The materials in blue are external links to required readings. The .pdfs are available via links to our course site at CapU Moodle. Students must purchase copies of Between Page and Screen (on order by the university bookstore) and Hack Circus 12 (.pdf) via the magazine’s website.
Week 1 – Mon Jan 8:
Reading and Writing in a Digital Age
Introductory Lecture and Course Overview
Guy Patrick Cunningham, “Fragmentary: Writing in a Digital Age,” The Millions 24 Jan 2012
Jacques Derrida, “The Book to Come” in Paper Machine (2005) (.pdf)
David Durant, Reading in a Digital Age (2017)
N. Katherine Hayles, “Electronic Literature: What is it?” (2007)
Week 2 – mon jan 15
foundations i – manifestos and lineages
F.T. Marinetti, “Words in Freedom” (1913) (.pdf) (Read all 3 pieces.)
Eugen Gomringer, “From Line to Constellation” (1954) and “The Poem as Functional Object” (1968)
Brian Kim Stefans, “The Dreamlife of Letters” (2000) and “Suicide in an Airplane 1919” (2011)
Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries Presents, “Dakota” (2002)
plus N. Katherine Hayles, “Electronic Literature: What is it?” (2007)
Marinetti and Gomringer | Supplementary Resources
week 3 – mon jan 22
foundations II – digital poetics and manifestos
Stephanie Strickland, Born Digital (2009) plus V : Vniverse (2002), Sea and Spar Between (2010), and House of Trust (2014)
Ingrid Ankerson and Megan Sapnar, Cruising (2001)
Deena Larsen, Carving in Possibilities (2001)
Reiner Strasser and M.D. Coverly, ii) in the white darkness: about [the fragility of] memory (2004)
Strickland | Supplementary Resources
Week 4 – mon jan 29
foundations iii – Narrative perspective and interactive fiction
Thomas Crofts and Lit Fuse, Outrances, Born Magazine (2009)
Emily Short, Galatea (2000-4)
—. Bronze  (2006) *
Illya Szilak, Queerskins: A Novel (2013)
* The estimated play time for Bronze is 4 to 6 hours; in contrast Galatea‘s play time is approximately 10 minutes and repeatable with numerous options and many different outcomes.
Interactive Fiction | Supplementary Resources
week 5 – mon feb 5
foundations IV – quests and game play
Donna Leishman, Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw (2004)
Jason Nelson, Digital Oddities and Creatures: “This is How You Will Die” (2008), “game, game, game and again game” (2008), “i made this. you play this. we are enemies (2010), “Textual Skyline” (2011), and “The Required Field” (2014)
Keith Stuart, “Basquiat meets Mario Brothers? Digital poet Jason Nelson on the meaning of art games,” The Guardian (13 Sept 2011)
Due: Reading Journals – Set 1. Students will asked to identify which 2 of the four required entries should be graded. Sign-up sheet will be circulated in class.
feb 12-16 Reading break
no classes
week 6 – mon feb 19
reading looking doing I
Aleph Null 3.0Â Artist’s Talk and Workshop with Jim Andrews
PreReading and Preparatory Instructions from Jim.
Andrews | Supplementary Reading
Due: Analysis papers due. Upload to the assignment dropbox in Moodle.
week 7 – mon feb 26
reading looking doing II
“The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0” (CommentPress version) or  “The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0” (.pdf version with ENGL 335 (Spring 2018) Hypothesis group annotations)
“Digital Humanities Manifesto Launched” (framing comments from Todd Presner)
Amaranth Borsuk, “The Upright Script: Words in Space and on the Page,” Journal of Electronic Publishing 14.2 (2011): How does the layout and presentation of this essay reinforce the claims under exploration?
Explore Pathfinders: Documenting the Experience of Early Digital Literature: How do the different paths through this work change our encounter with the scholarship?
Note: The Final Project Options and Proposal Guidelines (.pdf) will be introduced today; the Project Proposals are due Mon Mar 12. We will also be reviewing the guidelines for the E-Lit Encyclopedia project (.pdf).
week 8 – mon mar 5
Platform poetics I
Kate Pullinger, Jellybone (Download the OOLIPO IOS or Android app)
James Pullin, “Story Making Machines,” International Literature Showcase
Andrew Gallix, “Oulipo: freeing literature by tightening its rules,” The Guardian 12 July 2013.
week 9 – mon mar 12
Platform poetics II
Tore Rye Andersen, “Staggered transmissions: Twitter and the return of serialized literature” in Convergence 23.1 (2017) (.pdf)
Jennifer Egan, “Black Box” (3 reading options: i) Twitter @NYerFiction beginning May 24, 2012, ii) Paste “Black Box” – Tweet by Tweet (6 June 2012), or iii) in full in The New Yorker Science Fiction issue (4 June 2012).
David Mitchell’s “The Right Sort” (2 reading options: i) Twitter @david_mitchell beginning July 13, 2014 or ii) The Guardian
Due: Final project proposals. Upload to the assignment dropbox in Moodle.
week 10 – mon mar 19
screen to Print i
Amaranth Borsuk & Brad Bouse, Between Page and Screen (2012) *
Kenneth Goldsmith, Soliloquy (2001)
Majorie Perloff, “Screening the Page/Paging the Screen” (2006)
* Purchase in the university bookstore.
week 11 – mon mar 26
screen to print ii
J.R. Carpenter, The Gathering Cloud and Hack Circus 12Â (purchase online)
Taryn Hubbard, “Notes for Browsers” in TCR Spring 2014. (.pdf)
Due: e-cyclopedia entry (15%). Upload to the assignment dropbox in Moodle by 11:30am.
week 12 – mon apr 2
Easter monday – no classes
week 13 – mon apr 9
Canonization & e-cyclopedia reveal
Future directions, final project presentations (5%), and e-cyclopedia reveal.
Due: Reading Journals – Set 2. Students will asked to identify which 3 of the five required entries should be graded. Sign-up sheet will be circulated in class.
Due: Final Projects (25%). Upload to assignment dropbox in Moodle by 11:30am on Wed Apr 11.
Note: Review the assignment guidelines (.pdf) for your submission options.