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teaching @ carnegie mellon university
Design Fiction and Imaginary Futures, Spring 13, Spring 14, Spring 15
This praxis-based course will actively engage futures research through the integration of findings from critical readings, ethnographic research, mediated storytelling and hybrid prototyping. Using techniques of inversion, defamiliarization, uncertainty scenarios, everyday practice and good old-fashioned humor, we will create objects, systems and experiences that stimulate conversation, debate and understanding. The course seeks to produce a diversity of ‘what will?’ and ‘what if?’ cultural provocations that deeply examine possible, unwanted and seductive futures. This course is open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates.
Graduate Interaction Design Seminar, Spring 14, Fall 15
This course explores the literature surrounding the practice and research on interaction design. Through a process of reading, discussing, designing, presenting, researching, and writing, students will develop their own vision of what interaction design is and where it is going. This class is intended to prepare graduate students working towards their masters in interaction design or tangible interaction design to develop a research project/theme they can carry in to their thesis work.
Experiential Media Design, Spring 13, Fall 13, Spring 15
Experiential Media Design focuses on the theory, methodology and history behind the design, development and interpretation of experiential media systems. The class incorporates a multidisciplinary approach to the study of complex media systems as technological, political, economic, socio-cultural and personal experiences. Topics covered include media and communications theory, cultural studies, qualitative and quantitative methodology, design principles, human-computer-interaction, information visualization and representation, user studies and evaluation. Students will create and critique a variety of integrated media systems demonstrating technical competence, aesthetic knowledge, analytic rigor and theoretical relevance.
Senior Agility Studio: Play Lab, Fall 12, Fall 13, Fall 14
In this undergraduate senior studio, we seriously play and play seriously with data representing our individual, group and social everyday experiences. Using methods of inquiry such as experience capture, critical design, and design fiction we create, present and critique information visualizations, future-focused objects and aspirational movies.
teaching @ arizona state university
Design of Hybrid Products and Spaces I and II, Spring 12, Fall 11
This studio and capstone course explores the design, development and critique of hybrid objects, buildings and environments. During the studio, students will pursue the development of physical/digital objects and environments that support social behavior such as collaboration, consensus building, communication and coordination. Topics covered include human-computer interaction, urban computing, ambient informatics, adaptive wayfinding and situated advocacy. In Spring 2012, this studio is co-taught with architect Chris Lasch
Media Editing - Spring 12, Fall 10, Spring 10
This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of media editing including form, composition, structure, pattern, sequence and rhythm. Using open source, freeware and custom-designed tools (e.g. GIMP, Blender, Cmap, Egonet etc.), we will design, construct, communicate and interpret rich media messages. Through creating and critiquing visual compositions, audiovisual artifacts, spatial narratives or generated graphs, students will explore the practice of media editing as a spatial, temporal and dynamic process. Topics covered include audio mashups, graphic layout, networks analysis, movie editing, social graphs, online distribution channels, tangible interfaces and experiential media.
This course is part of the Digital Culture Core.
Experiential Media Theory and Methodology II - Spring 11
This course engages students in the theory and practice of designing and evaluating experiential media systems. Building on ideas and concepts explored in the companion introductory course, students create and critique a variety of integrated media systems demonstrating technical competence, aesthetic knowledge, analytic rigor and theoretical relevance. Topics covered include media and communications theory, cultural studies, qualitative and quantitative methodology, design principles, human-computer-interaction, information visualization and representation, user studies and evaluation.
Experiential Media Theory and Methodology I - Fall 11
Experiential Media Methodology and Theory I focuses on the theory, methodology and history behind the design, development and interpretation of experiential media systems. The class incorporates a multidisciplinary approach to the study of complex media systems as technological, political, economic, socio-cultural and personal experiences. Topics covered include media and communications theory, cultural studies, qualitative and quantitative methodology, design principles, human-computer-interaction, information visualization and representation, user studies and evaluation.
Media Theory - Fall 09, Fall 07, Spring 06
Media Theory incorporates a multidisciplinary approach to the study of media as a political, economic, cultural, social and personal experience. Students will interrogate theoretical readings, analyze media systems and experiment with online constructions in an examination of our own increasingly complex relationship to media as simultaneously audience consumers, cultural producers and communities of learning practitioners. This course is directed towards those interested in researching, designing, building or critiquing experiential media systems that are culturally provocative, socially meaningful and deeply essential.
In Fall 2009, this class was co-taught with Todd Ingalls.
Design for Healing - Spring 09, 08, 07
This course explores the design, creation and critique of healing systems, environments, experiences and objects. We examine the role of design as a critical component for cultural, social, political, psychological, economic and political healing experiences. Through the study and creation of reflective, engaging and powerful healing artifacts and entities we explore questions such as: How do we create adaptive objects and environments that respond to our physical and psychological needs and desires? What new challenges do we encounter in designing individual and collective experiences that are culturally, socially and ethically aware? How do we critique and understand the success or failure of such designs? The class is grounded in philosophical readings, critical design research methodology, case studies and applied research. Class assignments include presentations, concept maps, prototypes, movies, short papers and projects.
Multimodal Environments - Fall 08, 06
This course explores the integration of sonic and visual modes in physically situated, interactive media systems. We explore questions including: How can we best couple multiple streams for a holistic experience? How do these constructed environments relate to our everyday experiences? What new challenges arise from multi- modal integration and interactivity? How do we evaluate and understand such hybrid physical/digital spaces? What are the social, cultural, and economic implications of developing multimodal environments? Course materials draw from current and historical examples of environments that are rooted in arts, education, media, and design. Selected readings provide a context for the relevant theoretical and perceptual issues and will form the basis for student led presentations and discussion. Formal class lectures will be accompanied by rapid in-class pressure projects. Overall class assignments are project-based and emphasize exploration through the collaborative design and realization of new multimodal environments.
Co-taught with David Birchfield.
