"The computer, which since the early 1960s has been used as a production
tool, has now become a universal media machine-a tool used not only for
production, but also for storage and distribution. The World Wide Web crystallizes
this new condition; on the level of language, this fact is recognized around
1990 when the term "digital media" comes to be used along with "computer
graphics." At the same time, along with existing cultural forms,
computers begin to host an array of new forms: Web sites and computer games,
hypermedia CD-ROMs and interactive installations-in short, "new media."
-Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media, 2001
Networked media has transformed many arenas of experience: communication, education, commerce, and creative expression to name only a few. This course provides a foundation in creating multimedia content for the World Wide Web emphasizing developing aesthetic judgment, building technical skills, and understanding the historical, cultural, and political background of multimedia technologies. Special attention will be given to arts, humanities, non-commercial and creative applications. Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver will be the primary tools used in this course, along with an introduction to animation with Flash, but these tools are only a means to an end, not an end unto themselves. Critical and creative thinking, the exploration of complex ideas, and unconventional approaches to problem-solving will be encouraged.
By the end of the semester, students will:
1) Be capable of authoring transitional standards-compliant Web sites using
Dreamweaver.
2) Develop design and information architecture skills.
4) Create image-based multimedia content and understand the use of other
multimedia content in Web design.
5) Write and interpret simple html code.
6) Be able to contextualize the development of multimedia and Web technologies
historically and socially.