Syllabus
Why did the first US supercomputing research center and the world’s first web browser emerge at the University of Illinois? What did the campus have to do with the emergence of electronic music in the 1950s, cybernetics history in the 1960s, the development of the internet and online video games in the 1970s, and the first digital library in the 1980s? Who were the diverse women and men who were involved with such innovations?
This course provides an overview of the histories of interdisciplinary technological innovations and innovation cultures that emerged on the Urbana-Champaign campus, bridging students and researchers across the fields of engineering, humanities, science and the arts.
We will study examples, such as accessibility, from the history of the campus’ founding and development. From being one of the nation’s first Land Grant institutions in 1862, opening access to higher education for diverse classes of students, to its development of the first Disabilities Resources and Educational Services (DRES) office on campus, Illinois was instrumental in standardizing accessibility in new architectural designs, athletic programs, and sports programs in the 20th Century. This case is just one of many this course covers that demonstrates how interdisciplinary cultural convergences helped the campus lead in innovations around design for a diverse public.
Students will use a variety of primary sources, from interviews and news media, to advertisements, to materials drawn from the University Archives. As part of a final research project, students will produce their own short-form video documentary. We will welcome at least two guest speakers, visit the Student and University Archives and explore how the history of regional and local innovations at Illinois helps us understand contemporary innovation practices and ventures, from the growth of new design centers across US campuses to contemporary practices in accessibility design.
By the conclusion of the course, students will be able to narrate various “Illinois firsts” of which many off and on-campus, in our experience, have very little knowledge. While the first half of the course mainly concentrates on historical readings on interdisciplinary and innovative case studies of often overlooked technological developments design centers at UIUC, the second half will have students collaborate in small groups of 2-3 classmates in producing 3-5 video-based stories based on course content.
All readings and clips for discussion are available through the Readings/Schedule page. While discussing historical readings as a class, we will critically assess the production and distribution of such stories and what makes successful documentary video clips charismatic, as well as host speakers with experience and expertise with the different innovations highlighted in our readings and class sessions.
*Note: This course is part of the work of the Humanities Without Walls Innovation in the Global Midwest research cluster. This Mellon-funded research collaboration brings together scholars from UIUC, Purdue University, and the University of Minnesota. It adopts a distinct approach to innovation studies by looking to shed light on inter-disciplinary digital developments in the Midwest – from educational and public computing, to precision agriculture and rural big data processing, to electro-acoustic design – that necessarily bridged expertise from social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and humanities; and that have frequently been overlooked, even as they have played roles in reshaping global disciplinary imaginaries, markets, and ecologies. We propose a strategy to develop a means to extend research and pedagogical resources – both existing and proposed, and both physical and digital – to expand greater visibility of such local, multi-disciplinary histories around collaborative regional innovation.
Requirements:
Though the main assignment at the conclusion of the course will be the student-produced video, there will be various assignments leading up to the video that will guide students’ thinking in terms of their intended audience, distribution plan, and content for the video. Not only will this provide opportunities for stimulating ideas in relation to the videos and receiving instructor feedback while they are in development, but they will also augment course conversations on the complex nature of narrating local innovations.
Weekly readings will be posted to our class site. A weekly reaction (min. 2 pages) to the reading/s should also be posted to your own Scalar site, and the link sent to me by 9A Mondays. We’ll start our own Scalar sites on the first day of class. Reactions should identify arguments, common themes, oppositions, and issues worthy of further discussion, and should articulate Two Key Questions that extend insights and tensions that emerge from the texts. Use of visuals are terrific, but should not be used as filler or in place of analysis. No incompletes/makeups are assigned.
* We'll start our Final Project Video Screenings in class on Wednesday 12/13 at 1PM sharp. Be on time. A late arrival counts as a late submission.
Final Project: Due Wednesday 12/13:
* print out and hand in by 1PM in class on Wed. 12/13:
- Final Treatment (full transcript – with quotes and voiceover transcribed)
o Title with Pitch (1 paragraph, 3-4 sentences) at the very beginning
o Full description of image content in images used and movement direction
- 2-3 Page (min) Essay on Work Process
o 1-2 pages on research: on finding and selecting primary sources; and on interview analysis (logging, content analysis, selecting quotes)
o 1 page on use of editing tools
- 1 page w/ 6 Bibliographical Citations (we have given you 5 during the course of the class, including the articles on DRES, Expanding Horizons, Brad Hedrick Interview, and Student Archive)
o You should add 1 new bibliographical source
You'll turn in your Video Project IN CLASS on Wednesday 12/13 (so don't worry about exporting and submitting the link to your project the night before). Just make sure your project includes the below:
Video Elements Checklist
- length 150-200 seconds
- 5 interview clips
- 10 photos/still archival images used
- minimum of 3 animated images: featuring 1 zoom in / 1 zoom out / 1 pan
- use of archival video
- title
- naming caption for interviewee (ie. Brad Hedrick)
- credits: thank you to Brad Hedrick, DRES, Library Archives, Student Life Archives, CITL, College of Media
- closed captions
- music (optional - if you include any music elements, it's to the extra credit/benefit of your project)
Grade Breakdown (tentative):
Participation: 20%
Weekly Scalar blogs: 30%
Treatment assignment: 20%
Final Paper: 10%
Final Video: 20%