ACTLab: Weird Science: The Sequel

RTF 331R Unique #06921 Fall 2003

An ACTLab Program Course Bridging Production and Studies

Weird Science!: The Sequel

More Action Between The Worlds

Instructor: Sandy Stone, email sandy@actlab.us phone 380-9933

Office: CMA6.122 office hours TBA

Teaching Assistant: Chris McConnell (mcchris@mail.utexas.edu)

Course meets in the ACTLab (CMB 4.110) Wednesday 2-5

This class is about thinking and making. We'll provide food for thought in the form of lectures, readings, and films, but we prefer thinking to grow out of making, rather than the other way around.

At the intersection between real science and science fiction lurks the realm of Weird Science, the hotly contested liminal universe where the action is and where imagination counts as much as experiment.

Like all ACTLab courses, Weird Science: The Sequel is both theory and practice. Through reading and discussion you will explore how different knowledge systems work, how facts are socially constructed and fought over, who polices the boundaries between science and fiction, sex and gender, imaginary and real, human and cyborg, cyborg and monster.

There are no written exams. Instead you will use the theories and tools you acquire during the semester to make stuff about some aspect of weird science. What you make can be in any form: sound, installation, video, computer animation, collage, sculpture, assemblage, performance - you name it. During the semester you will make three projects, using humor, irony, uncommon approaches, and bizarre techniques.

In ACTLab courses we assume a high level of motivation on your part and your willingness to self-start, set your own goals, think independently, collaborate with others, seek help when you need it, and take risks.

Class is in studio and discussion format. This means that your active participation is a requirement of the course. During the semester I expect you to contribute your own ideas and arguments to the discussions, and to be willing to take the risks such contributions imply.

Three times during the semester you will present projects based on your your work. On the last class day, you will present your final project for our own entertainment and for other interested students, faculty, and friends. Your grade is based to a large extent on this presentation.

There are no written exams. Instead you will use the theories and tools you acquire during the semester to make stuff about some aspect of weird science. What you make can be in any form: sound, installation, video, computer animation, collage, sculpture, assemblage, performance -- you name it. You will do this in stages, starting with simple projects and moving to more complex ones, using humor, irony, uncommon approaches, and bizarre techniques.

Take risks! Amaze us! In ACTLab courses we assume a high level of motivation on your part and your willingness to self-start, set your own goals, think independently, collaborate with others, seek help when you need it, and take risks. Let's make it an interesting fall!

Readings and Resources: This syllabus is available online at the class web site, http://actlab.us/weirdscience. All class readings are available on the Resource webpage, http://www.actlab.us/weirdscience/resources.html . Some of the resources are there for you to browse as you feel the urge. Also, remember your best resource is always your own curiosity, and Google or Dogpile or AltaVista are your best tools. Experiment with keywords and see what happens. When you find something interesting, share it, either in person or via the Weird Science mailing list weird@actlab.us .

Mailing list: Outside of class time we keep in touch via the weirdscience class mailing list . Use it to swap ideas, ask questions, get and give alerts of schedule changes, share weird urls, and whatever else you can think of. Most of you have already been subscribed to the list, but we didn't have email addresses for a few. Be sure to give us your email address the first day of class.

Equipment: The ACTLab equipment (in cmb 4.110) is there for you to use, play with, and experiment with. If you’re interested in digital-fu, don't waste the opportunity to stretch your creative skills in the digital domain. We have computers, DJ turntables, a mixer, a quadraphonic sound system, and other stuff. We also have some gear that we've never used yet, and we invite you to play with it and see what you can make it do.

Things you'll need:

Scissors, glue, construction paper or board (for a workshop in late September). Materials for the psi machine (to be discussed in class). Anything else you stumble on or think might be useful to make evocative objects about Weird Science. Loose clothing that you can get dirty. If we do narrative or sound work in the dark, remember the ACTLab floor is hard; so if you decide to listen while lying down on the floor, bring something soft to lie on.

