MIT Graduate Program in Comparative Media Studies

Powerful Feedback: Strategies for Responding to Student Writing: A Writing Across the Curriculum IAP Workshop
2013-01-29 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | MIT Building 12, Room 134, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
What kind of feedback will help students understand how to revise their essays, reports or articles, or to write their next assignment more effectively? This workshop will help faculty and TA’s to articulate their criteria for student writing and to develop powerful feedback practices, from written comments to rubrics to peer review to individual conferences.= By considering feedback in relation to other forms of instruction, participants will learn to provide the kinds of comments and strategies that will help students understand how to improve their skills as writers.
All WAC workshops are open to faculty and teaching assistants who are interested in integrating writing and speaking into their subjects.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies, Teaching and Learning Lab Contact: Ashley Caval, 12-117, 617 253-0650, ACAVAL@MIT.EDU

Oral Presentations and the Academic Conversation: A Writing Across the Curriculum IAP Workshop
2013-01-31 10:00 - 11:30 | MIT Building 12, Room 134, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
This interactive workshop is geared to instructors across the disciplines who are interested in integrating oral presentation into their classes. We will discuss effective strategies to teach the oral component in CI classes as an act of critical thinking. Together, we will define goals for a variety of speaking genres in science and humanities classes. Participants will collaborate in sharing good practices from their own experience. Finally, we will explore some practical templates to teach oral presentation that encourage students to practice the following skills: (1) communicating complex ideas in accessible language; (2) creating presentations that clearly define goals and argument or hypothesis; (3) organizing presentations in the service of developing ideas in the broader context of the field.
All WAC workshops are open to faculty and teaching assistants who are interested in integrating writing and speaking into their subjects.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies, Teaching and Learning Lab Contact: Ashley Caval, 12-117, 617 253-0650, ACAVAL@MIT.EDU

Annotation Studio Workshop
2013-01-31 15:00 - 18:00 | MIT Building 56, Room 180, Access via 21 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 20 participants
Have you ever wondered how to annotate online texts with your thoughts, comments, or associations? Does an image better express what you are imagining while reading a literary text? How about sharing your comments with friends, fellow students, or colleagues? How can you integrate digital text annotation in your teaching? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, please join us during IAP for HyperStudio’s workshop on digital annotation tools designed for humanities students, scholars, and educators.
In this hands-on workshop you’ll learn how to create, tag, link, and share annotations in web-based environments. The workshop will include:

Introduction to digital text annotation – evaluate various online text annotation tools
Hands-on sessions – work with your own text using Annotation Studio
Text annotation for teaching and scholarship – Discuss how to best apply these tools in your research and scholarship.

Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies
Contact: Gabriella Horvath, ghorvath@mit.edu

Online Information Session
2013-10-03 08:00 - 10:00, 2013-10-31 14:00 - 16:00 | cms.mit.edu

Push Button Game Jam
2014-01-11 10:00 - 2014-01-12 00:00 | MIT Building 32 (Stata Center), Room 124, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Enrollment: advance sign-up via mitgamelab-iap2014.eventbrite.com.
Full info at http://gamelab.mit.edu/event/push-button-game-jam/

Global Game Jam 2014 at MIT
2014-01-24 - 2014-01-26 | MA
View full tim and location information at:
http://gamelab.mit.edu/event/global-game-jam-2014-at-mit-in-cambridge-ma/

Enrollment: advance sign-up via http://mitgamelab-ggj2014.eventbrite.com
Limited to 50 participants
Attendance: Must attend entire event (not necessarily all hours)
Fee: $17.00 for non-MIT students, free for MIT

The Global Game Jam is the world’s largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations, a 48-hour a hackathon focused on game development. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. People with all kinds of backgrounds are welcome to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity. Make games with us!

Disney Fairies Film Series
2015-01-07 - 2015-01-16 | MIT Building 2, Room 105, 182 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Philip Tan, Research Scientist
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None
The “Disney Fairies” series launched in 2005 with new novels based on the tales of Peter Pan. From the novels and plays of J.M. Barrie and the animated films by Walt Disney Productions, Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine developed an elaborate mythology for the fairies of Neverland. The lead character, Tinker Bell, moved from “Disney Princess” marketing efforts into a separate franchise of chapter books, comics, and merchandise. Following Disney’s purchase of Pixar, direct-to-DVD productions of Disney Fairies were restarted and debuted with the 3D computer-animated film “Tinker Bell” in 2008.
While visually consistent with Disney’s earlier interpretations of Neverland, some may find the characterization and the tone of the films surprising. Barrie’s century-old “common pots-and-pans fairy” is reinterpreted as a titular heroine with a unique talent for invention and engineering. Most of the films revolve around Tinker Bell’s ability to construct incredible machines and her irrepressible drive to find and fix “lost things.” The mostly-female cast is generally portrayed as being extremely competent and working collectively to solve problems, even as the films fall back on formulaic personality conflicts.
Children with adult supervision are welcome. Each screening will be followed by an optional, moderated discussion with participants, which may venture into playful, activist, academic or headcanon topics.
This event aims to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Philip Tan, 26-149, 617 324-9129, PHILIP@MIT.EDU

