Course Schedule

Course Schedule

Start > Leuphana Bachelor (B.A./B.Eng./B.Sc./LL.B.) -> Major Digital Media -> History and Epistemology of Digital Media

Lehrveranstaltungen

Epistemology of VR (Seminar)

Termin:
14-täglich | Dienstag | 14:00 - 17:30 | 03.04.2023 - 07.07.2023 | HMS 231/232

Inhalt: Title: Epistemology of VR In this seminar, we will trace the notion of virtual reality (VR) historically. By looking at ideas and visions from various fields (tech, arts, military-industrial complex), we will try to get a handle on the influences that shaped the idea over the years. Furthermore, we want to disentangle how VR relates to other – preceding and/or neighbouring – concepts of human-computer interaction (e.g. augmented reality, simulation, telepresence, immersion, cyberspace, …). The texts we will discuss range from research papers to vision statements to (popular) literature and media theory. Most of theses texts we will treat as historic documents in the sense that they will offer us an insight into the discourses and debates of certain moments in time.

Leuphana Bachelor - Major Digital Media - History and Epistemology of Digital Media

History of Computing: AI (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Jan Müggenburg

Termin:
14-täglich | Donnerstag | 09:45 - 13:15 | 10.04.2023 - 07.07.2023 | HMS 139

Inhalt: „The history of artificial intelligence (AI) dates back to the 1950s, when researchers first began working on the development of intelligent machines. Since then, AI has evolved significantly, and it has become an integral part of our daily lives. In this seminar, we will explore the history of AI, from its early beginnings to the present day. We will examine the key milestones that have shaped the development of AI, as well as the challenges and controversies that have emerged along the way. We will also discuss the current state of AI and its potential future impact on society. By the end of this seminar, you will have a deeper understanding of the history of AI and its place in the world today.“ The seminar description above was not written by me, the teacher of this course, but is the result of my request on the Chat.OpenAI.com website: "Write an introductory text to a seminar on the history of AI". AI writing the texts for a seminar on the history of AI: Is this the hard reality we have to accept and live with from here on? What we're really going to do in this course is: problematize, critique, and destabilize AI beyond the capabilties of artificial intelligence-systems. We will ask what the term intelligence really means in the context of AI research and how it has changed over the history of computing. We will address the exploitative practices that underlie contemporary AI systems, the industry behind them, and the political interests and neo-colonial ideologies. In short, together we will experience a seminar on the history of AI for which an AI cannot write the seminar text.

Leuphana Bachelor - Major Digital Media - History and Epistemology of Digital Media

History of Computing: The Early Digital (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Jan Müggenburg

Inhalt: Today, the term "digital" is used to describe and explain pretty much all the major transformations of our time. Communication, work, friendship, love, intelligence, mobility, leisure, entertainment and, last but not least, education are all associated with a process that is commonly referred to as »digitization« and that has significantly changed human life on our planet in recent decades. While when using the term we are recognizing that the cultural transformations of our time share a deep connection to the technology of digital computing, sometimes it is not entirely clear what people actually mean when they refer to something as »digital«. But if we don't want to accept the term "digital“ as a meaningless marker for everything present, but instead want to find out why the term has become so ubiquitous and universal, we need to go back in time and visit some of the many media-historical sites in the middle of the 20th century where "digitality" had its origins.  In this course, we will thus look at the people, machines, and practices that shaped the technologies and techniques that we today call »digital«. From John von Neumann to Douglas Engelbart and from the ENIAC to the invention of the computer mouse we will cover a period from 1945 to 1970 where the first electronic digital computers were created, and the computer industry began to develop. Taking into account recent publications in the field of computer history, we will also ask how the »digital« relates to the categories of race, class, gender, and disability. For example, we will consider the important role of women in the history of computing and critically assess problematic concepts such as the notion of a 'normal computer user’.

Leuphana Bachelor - Major Digital Media - History and Epistemology of Digital Media

History of Computing: The Personal Computer, Hackers, Gamers, and Early Network Communities (1970-1990) (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Barbara Hof

Inhalt: Computer technology underwent a tremendous change with the expansion of microchip production, allowing cheaper units to be built from the late 1970s onward. This development made computers affordable for more people. However, their entry into offices, schools, and private homes was not a simple “success story.” To better understand the history of the personal computer from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, it is therefore important to take into account how people advocated, criticized, used, reinvented, or hacked them; to consider how people played, communicated, and learned with computers; and, not least, to look at who was left behind and excluded from the making of a "mainstream media". Based on research articles as well as print sources, advertisements, and popular media from this period, we explore the personal computer as a medium that transformed cultural activities and everyday life. We learn how the computer became ubiquitous through its alignment with trade, administration, and education. We also explore the little-known stories of early network communities and their communications, and learn more about the first computer gamers.

Leuphana Bachelor - Major Digital Media - History and Epistemology of Digital Media