Documentation requirement:

In addition to your project you must submit documentation, i.e., a thorough, articulate description, photographic record, and sound files of the project, in web-ready form, so we can link it to the ACTLab web page. Don't slight this step, because a spectacular web page significantly raises your visibility in the professional world of digital-fu. No grade will be issued until your web site is up and you have demonstrated that it's running properly. You have five days after the last class day to fulfill this requirement.

Experienced Labbies say: One of the worst mistakes you can make is to leave the documentation for the last minute! Start thinking about your web site from the very first class day. Keep notes about your ideas for it as well as ways of implementing those ideas using the skills you’ll learn during the semester, so you'll have a good supply of ideas as you build the page.

What I expect you to do for a reading assignment:

1. Do the reading!
2. When you come to something that intrigues or excites you, make a note about it.
3. When you come to something that puzzles you, make a note about it.
4. When you come to something that drives you up the wall, make a note about it.

Here's what I expect from you during discussion:

Ask or talk about the parts of the text that you made notes about.

Participate. Talk. Ask. Argue. Laugh. (some of the readings are ludicrous.) None of this stuff is holy, none of the opinions are cast in concrete.

Bring in stuff -- maybe text, maybe just stuff -- that you feel relates to the reading. Throw it on the table, say why it's there, and see what happens.

4. My main job during discussion is to listen. My role is to make an opening or framing statement to start from. I'll guide when necessary, and clarify tough points. Discussion time gives me my best sense of how you're thinking about the theoretical part of our work together.

Participation is a key to success in this class, and you can't participate in discussion in a real way unless you've done the reading. Consequently Rule Number One is: Do The Reading! There are things in some of the essays that you may not understand. Make notes about them. Then ask about them during discussion.

End of semester cleanup. You leave the ACTLab in the same condition in which you found it at the beginning of the semester. No grades will be issued until this requirement is fulfilled. If one person doesn't do their job, no one gets a grade -- i.e., all classes are responsible for the workspace and you are responsible for each other.

Grading:

Participation in discussion 15%

Journal 15%

First presentation 15%

Second presentation 15%

Third presentation 20%

Documentation 20%

Total 100%

Course Schedule:

Aug 29 Introductions, administrative-fu, intro to methods of this class: what we expect from you, what to expect from us.

For Sep 3, read chapter 1 of Howard Becker's "Tricks of the Trade: How to Think About Your Research While You're Doing It" (available online; visit the Weird Science "Resources" page).

Section 1: DREAM

Sep 3 Intro to journaling. Scheduling tutorials. Today's theme: Science, Dream, and Fantasy. Points for discussion: Difference(s) between science and technology, between progressive innovation and leaps of genius. Understanding "logic". Dream-logic and waking-logic. How different cultures differentiate between dreamstate and awakestate. Great moments in science that originated in dreams.

(Break)

Science and fantasy: a mutually interacting system? SciFi literature and films. In-class film: Melies' "Trip To The Moon", clips from "Destination Moon"; the FBI calls on Robert Heinlein; clips from "Forbidden Planet". Discussion. Also discuss first in-class projects.

For Sep 10, read "Leviathan and the Air-Pump"; "Breakages Limited".

Sep 10 Journal review. Today's theme: Science and power. Points for discussion: Was Boyle doing "science"? Or, what was Boyle doing, and how does it relate to last week's discussion of great moments in science? In-class film clip: "Things To Come", an example of H.G. Wells' writing, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's design, and Alexander Korda's power; and "ExistenZ".

(Break)

Discussion, including discussing first in-class projects. Progress reports.

For Sep 17, read "Teddy Bear Patriarchy", "A Manifesto For Cyborgs".

Sep 17 Today's theme: Gender, Fantasy, and Science. Points for discussion: How symbol in the largest sense (e.g., space, sound, mimetics) influences -- or maybe creates -- subjectivity. The human experience of awe. Semiotics of the cathedral and other sacred spaces. In-class slideshow: Androids, the first robots. Progress reports on in-class presentations due next week. No readings for Sep 24.