Screening times

Jan/07
Wed
02:00PM-03:30PM
2-105, Tinker Bell

Jan/09
Fri
02:00PM-03:30PM
2-105, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure

Jan/12
Mon
02:00PM-03:30PM
2-105, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue

Jan/14
Wed
02:00PM-03:30PM
2-105, Pixie Hollow Games & Secret of the Wings

Jan/16
Fri
02:00PM-03:30PM
2-105, The Pirate Fairy

Children are welcome to the screenings (with adult supervision, please!)

Optional Discussion

Jan/07
Wed
03:30PM-04:30PM
2-105

Jan/09
Fri
03:30PM-04:30PM
2-105

Jan/12
Mon
03:30PM-04:30PM
2-105

Jan/14
Wed
03:30PM-04:30PM
2-105

Jan/16
Fri
03:30PM-04:30PM
2-105

A moderated discussion and critique of the themes, representation, development, marketing, problems and solutions presented by the Tinker Bell films and media franchise. The session will start after a 10-minute intermission after the screening. Participation in the discussion is completely optional.

A Conversation about Digital Humanities: What's It All About?
2015-01-14 15:00 - 16:30 | MIT Building 14N, Room 217, 160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Wondering what the chatter is about digital humanities (DH)? Come ask questions and share what you know. Let’s talk about the impact of computation on the humanities, about where it can takes us, and about what it means to use this lens on our scholarship. And who’s doing what where in DH at MIT?
Contact: Patsy Baudoin, 14S-140M, 617 253-4979, PATSY@MIT.EDU

Knitting for Programmers
2015-01-20 - 2015-01-21 | Comparative Media Studies: MIT Building E15, Room 335, 20 Ames St., Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Image by Flickr user anna banana
Jan/20 Tue 01:00PM-04:00PM
Jan/21 Wed 01:00PM-04:00PM
Enrollment: Advance sign-up appreciated but not required
If you ever wanted to know the link between knitting and programming this is the workshop for you. A knitting pattern is actually a more or less complex algorithm with the difference being that the output is directly wearable like 3D printing. The 1st day we will review fundamentals, learn basics and start a small project (hat, scarf or bag depending on skills), and the 2nd day we will work on the project. Students will have to get their own supplies but can contact the instructor for help in type/quantities of wool and needles.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Marie-Jose Montpetit, mariejo@mit.edu

"Theory" and its Quotation Marks
2016-01-19 - 2016-01-21 | TBA
Full info at http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns82.html:
Lilia Kilburn, Katie Arthur
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
The aim of this course is to provide an opportunity to explore (and a community with which to do so) the longstanding dialogue in the humanities commonly known as “theory,” using inroads offered by certain modifiers (queer theory, feminist theory, media theory, critical race theory, affect theory and so forth). “Theory” is a word to which some people express an allergic reaction, but we posit that the transformative potential of many of these theoretical writings, and the power of the critiques they render, make them worth the occasional difficulty.
Everyone is welcome, with or without any background or experience in theory or literature! We will provide short readings for each session, and we recommend that you commit to the full program, however, you may also attend individual sessions.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Lilia Kilburn, liliak@mit.edu

Global Game Jam 2016
2016-01-29 - 2016-01-31 | MIT Building 32 (Stata Center), 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Please refer to full information and schedule at http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns82.html
Register now at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/global-game-jam-2016-at-mit-tickets-19781298396
The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today’s heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games – it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity.

What Playfulness Can Change
2017-01-12 - 2017-01-26 | Location To Be Determined
Check for locations at http://student.mit.edu/iap/ns85.html

Scot Osterweil, Creative director
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This class is about exploring playfulness and its business applications.
Playfulness is a very human value proposition that empowers people doing all kind of things. In this class, I’m offering to discover the Playful and all its possibilities: From the empowerment of your employees, your processes or your learning, the Playful design methodology can be a real leverage of empowerment.
The class is open for all and divided in 3 workshops that are independent from each other but you are encouraged to follow all of them to have a better overview!
Contact: Laure Dousset, +33681756009, LDOUSSET@MIT.EDU

Serious games co-design

Jan/12
Thu
02:00PM-04:00PM
Location TBD

Serious games are games that have another purpose than just pure entertainment. In this class, we will test a serious game about Blockchain, and try to assess it and find guidelines for when you’re developing that kind of game. After that, I will share tips with you to design your serious game! Don’t hesitate to come with a topic in mind.
Scot Osterweil – Creative director, Laure Dousset

Playfulness and your project

Jan/19
Thu
02:00PM-04:00PM
Location TBD

When you’re designing something, it’s important to take the user experience into account. What I’m offering you in this class is to come with a project you have in mind (a technology, a product, a service) and to empower the experience with the playful methodology. You will see how you can use the playful value proposition, and if you don’t have an idea in mind, I have several interesting ones for you.
Scot Osterweil – Creative director, Laure Dousset

