This course in project design focuses on community and collaboration--flip sides of the same coin, and two invaluable strengths of almost all new media projects.
"All new language to describe the new medium of interface....will depend on the interfaces designed to represent communities of people rather than private workspaces."

--Steven Johnson, Interface Culture (1997)
What types of communities are studied?
Students research a wide gamut of topics, from net art to open software to distributed science to peer-to-peer networks. Past student projects have included friend-of-a-friend protocols, music recommendation systems, and networked video journalism.

How is the course structured?
Students research and build community projects in these stages:

How does this course use readings from At the Edge of Art?
This course focuses on the fifth chapter about online communities, and compares the features required for these global efforts to succeed with the aspects required for teamwork on a more local scale. The book provides us with definitions of four essential trust metrics--strategies for encouraging creative networks to emerge and thrive--as well as prominent examples of successful communities in each category.

Students then propose their own community projects and evaluate them using tools discussed in At the Edge of Art such as The Pool. Finally, the class designs and builds one or more of these proposals in a democratic fashion.

What are students saying about this course?
"In this particular class, the hugely relevant topic of New Media's connection to community, and the specific examples presented in different mediums (online or [off]) of the way the two are interconnected, has helped at least me to envision, develop and apply these approaches to current and possible community based projects."

"The use of examples seems to be what I feel is the strongest approach to the class. When asked to make something, [the student] usually has several examples of what he wants as well as how to do it."

"I think the teacher is really good at interconnecting the reading assignments, class lectures, and general homework assignments. I feel like important information is always reiterated enough so that it is easy to remember. The way the info is delivered, (inspiring readings and lectures), also helps a lot. 'A'."
What resources are available? These resources are available as a free download here: Please note that these resources are updated periodically; please check back for the most recent version or contact Jon Ippolito with any questions.