Assignment for next week (February 20th)
Posted by kscott on February 14, 2007
Due to the snow storm and canceled class last night, I have moved the first essay paper due date back by one week. Therefore, Essay #1 will now be due on February 27th, instead of next week. I also moved up a reading from the week of the 27th to next week (to make the reading lighter during the week your essay is due). So please make sure that you note the additional reading for next week (Donna Haraway’s “Cyborg Manifesto”). I also took away the previous Turkle article.
For next week, please read the following:
- Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the Late Twenthieth Century,” (CR 291)
- Diana Gromala, “Pain and Subjectivity in Virtual Reality,” (CR 598).
Instead of blogging about the readings for next week, please start giving some serious thought to your Essay #1 topic, and post an essay proposal here with the following information:
- What is the question that you want to explore and/or attempt to answer with this essay?
- What sources from our class assigned reading do you expect to utilize in attempting to further explore and answer your question?
- Suggest at least two outside/independent resources that you expect to utilize (scholarly writing that we have NOT read for class) and give a very general summary of what those resources talk about/speak to and HOW you anticipate they might help you answer your question.
Once you have sent in this information to the blog, I will read and make suggestions for each of you, if needed, and then approve your essay proposal.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to email me.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
I would further like to explore the topic of legal issues concerning intellectual property in virtual reality. Using the piece we read in class by Steve Jones as a starting point for the conversation, I’d like to investigate other spaces in VR (like SecondLife) where these issues surface. I think it will be important to ask questions like: Should the content a person creates while in VR be subject to copyright laws? Are we even able to appropriately and consistently distinguish between what is real and what is a copy? How can we compare the copyright battles of online music with those of VR? What are the challenges facing Virtual Libraries when it comes to intellectual property?
Sources
Where Real Money Meets Virtual Reality: The Jury Is Still Out
Real-World Lawyer Files Suit Against Virtual-World Maker
Who Really Owns Your ‘Second Life’? This is a good article about Second Life and ownership of content created while participating. The larger site http://www.secretlair.com has many articles regarding VR copyright laws.
Virtual Libraries: Myth and Reality: This site discusses intellectual property and virtual libraries.
February 19th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
For this paper i will attempt to look at African Americans and cyberspace. Because this is such a broad and complex topic, i intend to explore this paper within the context of a web site that i recently came across called black cyberspace.com. In this web site the author acknowledges the buying power that black folk have and also recognizes that knowledge is power. The web site promises that by signing up for a fee , black folk in america will have unlimited access to information across the African diaspora. The author goes on saying that at “ black cyberspace online , we are determined that the African American community will have access to information knowledge and power through technology”. The underlying assumption in this statement is that black folk have no power in American society, so my paper will focus on this concept of power through technology (cyberspace). That is, can power within cyberspace have an impact in changing the situation of the powerless in the ‘real’?. In other words can information and knowledge obtained within constructed communities in cyberspace translate to power that can change the situation of the historically marginalized in American society ?
As i mentioned before i will attempt to explore these questions within the context of the above mentioned web site. Because this web site caters towards a specific community that has been historically marginalizedl in America, it is important that we explore the legitimacy of the power that these kinds of web sites promises their customers.
I intend to use Jean Baudrillard “Simulacra and Simulations “ Study, Lisa Nakumura “Race In/ for Cyberspace : identity and Racial Passing on the Internet “ and Susan Kretchmer “ The Color of the Net : African Americans, Race, and Cyberspace. also i am very open to suggestion on any paper, journals or books that people know of that are related to this topic.
