Cyberculture Studies

The College is shutting down — no evening classes for tonight, Feb. 13th. Be safe, and I’ll see you all next week.

Check out this short video by Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University.

As discussed in class, very often, a good solid question is as valuable as any answer we may provide. Such questions should serve as the foundation for any exploration into any topic; thus, to begin preparing for our first essay assignment, I want you all to come up with one thoughtful, probing question for each of the following readings:

Assigned readings:• Anne Balsamo, “The Virtual Body in Cyberspace” (CR 489)
• Allucquère Rosanne Stone, “Will the Real Body Please Stand Up? Boundary Stories About Virtual Cultures,” (CR 504)
• “The Electronic Disturbance: Critical Art Ensemble,” originally published by Autonomedia (part 4 of 7); includes “Case 43” from the Notebooks of Jacques Lacan

Post your questions here and indicate which reading you are asking a question of. Also, if you have any questions or become confused at any point, email me.

I found a pretty cool website: http://www.theory.org.uk/ 

Check it out! Lots on web and media theory, too.

* From this point onward, I want you to draw upon any appropriate and relevant previous or current readings to support your thoughts when blogging. You do not have to go into depth, but if you are answering a question in week five (for example) that reminds you of something you learned when we read Baudrillard in week one, then mention it . . . make a reference to it.

** Answer ONE of the following questions, your version thereof, or discuss any other issue that takes your attention within one or both of the readings assigned for this week. Just be sure, as always, to back up your conclusions with textual evidence.

In your assigned reading, “Reality and Virtual Reality,” Steve Jones discusses more of the practical and legal concerns related to “intellectual property” within virtual reality. Jones also points out that perhaps the largest question inherent within such practical and legal discussions, however, is the seemingly endless debate about “What is real?” within virtual reality.

Questions:

1. Do you believe it is necessary to determine “what is real, and what is a copy,” before we are able to answer practical and legal questions around intellectual property within virtual reality? Or, do you believe that our practices within virtual reality will more likely determine our perceptions and beliefs about what is “real”? Explain.

2. In an attempt to answer the question of whether intellectual property can exist within virtual reality (as well as what, if any, intellectual property rights should be included), Jones begins his essay by telling us all the things that virtual reality is NOT:

Unlike its literary and filmic counterparts, the type of virtual reality (VR) discussed in this essay is not a figurative one or a fictitious one, nor is it one constructed from or with the aid of the imagination. [. . . ] It is not a ‘consensual hallucination’. It is not a textual reality produced by the exchange of text messages.

Do you believe that Jones successfully supports (within his overall discussion) his claims that virtual reality (for his analytical purposes) is not any of the above? Why or why not?

3. Does Jones convincingly and effectively explore the practical and legal concerns of intellectual property without discussing the figurative, ficticious, or the role of the imagination? Explain.

4. Jones seems to want to avoid certain approaches when talking about intellectual rights within virtual reality (i.e. philosophical, psychological); do you believe one can avoid such discussions when considering the legal and/or practical questions and consequences of the virtual world? Explain your reasoning.

5. Jones argues that because virtual reality is naturally “immersive . . . VR is, like reality, unframed by anyone or anything but the viewer.” What does Jones mean by this? And do you agree or disagree? Explain.

6. In your reading, “Coming Apart at the Seams: Sex, Text and the Virtual Body,” Shannon McRae argues that erotic interactions in cyberspace create an opportunity to explore different experiences of our bodies and pleasure, but that in doing so, we must also reconceptualize the ways in which we experience our own “embodied subjectivity.” What exactly does she mean by this? What examples does she give?

7. McRae also read Heim’s “Erotic Ontology of Cyberspace,” but disagreed with many of his conclusions. What is McRae’s primary dispute with Heim? Why?

8. Although McRae doesn’t make specific comparisons to any visually-based virtual environment, she argues that text-based virtual environments can often provide emotionally intense and highly meaningful human interactions. Reflecting on McRae’s essay, in what ways might text-based virtual environments provide even more emotional intensity than visually-based virtual environments, and why?

