CORE 101: Symbols and Conceptual Systems
Technology and the Body
THE FINAL PROJECT
The parameters for the final project are fairly open. The basic requirement is the production of a webpage that addresses issues and themes from the course this term. You will work in groups of 4-6. At the very minimum, your site should include sound, text, and still images (though precisely how you choose to combine and present these elements will, of course, have a large impact on your grade. There should be a reason for your site to exist online: a site that could easily exist on paper will not pass. Carefully think through issues of site design and navigation.) More importantly, your site should make some kind of argument or observation about technology, elaborating a theme or striking a comparison. When the user finishes your site, he or she should have learned something and should also be able to articulate the site's theme or argument. As you design your site, you should keep this theme or argument clearly in mind: you might try boiling it down to one sentence and then imagine ways to elaborate on this idea throughout your site. (Click here for further tips on designing your site.)
Some possible topic to consider (obviously, there are many, many others):
·
Compare and contrast two technologies
· Trace one technology - say the
camera - across time
· Pick a sense - vision, hearing
- and investigate the technologies which shape it
· Think about technology and spectacle
· Think about technology and emotion
or technology and the body
·
Take a concept like surveillance or mobile privatization and explore it via
technology
Of course, these topics alone are not enough: you need to elaborate a position in relation to the topic and design a site that reflects and highlights your position.
More details on your group:
·
Your group should consist of 4-6 people. You should select your own groups
and email a list of group members to me by 4/3/00. If you need help finding
a group, let me know.
· Each group member will be required
to write 1-page evaluations of the other members in their group, describing
what each member contributed to the final project and evaluating those contributions.
Final projects are due during the scheduled final time for our class: May 4th, 2-4 pm.