February 20th, 2007 at 7:37 am
I plan to write about the idea of creating the perfect body in cyberspace. The article from last week had a quote “The body without organs is the perfect body-forever reproducible.” The idea that we can create something immortal, linked with the Western notion of immortality, is an interesting paradox to me. We are a culture that doesn’t incorporate our mortal existence in everyday life. Death is something that we don’t like thinking about, and in turn we glorify our own selves and go around thinking our days aren’t numbered. Yet, we are in fact aware of our impending fate, because why else would we try to create something that has no time limit? What is the fascination with the idea of having a “forever reproducible” body? The organic nature of our ‘real’ bodies must be missing something that can be found in cyberspace, and I want to research that concept. I also want to touch on our culture’s obsession with physical/aesthetic perfection, and how cyberspace gives one the place to possible create a manifestation of that desire. I don’t really know where to find the readings I need, but I plan on first studying the ‘real world’- and our relationship to our bodies and our mortality, then I will search for pieces that directly link the two worlds in relation to that concept. (if anyone has any suggested readings, that would be really nice:)
February 20th, 2007 at 11:39 am
I would like to focus on the information vacuum we place ourselves in every time we use the internet. Our individual worlds are only as big as our imaginations can will us. It is not like the external world where information is thrown at us and we choose whether or not to accept it, we shape the majority of the forums on the internet, and I believe we unconsciously allow for what emotions we recieve in VR conversations and interactions.
Readings: none yet, in the words of nedda, “(if anyone has any suggested readings, that would be really nic :)”
February 20th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Are we in control of our bodies, or is the spectacle of the body in control of us? What kind of agency do we have in cyberspace, and how do we get heard if we don’t resemble some sort of spectacle that can be understood and translated by others? i.e. how do we have agency without some having something visually attractive and visually communicative? I’m prompted after reading “Critical Art Ensemble” and “Erotic Ontology of Cyberspace” to reconsider the way I understand my reality and sense of control in cyberspace, and how I perceive myself and project myself in cyberspace, including what sorts of pages, peoples, icons, “spectacle” if you will, attract my attention. In what ways does the spectacle control how we design ourselves and distribute information in cyberspace? I’d like to look into a few online sources I found that I think may reveal a little more about the human tendency to create their reality according to idealizations, including idealizations of what’s beautiful, desired, or normal in order to be acknowledged, and how these spectacles don’t necessarily free us but perpetuate idealizations of the body we get from the real world. “Body image as an oppressive force in the lives of women,” is one article I’ve book marked, as well as “Cyberspace and the Technological Real”. Here, the author discusses some on how “cyberspace is either a space for the radical liberation of the self from the body or one that simply evokes the same old assumptions and values of Western metaphysics.” I may also use some Foucault and his theory of distinguishing the normal through defining the “abnormal,” and see how this relates to our understanding of cyberspace as spectacle of the body. I’d like to use a book by Charles Guignon called, “Being Authentic,” which may give some incite as to how idealizations and conceptions of the self dictate our purpose in life, and find relations to how idealizations dictate how we create an identity.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Through our readings so far, we know that women journey to cyberspace to find companionship, advice, and sex. There is no denying that women have sexual urges and desires, the same as men. But, my question is, Is cybersex liberating or vicitimizing for women? I want to approach this question through a femeinists lens. Looking specifically to the porn industry and its relation/influences, as well as to look at how religion looks at the act of cyber-sexing.
I have so far found an artical by an NYU professor speaking to the empowerment that can be found in cybersex for women. And another artical addressing the harmful consciquences of the porn industry on women. Still looking for more though.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Anne Balsamo says the visualization technologies no longer mimic or represent reality- they virtually recreate it. My question, are we trying to recreate the virtual world in reality? Are the two beginning to blend together? If you look at some of the latest architectural designs they seem to have a techno, futuristic feel to them. Is technology completely invading us? I would like to investigate the effects that technology and cyberspace are having on real space. We are already consumed by the electronic world becoming a part of the computer mainframe every waking day. Will our public and private spaces begin to transform into a replicated cyber world? I want to look at how the advancements in technology are changing the techniques and designs of architecture. Read philosophies of hot architects and challenge how their philosophies could change our future. Research what architecture schools are offering to their students and what we should expect in future designs. As stated by James Howard Kunstler “the miss-use of technology has become the fatal disease of civilization.” Buildings are becoming more supernatural and are alienating our human existence.