9. According to McRae, in what ways is gender (and our social concept of gender) as a “primary marker of our identity” seriously subverted?

10. Considering Weaver’s explanation of schemas (p. 5), if we are in fact calling upon gender schemas, not reinventing “our social constructions [of gender],” but rather using “our defaults” to help us negotiate ourselves and others, then how are we able to so freely experiment with gender roles and gender perceptions in virtual reality? In other words, do we not carry our gender schemas with us into the virtual world? Or do we?

11. In what ways does McRae connect the erotic pleasures of bodies and minds with the erotic pleasures of narrative and text?

For this assignment, you are to write a blog entry that incorporates at least two of the assigned (three) readings.

• Jean Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations” from Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster (Stanford; Stanford University Press, 1988), pp.166-184
• Kevin Robins, “Cyberspace and the World We Live In” (CR 77)
• Excerpt from “Erontic Ontology of Cyberspace” by Michael Heim

In order to get you started, I have listed a number of questions below. You may choose to answer several, one, or none (but come up with your own question to answer). You may also create your own version of any of the questions below. My primary concern is not that you are able to answer my specific questions, but rather demonstrate a level of understanding and critical inquiry around the primary topics being discussed within the assigned readings.

Feel free to write in “blog form,” but make sure that your writing is intelligible and flows in a way that makes sense.

* Be sure that no matter which one you answer (or whatever you choose to focus on) that you make reference to at least two out of the three assigned readings.

QUESTIONS:

1. William Gibson, who coined the term “cyberspace,” writes in Neuromancer that cyberspace is: “A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators . . .” (my italics, 69). After reading the assigned reading, do you agree with Gibson’s assessment that cyberspace is, in fact, a “consensual hallucination”? Explain why or why not. Utilize either Baudrillard, Heim or Robins to help you support your assessment/s.

2. In “The Erotic Ontology of Cyberspace,” Michael Heim suggests that cyberspace is a “tool for examining our very sense of reality.” In what ways does cyberspace challenge our sense of “the real” and/or blur the lines between reality and fantasy (or non-reality)? How would Baudrillard or Robins support or challenge your conclusion/s?

3. Is our sense of “reality” (or what is “real”) changing as a result of cyberspace? Why or why not? In what ways might cyberspace (and our experience of it) inform our sense of reality? In what ways might cyberspace reflect our understanding and/or experience of “the real”? Utilize two of the three authors (Baudrillard, Heim, and Robins) to help support your conclusion/s.

4. Baudrillard suggests that “Simulation is no longer that of a territory, a referential being or a substance. It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal.” What exactly does Baudrillard mean by “hyperreal”? and how does this idea apply to our experiences of cyberspace? In what ways does either Robins or Heim echo or challenge Baudrillard’s concept of “hyperreal”?

5. Baudrillard also argues that “Illusion is no longer possible, because the real is no longer possible.” What does he mean by this? Explain. Would Heim and Robins agree or disagree? Why or why not?

6. Robins’ article, “Cyberspace and the World We Live In,” discusses issues around the concept of “identity.” In what ways does Robins suggest that cyberspace either informs or reflects one’s identity? How might Baudrillard or Heims agree or disagree?

Students: you are responsible for posting to this blog at least once a week during the course of your class. On most occasions, I will begin the weekly blog by posing a set of questions; but even when I do not, you are still responsible for writing an entry in response to whatever we are reading or discussing that week in class. Blog entries MUST be posted by 6 p.m. the day of class in order to count. You are also expected to add to the content of class resources by posting relevant web links, articles, and images.

NOTE: 25% of your grade for this course will be based on your blogs and the content/resources you add. I am not as concerned about length as I am with content. Please make sure that all of your blogs are thoughtful, inquisitive, critical, and utilize the readings and class discussions. Also, it is imperative that you pay attention to what other students are writing on the blog, so that you can respond appropriately.

* This blog has been created for my Cyberculture: Theory students, but I welcome any other comments on this blog, as long as they are related to the study of cyberculture/s.