Sep 24 FIRST IN-CLASS PRESENTATIONS

Readings due for in-class discussion Oct 1: "We May Hear Too Much"; "'Turn It Down!', she shrieked"; "Installing the Television Set".

Section 2: DARE

Oct 1 Discussion of first in-class presentations. Journal review. Technology and gender. Pushing the boundaries of science. Cost and risk, "Big Science".

For Oct 8, read the excerpts from "Nobel Dreams" and "The Cancer Cure That Worked", and surf the web sites on Weird Science.

Oct 8 Today's theme: Daring Too Much? Discussion: Nobel Dreams and its implications. Boundary questions: Where do science and quackery meet? Discussion about Tesla, Reich, Royal R. Rife, Heironymus and the "Psi Machines". Talk about second in-class presentation on the theme of daring.

For Oct 15, read "Frankenstein".

Oct 15 Today's theme: Risk and technoscience; substituting quasi-guys for technicians as effort to stabilize innovation. Points for discussion: Who's doing the science in "Science In Action"? The romance of risktaking in a safe age. Risk in the cinema of technoscience, good and bad. Driven men. Science as savior. Science and death. In-class film clips: "Frankenstein" (the original), "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein", "Frankenstein" (Andy Warhol).

For Oct 22, read the excerpts from "Writing Culture", "Beamtimes and Lifetimes", "How I Learned What a Crock Was", and

Oct 22 Today's theme: Observation, science, politics, and power. Description and implications of the "Strong Programme" in studies of science and innovation. The "New Anthropology", the "New History", and "New Studies". Discussion: Representation.

Oct 29 SECOND IN-CLASS PRESENTATIONS

Section 3: DO

For Nov 5, read the excerpts in Group One from "A Thousand Plateaus".

Nov 5 And then came postmodernism... Science and the invisible; science and metaphor; science and the viral. Discussion: Rhizomatics, deterritorialization, and the idea of scientific progress. In-class films: Clips from Cronenberg's "The Fly"

For Nov 12, read the excerpts from "TAZ" and the excerpts in Group Two from "A Thousand Plateaus".

Nov 12 Last in-class discussion! Give us something to remember you by. The remainder of class time between now and semester's end will be devoted to the final in-class presentations.

Nov 19 Studio time.

Nov 26 Studio time.

Dec 3 FINAL IN-CLASS PRESENTATIONS. Wrap-up. Have a great break!

The Fine Print:

This syllabus is V.1.0. It may be updated from time to time as necessary.

Regarding Scholastic Dishonesty: The University defines academic dishonesty as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process. Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to receive a postponement or an extension on a test, quiz, or other assignment, and submission of essentially the same written assignment for two courses without the prior permission of the instructor. By accepting this syllabus, you have agreed to these guidelines and must adhere to them. Scholastic dishonesty damages both the student's learning experience and readiness for the future demands of a work-career. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. For more information on scholastic dishonesty, please visit the Student Judicial services Web site at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/dos/sjs/.

About services for students with disabilities: The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.

About the Undergraduate Writing Center: The Undergraduate Writing Center, located in the FAC 211, phone 471-6222, offers individualized assistance to students who want to improve their writing skills. There is no charge, and students may come in on a drop-in or appointment basis.

Warning: This class may include explicit representations of, or may advocate simulations of, one or more of the following: Nudity, satanism, suicide, sodomy, incest, bestiality, sadomasochism, adultery, murder, morbid violence, paedophilia, bad grammar, deviate sexual conduct in a violent context, the use of illegal drugs or alcohol, or offensive behavior. But then again, it may not. Should your sensibilities be offended at any time, you are free to leave the classroom without penalty provided that you notify either the instructor or teaching assistant when you do so.

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