I was thinking of using the essay by Kevin robins, chapter four of the cyber cultures reader. I will also look into so architecture books but I’m not sure what yet. If anyone has in suggestion it would be appreciated.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
I think going to look at the projected and sometimes false perception of ’safe anonymity’ on the internet (or over cyberspace) and what this does to people’s assumed or actual identities in virtual space. Its existence has led to the creation of the some of the internet’s most popular phenomenon, heroes, and villains, and plays a large role in the Internet’s formulating history. Why does the notion of ‘Anonymous’ appeal to us as a people and how do we react once we get there.
Most of the class readings about projected identity in virtual space, including the ‘Julie’ incident, can help me here.
[Note: Alex found these through the library, so could not link to them here -- but below are the titles]
“Internet Use or Internet Addiction”
“Chinese Dissident Hits Yahoo on Info Release”
” ‘Hanging out in Runescape’: Identity, Work and Leisure in the Virtual Playground”
February 20th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
I would like to interrogate the idea that conceptions of the body in cyberspace/cyborgs are ultimately based on humanist assumptions. Humanism, in an attempt to isolate a universal human essence, likely belies the hopes that technology will save us. The idea is that the reduction of human essence can only be found outside the realm of humanity; once humans are all cyborgs will we know what we’ve lost. I would like to explore the cyborg and “the body” in VR as manifestations of a humanist tradition. I don’t intend to attempt to debunk what we’ve read about cyborgs (Haraway) or Balsamo or Mcrae’s observations about cyber-subjectivity. I would like to interrogate their assumptions, complicate the conceptualization. I will necessarily incorporate readings from Postmodernism and Posthumanism class, but we haven’t gotten to posthumanism yet—which may be obvious by this blog entry. We’ve read selections from Althusser, Barthes, and Foucault in a reader entitled Posthumanism. I think they would be helpful, but I’m kindof overwhelmed after writing this. They record the end of man in the birth of scientific reason and the death of god. I think I need more of a focus and a clarification of my own question, before I anticipate how it might be answered. By accepting the posthuman notion that there is no universal human essence, it becomes unlikely that humans will all use computers in the same way, conceptualize their experiences similarly. I would like to ultimately question the universalizing nature of the cyborg and conceptions of bodies in VR.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
does an VR social life diminish physical social skills away from a computer or can VR help ones social life flourish, acting as a testing ground for people to overcome shyness or disability? Using technology to overcome obsticles, whether the obsticles be a language or cultural barrier, is one of the better uses for such things as the internet. A Deaf person could fall in love with a musician, although they have little in common in the outside world, they can find they have a lot of things to talk about on the interent, could that still develope into a functional relationship away from a computer? to me it seems like the hypothetical couple might be better off on the internet where the initial attraction took place. is there such thing as love at first virtual enviornmental sight? if yes, what would you call it? I know they are a lot of questions but i feel like i’m getting more into this class
outside soruces:
The Social Life of Avatars: Presence and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments
by Ralph Schroeder
various online forums and
I’m sure i could find something more relevant to what we’ve been reading in class. but still any other ideas would be the sweetest.
February 20th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
I’m going to look at web-constructed identity/personalities, specifically with video. Websites like Vimeo (a video extension of the MySpace concept) and YouTube-stars like lonelygirl15 offer seemingly real glimpses into other peoples’ lives. I’m guessing it’s incorrect to think that video offers a truer or more-real representation of it’s subject than anything else on the internet. At any rate, it’s an issue I’d like to explore.
Texts
Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations”
Other sources would be more statistical,mapping growth patterns/potential:
-what kinds/how many personal videos are being uploaded/viewed (per day/month/year)
-when this trend began
-how it’s grown
-target markets
February 20th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
AJ. I was thinking about your paper topic and it occurred to me that it revolves around the (inter)action of “surfing the internet.” I think you could interrogate that term–historical application, whether or not it’s a viable analogy to the self-navigated journey in what you referred to as an “information vacuum.”
February 23rd, 2007 at 11:20 am
awww thanks sugar pie. i spose I shall.