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Archive| English 293A | Special
Topics: Memory as Technology/Technology as Memory From Plato to The Matrix |
Charles Baldwin | Fall 2001 | TR | Home |
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HONORS/ENGLISH 293A
Memory
as Technology/Technology as Memory from Plato to The Matrix
TR 830-945, Armstrong 121
Professor Sandy Baldwin
- Stansbury
359 - 293-3107x452 - Office Hours TR 120-220 Ð charles.baldwin@mail.wvu.edu
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. . a computer is nothing but a means for a memory
to get from one state to another.
- Joachim Weyl
There is nothing more
immediate and natural than our memory, or so it seems. At the same time, there
is little to say about memory. We speak of memories recalled and not memory
itself, obliterating the process involved. Rather than repeat and confirm
the self-evident nature of memory, this course argues that the naturalness
and immediacy of our memory is in fact the outcome of applying complex techniques
or "arts of memory." The aim of this course is to understand memory
as technology and technology as memory, in order to grasp the historical production
of individual memory and the cultural significance of archives and memorials.
Every culture is framed by an art of memory as the media by which it invents
itself. While all technologies involve processes of inscription, archivization, and representation, this class argues that
these processes function as arts of memory. All cultural artifacts are memory
technologies or mnemotechnics. The question is whether
mnemotechnics preserve and enable memories, or -
to the contrary - if they produce memories prosthetically.
Is memory the essence of being human or a cultural artifact?
Drawing on a range of
sources, we will examine the art of memory concealed in our concepts of writing,
literature, visual imagery, film, and digital interfaces, as well as in theories
of mind and learning. At stake are competing claims for the mnemotechnics of new media technologies, contrasting the possibility
of a kind of super-human memory with struggles over the nature of historical
memory under digital conditions. Finally, we will examine significant memorials
as memory machines -e.g. the World Wide Web, the Holocaust Museum, the Mormon
"mountain of names," Disneyworld, The Human Genome Project - to
develop a model of cultural mnemotechnology as the medium for historical understanding.
5Required
Materials (at WVU Bookstore)
¤
Jay
David Bolter, Writing Space, 2nd
Ed. (
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Paul
Connerton, How
Societies Remember (
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William
Gibson, Neuromancer
(Ace)
¤
Friedrich
Nietzsche, The Genealogy of Morals and
Ecce Homo, Trans. Walter Kaufmann (Vintage)
¤
Frances
Yates, The Art of Memory (
¤
All
other materials either URLs, electronic reserve (ER), or films
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Benedum Lectures |
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Attend three Benedum Lectures, dates to
be announced (see attached) |
10% |
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10 Short Responses |
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Due Tuesday as noted ¤
Prompts to be distributed ¤
250 words minimum |
10% |
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Attendance/Participation |
¤
Come to class prepared to discuss the texts ¤
Unexcused absences negatively affect participation grade; more than
four unexcused absences negatively affects overall grade ¤
In and out of class group work |
10% |
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Presentations |
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Lead the class ¤
Provide handout/PowerPoint |
20% |
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Proposal & Bibliography |
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Due 11/27 and 12/4 |
20% |
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Project |
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Informational, thesis-driven, web-based ¤
7 pages/1750 words minimum |
30% |
Social
Justice Statement
If you
are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of accommodation
in order to participate in this class, please advise me and make appropriate
arrangements with the Office of Disability Services (293-6700).
