Season 5 Episode 1; 2023, 51 min.)

In-Class Screening: 

Readings for Discussion: 

 

Suggested Viewing:

  • Too Hot to Handle Latino, Season 1, episode 1; 2021, 30 min.)

 

Wednesday, 11/22: 

*response paper due by 11 am*

Screenings Discussed:

  • “Hello Circle” (The Circle, Season 1 Episode 1; 2020, 1h 3m)
  • “Astrologically Matched” (Cosmic Love, Season 1 Episode 1; 2022, 1h 4m)

Readings for Discussion: 

  • Eliza A. Sylvia, “Popularity is Worth $100k” (15 pages)
  • Tara McPherson, “Self, Other and Electronic Media” (10 pages)

 

Week 10: Identity in Cyberspace

Monday, 11/27:

Screenings Discussed: The Matrix (Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 1999; 2h 16m)

Readings for Discussion:

  • Tani Diana Sanchez, “Neo-Abolitionists, colorblind epistemologies and black politics” (23 pages)

Suggested Reading:

  • Saifya J. Noble, “Introduction,” from Algorithms of Oppression (15 pages)
  • Beth E. Kolko, Lisa Nakamura, and Gilbert R. Rodman, “Race in Cyberspace: An Introduction,” from Race in Cyberspace (13 pages)
  • Alexander Galloway, “Does the Whatever Speak?” from Race after the Internet (17 pages)
  • Wendy Chun, “Race and/as Technology” from Race after the Internet (23 pages) 

 

Wednesday, 11/29: 

Screenings Discussed: Dirty Computer [Emotion Picture] (Janelle Monae, 2019; 49 min.)

Readings for Discussion:

  • Zoë Rodine, “Dirty Computers, and Embodied Posthumanism” (22 pages)

 

Week 11: What’s Next?

Monday, 12/4:

Screenings Discussed: Space Jam: A New Legacy (Malcolm D. Lee, 2021; 1h 55m)

Readings for Discussion: 

Suggested Reading:

Wednesday, 12/6: 

In-Class Screening: 

Readings for Discussion: 

 

Suggested Viewing:



Final Assignments due by  11:59 pm PST on Monday, December 11th .




Catalog Description:
Study of new media histories and methodologies for research, with particular emphasis on new and emergent technologies such as the Internet and other digital forms. Specific media to be analyzed vary.
GE Requirements Met:
Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
February 17, 2025 - 8:00 am