The Grammar of Technologies for Cooperation

New Course by Trebor Scholz

Department of Media Study
The State University of New York at Buffalo
Spring 2006

Syllabus Online:
<http://distributedcreativity.typepad.com/coop_tech/syllabus/index.html>

Course Description

This course introduces the history, realities and potentials of
collaborative technologies. The particular focus is on the field of
culture. Debates about online collaboration and social networking often
do not go beyond the management rhetoric of business. Effectiveness and
group dynamics are they key issues in streamlining corporate group work.
The Grammar of Technologies for Collaboration investigates historical
perspectives on tools for collaboration and traces their influence on
communication.

A recent study of The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that
51 million Americans of all ages (and 57% of all US teenagers) have
contributed content online. They wrote blog entries, book reviews,
uploaded mp3s and video, or podcasts. The average European Internet user
spends 10 hours 15 minutes a week online. Artists use this huge
participatory potential to create input-driven projects. But often
web-based rooms are opened and nobody comes to party. What are the
needed incentives for people to participate? Video makers use video
blogs to create an offline audience for their tapes. Artists use blogs
as portfolios, for day-to-day reflection, and as platforms for their
work as public intellectuals. Art activist groups further their
political agendas. Artists form social networks to create sustaining
venues for their work and contexts for their ideas. Inexpensive social
networking tools create new publics for cultural producers. A culture of
widespread free sharing emerges along with the development of social
software tools. Media theorists argue that a creative cooperative
proficiency is *the* key skill for the next decade. After successful
completion of this course you will have a deeper practical, historical,
theoretical, and political understanding of contemporary media spheres.

We will read, discuss, blog frequently, comment on each others entries,
and present. Lectures will alternate with class discussions, screenings,
and audio talks. In addition, you will be asked to create a Wikipedia
entry. This is a theory and practice course.