Date |
Topic |
Read/View |
Work |
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8/21 |
Introduction |
Galileo
Web <http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/galileo_explore.html>, Memory Arena <http://www.uni-lueneburg.de/memory>, |
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8/23 |
Unit
1 Mneme/Techne |
Flusser, ÒElectronic MemoriesÓ (handout), Davis, ÒTechgnosisÓ <http://www.levity.com/figment/infoangels.html> |
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8/28 |
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Plato,
Phaedrus
<http://plato.evansville.edu/texts/jowett/phaedrus.htm>,
Bolter,
Writing Space (Chap. 6) |
Response
1 |
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8/30 |
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9/4 |
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Borges,
ÒFunes the MemoriusÓ
(ER), Van Tijen, ÒThe Arts of OneselfÓ <http://people.a2000.nl/ttijen/Index.html> |
Response
2 |
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9/6 |
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Dick,
ÒWe Can Remember it for You WholesaleÓ (ER), Gibson, ÒJohnny MnemonicÓ
(ER), Bolter, Writing Space
(Chap. 1) |
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9/11 |
Digital
Anamnesis |
Blade Runner, Bolter, Writing Space (Chaps. 2) |
Response
3 |
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9/13 |
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Blade Runner |
Presentation |
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9/18 |
Unit
2 The
Arts of Memory
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Yates,
The Art of Memory (Intro,
Chaps. 1 & 2), Bolter, Writing
Space (Chap 3) |
Response
4 |
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9/20 |
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Yates,
The Art of Memory (Chaps.
6 & 7) |
Presentation |
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9/25 |
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Yates,
The Art of Memory (Chap. 9,
11), Bolter, Writing Space
(Chap. 4) |
Response
5 |
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9/27 |
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Yates,
The Art of Memory (Chaps.
10 & 17) |
Presentation |
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10/2 |
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Bolter,
Writing Space (Chaps. 5 &
7) |
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10/3 |
Required
Lecture: Either 1) Stuart Moulthrop, "ÔStory,
Game, Theory: Positioning Cybertext,"
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10/4 |
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Bolter,
Writing Space (Chap. 9), Beckett,
KrappÕs Last Tape <http://www.msu.edu/user/sullivan/BeckettKrapp.html> |
Presentation |
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10/9 |
Interface
as Memory |
Bolter,
Writing Space (Chaps. 10),
Bush, ÒAs We May ThinkÓ < http://www.isg.sfu.ca/~duchier/misc/vbush/> Ê |
Response
6 |
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10/11 |
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Presentation |
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10/16 |
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Gibson,
Neuromancer |
Response
7 |
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10/17 |
Required
Lecture: James E. Young, |
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10/18 |
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Gibson,
Neuromancer |
Presentation |
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10/23 |
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Wearable
Computers <http://vismod.www.media.mit.edu/people/flavia/publications.html>,
Memory Palace MOOs <http://vw.indiana.edu>, <http://www.mediamatic.nl/magazine/8_1/8_1Content.html>, Exploratorium,
<http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory,
<http://sunsite.queensu.ca/memorypalace> |
Response
8 |
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10/25 |
Unit
3 Cultural
Memory |
van
Tijen, Ò |
Presentation |
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10/30 |
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Nietzsche,
The Genealogy of Morals |
Response
9 |
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10/31 |
Required
Lecture: Douwe Draaisma, 8:00 pm, G24 Eisland Hall |
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11/1 |
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Nietzsche,
The Genealogy of Morals |
Presentation |
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11/6 |
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Connerton, How Societies
Remember (Intro, Chap 1) |
Response
10 |
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11/8 |
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Connerton, How Societies
Remember (Chaps. 2 & 3) |
Presentation |
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11/13 |
Museums,
Libraries |
Liu,
ÒNew God CityÓ (ER), Holocaust Museum <http://www.ushmm.org>, Bolter, Writing Space (Chap 6), Digital Library Initiative <http://www.dli2.nsf.gov/dlione>,
Project Gutenberg <http://www.promo.net/pg>,
Automatic Reference Librarian <http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/diglib>,
Computer Vision Group <http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/vision.html>,
Digital Libraries for Children <http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/kiddiglib>,
PERSIVAL <http://www.cs.columbia.edu/diglib/PERSIVAL>,
Power Browser Project <http://www-diglib.stanford.edu/diglib/pub/RetrievingInformation.shtml>, |
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11/15 |
Film
as Memory |
La Jetee |
Presentation |
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11/20 |
Thanksgiving |
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11/22 |
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11/27 |
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Memento |
Project
Proposal |
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11/29 |
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Memento |
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12/4 |
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The Matrix |
Annotated
Bibliography |
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12/6 |
Last
Day |
The Matrix |
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12/11 |
Final
Project uploaded by 600 pm |
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