Course Number DAAT 260.01
Credits 3.00 credits
Instructor Juan M. Parada
Class Meetings Wednesday 8:30AM – 11:20PM
Semester/Year Spring 2017
This course examines the chronological evolution of digital technology and its inevitable
application by the aesthetic community. Beginning with the development of digital technology in
the mid-1940s, the course discusses the convergence of the scientific, military, and political
environments that spawned the employment of digital technology, including the path that led to
the digital dominance over analog. Includes the enhancement, exploitation, and embracing of
digital technology by the corporate and aesthetic communities, the invention of the personal
computer and its ancillary products, and the application of digital technologies in fields as
diverse as medicine, communications, manufacturing, cognitive psychology, and in particular,
the arts. Pioneers in all fields will be identified and examined.
Office: Terra 1211B
Faculty Office Hours
Wed 1- 3PM
• Understand the diverse history of technology and media and how it is driven by art. We will investigate an array of artists, scientists, hackers, and heroes that reside at the crossroads of art and technology.
• Develop skills of description, research, analysis, creative development and critical thinking.
• Develop all aspects of personal communication through discourse, assignment presentations, and writing.
• Class discussions and media screenings
• Weekly creative assignments exploring the intersection of Art and technology applied to media.
• Reading assignments
• Final Project
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
– Walter Isaacson
Other Required Readings (available online or as PDFs)
Attendance and Lateness Policies:
• Unexcused absences will affect your grade (limit of 4 unexcused). Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class.
• Be on time.
Professionalism and Behavior:
The classroom will be a safe, respectful environment for everyone. The expectation is that you will be quiet unless called upon to speak. If you are late or leave early you will enter/exit the classroom in the least distracting manner possible and not burden the professor, or other students, with the task of getting you caught up while the class is otherwise engaged in lecture and discussions. You are responsible to find out what you missed at an appropriate time, either during open lab or outside of class. The use of electronic devices with not be permitted during demos and class discussions, but may be used quietly during open lab times. There is NO tolerance for violence, cruelty and vandalism.
Academic Integrity Standards
You are responsible for reading, understanding and abiding by The University of the Arts Student Handbook. Academic dishonesty of any type, including cheating and plagiarism is unacceptable. “Cheating” is misrepresenting another student’s efforts/work as your own. “Plagiarism” is the representation of another person’s work, words or concepts as your own.
Students who believe they are eligible for course accommodations under the ADA or Section 504 or have had accommodations or modifications in the past, should contact the Office of Educational Accessibility at 215.717.6616 to arrange for appropriate accommodations and to obtain an accommodations letter, if applicable. Faculty can provide course accommodations/modifications only after receipt of an approved accommodations letter from the office of Educational Accessibility. Accommodation letters can be provided to qualified students at any time during the semester, but grades earned before the letter is received by the faculty cannot be changed.
• Participation = 10%
• Weekly Assignments = 20%
• Midterm = 20%
• Final Research Paper and presentation = 50%
Grading Assessment Criteria:
• All work assigned will be completed and delivered on the due date, otherwise you will
receive a failing grade for that assignment. In other words, late work will not be
• Makeup assignments are only available when discussed with and approved by the
instructor in advance of the due date.
• Each student will be judged on the application of the ideas and concepts introduced during
the course. Incomplete or unsatisfactory work will receive a failing grade.
Your ﬁnal grade will be based upon a combination of qualitative and quantitative evaluation of
Class Schedule – Subject to Change