Just in case anyone didn’t get the email/forum post, I’m sick today, so class is canceled. I’ve updated the schedule accordingly, so we’ll run back the same material (and B’s presentation) next week.

First, who knew that Alex had his finger on the pulse like that? The COMMENTS section following the article is a fascinating window into some of the issues we’re playing with this term (sorry): some commenters see an enjoyable and subversive “hustle”; some see a counterludic structure of gamified exploitation being exposed by canny performance artists; some see a fascinating metagame at work; others see what Huizinga calls the “spoil-sport” ruining the Bike Angels game in a “this is why we can’t have nice things” vein.

Second, as we look at Montfort and Strickland’s project, I wanted to alert you to an important precursor, Raymond Queneau’s Cent mille milliards de poèmes (1960), a paper-based machine of sorts that generates 100 trillion sonnets and was the founding act, more or less of OULIPO, a collective of mostly French avant-garde writers (the acronym translates to “workshop for potential literature”) who experimented algorithmic and other hacks to play with words. Montfort and Strickland are quite aware of this legacy and I think the Spar project is an homage of sorts.

Here’s a cute early Web transposition of Queneau’s project (the Interwebs used to be fun, folks!). If anyone is interested in histories of the avant garde, there are lots of final project possibilities re: OULIPO, Surrealism, Fluxus, etc. etc.

Oh yeah: one more thing. I shared an open link to the NYT piece, but in case you don’t know, all CUNY folk get free digital access to the NYT! And the WSJ (Whomp whomp).

Instead of meeting face-to-face this week, I’ve created a 15-minute video that introduces some of the nitty-gritty elements of the class (our Commons Group+Site, a Padlet “icebreaker,” and the basic assignments you’ll complete), plus the tiniest bit of introduction of the course’s themes:

DH780 Day 1

A brief introduction to our course this term.

A few links/notes:

• The Padlet you’ll use to introduce yourself is here
• You should have received an invitation to the Commons site (i.e. this site you’re on now) and Group. If you haven’t, email me
• Note that your readings for next week are available in .pdf in our Group Library

That’s it: see you in a week!

Fall 2024 students: I’m excited to meet you and work with you. Feel free to peruse what’s here, but know that the schedule is still a work in progress, so stay tuned.

Note that the first session, on August 29th, will be async/remote (the only such session: for all others we’ll be face to face at the good ol’ GC). I’ll post a video giving a brief intro to the course and ask you (by way of certifying “attendance”) to introduce yourselves in this space:

DH 780 Introduction: games people play

We’lll use this space to get to know each other a bit over the first couple of sessions. Please share your preferred pronouns and a pic or avatar if you like. And please tell us: a) the first game you remember playing, the most recent game you played, and your favorite game.

Note that I’ve left all the posts from prior students below: feel free to walk through it, since you can get some sense of the course’s themes that way as well.

All best and see you pretty soon!

I posted about this in October, but now that you’re working on final projects, know that you can schedule time with Nicole, our Student Advisor, and/or our GCDI team to talk through ideas. Here’s Nicole’s self-introduction, with contact info:

I am a PhD candidate in English at the Graduate Center, where I broadly work on topics related to the environment, media studies, and the history of technology. I have also taught various coding and tech skills at the GC and elsewhere—for example: JavaScript (w. HTML/CSS), D3, git/GitHub (w. Markdown/Command Line), Python, accessible design ideas, & etc.—and have worked broadly on applied digital media and digital humanities projects.

I am reaching out to share that I am available to meet with students to discuss coursework and project-based questions as well as program related queries (i.e. advising on course selection and the like). I will be holding office hours for students this semester by appointment.

Alternatively, for quick questions, students can always just message me on the department’s Slack or email me.

Friends, it’s time to pass Go and collect $200! We’ve reached the end of the Syllabus Proper, and it’s time to flex some direct democratic muscle. I’ve created a Padlet that we’ll use to generate ideas for the final two sessions and vote for them as well:

People’s Choice: topics for the homestretch

Made with Padlet

Feel free to add new ideas or comment on the ones I’ve created. We’ll work on this in class, too. I believe I’ve configured the link properly to allow all to access it, but LMK if you have issues.

While giving away Bezos’s money, I thought back to the wonderful work of Bo Burnham. If you’re feeling sinister, check out the hilarious Bezos I and II here:

https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/35qVMfUfBN6q2xzm9rZn5a?utm_source=generator

A bit late to the party, but this just in from the left-wing journal of politics and culture, Jacobin:

Gamification Is Exploitation

The trend of gamification – applying elements of game play to other areas of life – is the apex of the neoliberal fantasy, rendering both work and our leisure time outside of it into a series of games that we supposedly enjoy playing for their own sake.

Just wanted to alert you to two extremely helpful facets of our program:

1. You can consult with the simpatico and highly skilled/knowledgeable GC Digital Initiatives Fellows: they’re great for chatting through ideas for final projects, thesis topics, etc.

2. You can attend one of the many stimulating workshops on offer each semester from the GCDI, starting with tomorrow’s Intro to Python, Part 2.

See you Monday!

Great talk last night, and thanks to the presenters, Katie and Dan.

I wanted to post a link to the free/open Manifold edition of the book I mentioned last night, Metagaming. We will read an excerpt for the 11/20 class under the “critical play” rubric, but I think the argument is relevant to the “gamification” topic as well.

Have a great week and see you Monday.