DTC 354 – DIGITAL STORYTELLING

COURSE SYLLABUS
Summer 2010
Monday, Wednesday 12:00-3:00

Dr. Jason Farman
Email: jfarman@tricity.wsu.edu
Office: West 207A
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesday, 11:00-3:30pm or by appointment
Office Phone: 509.372.7285
Course Website: www.jasonfarman.com/dtc354

Course Description:

In this class, you will create site-specific stories and games around Tri-Cities using mobile technologies and new media interfaces. We will investigate the relationship between narrative and place, between immersion and interfaces, and between stories and games. As we look at the “remediation” of stories onto media that bring story out of the page and onto the street, we’ll ask what story gains by being spread via mobile and site-specific interfaces.

Required Materials:

● Yi-Fu Tuan. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977.
● Markus Montola, Jaako Sternos, and Annika Waern. Pervasive Games: Theory and Design. New York: Morgan Kaufmann, 2009.

Assignments:

Reading are listed on the day they are expected to be complete. You are expected to arrive to class having read/watched the works listed. All assignments and projects are to be turned in at the beginning of class. No work will be accepted via e-mail and computer problems are not an excuse for late work. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Grades:

20% Site-Specific Story Proposal and Presentation
20% Reading Presentation
10% Site-Specific Story Group Goal #1
10% Site-Specific Story Group Goal #2
30% Final Project and Evaluation
10% Participation (Tweet about reading for in-class meetings / about story project when in the field)

Proposal and Presentation:

You will come up with a proposal of a site-specific story that utilizes digital technology. You must type up a 2-3 page proposal (double spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font) that discusses the basic premise of the story and how it will be implemented. You will present your proposal to the class in a 10-minute presentation that utilizes a Prezi presentation (www.prezi.com). You must discuss the story, how it will be site-specific, what technologies it will utilize, and how readers/players will walk through it. The class will choose the top presentations as the group projects for the term. This proposal and presentation are worth 20% of your final grade.

Reading Presentation:

You will prepare a presentation based on the readings for the day you choose to present. You will give an overview of the text and discuss the significance of the reading for the topic of our class. Your presentation must incorporate visuals. Finally, you must guide the class in 15-20 minutes of Q&A. This presentation is worth 20% of your final grade.

Site-Specific Story Group Goals:

On Monday, July 5th, your group will set up a timeline of the writing and placing of your story. You must set 2 goals for your group that you will reach on Monday, July 12th and Monday, July 19th. Your group must bring in proof of meeting these goals at the beginning of class on these days. These are each worth 10%, totaling 20% of your final grade.

Final Project and Evaluation:

As a class, we will walk through each of your projects and everyone will write up an evaluation of their work and the work of the other students in the course. I will also provide each group with my evaluation of their work. Your final project is worth 30% of your grade.

Participation:

Each day, you will use Twitter to give the class a short message about the reading or your hands-on work with the project. For days that we read, you will send a message responding to the text. You can summarize an important part of the text or write about one thing you want to remember about the particular reading. For hands-on work days, you must tweet about the work you are doing, using specifics. When tweeting, begin your Twitter post with the following hashtag: #dtc354, followed by your post. For longer tweets than 140 characters, use http://twitlonger.com/

—Please Note: This syllabus is subject to change at any time according to the professor’s discretion. The assignments below may also include readings handed out in class, which each student is responsible for completing.

Schedule:

Week 1

June 21: Intro

June 23 and 24: Trip to Pullman to play University of Death (http://universityofdeath.wordpress.com/)
● Thursday: Discussion and lecture with graduate students
● Watch Frontline: Digital Nation and discuss

Week 2

June 28:
● Space and Place, pg. 3-18, 35-50
- Topics: “Space” vs. “Place”; How we Experience Space in the Body
● Pervasive Games pg. 1-45
- Topics: Blurring Material and Virtual Spaces; Pervasive Gaming Genres
● Rita Raley, “Mobile Media Poetics” Proceedings of the 2009 Digital Arts and Culture Conference.
- Topics: Literary Uses of Mobile Technologies; Poetry and Text Messaging; Public Space
● Examples of Site-Specific Narratives
● In-Class Work on Project Proposals

June 30:
● Presentations 10min (submit written 2-3 page proposal and Prezi)
● Select and Refine Final Choices for Group Projects

Week 3

July 5:
● Space and Place, pg. 67-100
- Topics: Spatial Ability; Knowledge of Place; Cultural Learning of Space
● Pervasive Games, pg. 71-110
- Topics: Space and Gaming (e.g. Urban Environments), Time and Story-Games
● Steve Benford, et al. “The Frame of the Game: Blurring the Boundary between Fiction and Reality in Mobile Experiences,” CHI 2006 Proceedings.
- Topics: Fiction in Mobile Games; Mixed-Reality Performances; Audience and Readers/Players
● Finalize project idea / Set timeline and goals

July 7: s
Work Day

Week 4

July 12:
● Space and Place, pg. 101-135
- Topics: Architecture, Experiences of Time across Space
● Pervasive Games, pg. 111-157
- Topics: The Social Aspects of Pervasive Games, Pervasive Game and Story Design
● Goal #1 assignment from timeline due

July 14:
Work Day

Week 5

July 19:
● Space and Place, pg. 136-178
- Topics: Intimate Spaces; Visibility and Space
● Pervasive Games, pg. 175-212
- Topics: Mobile Games; Ethics and Privacy
● Goal #2 assignment from timeline due

July 21: Work Day

Week 6

July 26: Work/Finalize Project

July 28: Project Walkthrough
. Thursday: Project walkthrough