Playfulness and your team

Jan/26
Thu
02:00PM-04:00PM
Location TBD

We’ll see how to use playfulness in a team. How can you empower them using playful levers? Together, we’ll practice by taking examples and try to use the playful design methodology to do this. We’ll choose together practical use cases you can encounter in your daily routines at work and try to make a change in order to make them more playful!
Laure Dousset, Scot Osterweil – Creative director

IAP 2017: "Wikipedia 101: How to be a media literate citizen"
2017-01-17 - 2017-01-20 | MIT Building 4, Room 251, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/17
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Recent events have caused us to question, more than ever before, the validity of information gathered from the web. But Wikipedia, now in its 15th year, remains an online space where accuracy, neutrality, and fair representation matters. Growing the network of volunteer editors to contribute to Wikipedia (the largest collaborative writing project in history!) is one way to ensure that high quality information is freely available to all.
Students:
– Would you like to build solid research skills?
– Get practice communicating complex ideas to a broad audience?
– Improve access to quality information and knowledge?
Faculty & Instructors:
– Would you like to support knowledge transfer in your courses?
– Build students’ confidence in reading and analyzing complex texts?
– Increase students’ proficiency in communicating technical content?
This three-day workshop will train participants to become competent Wikipedia editors, and along the way they will cultivate a greater understanding of how to evaluate a range of sources, from the popular news media, to institutional archives, to peer reviewed journals.
Please bring your laptop!
To reserve your spot, please contact Amy Carleton (amymarie@mit.edu) and Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze (rtb@mit.edu).
Sponsor(s): Libraries, Writing and Communication Center, Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze, E18-233, 617-253-3090, RTB@MIT.EDU

Introduction to Wikipedia

Jan/17
Tue
10:00AM-12:00PM
4-251, Bring your laptop

Introduction to Wikipedia community philosophy and guidelines. Participants will learn about ways to contribute, including how to enhance diversity of content. Also, create user account, make your first edit, and begin brainstorming your first article.
Amy Carleton – Lecturer, CMS/W, Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze – Lecturer, Writing and Communication Center & CMS/W

What makes a good Wikipedia article?

Jan/18
Wed
10:00AM-12:00PM
4-251, Bring your laptop

What makes a good Wikipedia article? Learn about best practices and common pitfalls. Get started on research and initial drafting of your first article.
Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze – Lecturer, Writing and Communication Center & CMS/W, Amy Carleton – Lecturer, CMS/W

Wikipedia Editing Salon

Jan/19
Thu
01:00PM-05:00PM
4-251, Bring your laptop

Editing Salon with MIT Libraries and Archives — an in-person editing session focused on training new editors and improving Wikipedia articles. Continue working on your article or start a new one, and work with others to improve Wikipedia. Stop by anytime throughout the session.
Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze – Lecturer, Writing and Communication Center & CMS/W, Amy Carleton – Lecturer, CMS/W, Phoebe Ayers – Librarian, Greta Suiter – Collections Archivist

IAP 2017: Women in Politics Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
2017-01-19 13:00 - 17:00 | MIT Building 4, Room 251, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Enrollment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Boston/Women_In_Politics_IAP_2017
The Wikipedia community, as a body, is well aware that it is missing the diversity of perspectives necessary to meet their mandate to curate and share the sum of all human knowledge with all people, the world over. In the last six years or so, a number of outreach initiatives and WikiProjects have emerged within the Wikipedia community to address this systemic problem. One such project is WikiProject Women in Red — an ongoing project dedicated to increasing articles about notable women from a wide range of professions.
Inspired both by this project and the tremendous strides women in politics have made this year (e.g., Hillary Clinton’s historic run for president, and Kamala Harris, Maggie Hassan, and Catherine Cortez Masto were newly elected to the U.S. Senate in November, 2016), MIT Libraries and CMS/W are sponsoring this Women in Politics edit-a-thon.
Sign up for the event via the Wikipedia Meetup page.
Sponsor(s): Libraries, Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Greta Suiter, 14N-118, 617 258-5533, GSUITER@MIT.EDU

IAP 2017: Global Game Jam
2017-01-20 - 2017-01-22 | MIT Building 32 (Stata Center), Room 123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/19
Limited to 85 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Register now at: http://gamelab.mit.edu/event/global-game-jam-2017-at-mit/
The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today’s heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games – it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity.
We open our doors on Friday, January 20th at 5pm and run until midnight that day. Our site is open Saturday, January 21st from 9am until midnight, and Sunday, January 22nd from 9am until 6pm.
The Global Game Jam is a 3-day event, but our site closes at night so participants can go home and get rested for the next day. Participants should plan to attend the entire duration of the event as your team will need you to complete your game!
Participants must register to attend: http://gamelab.mit.edu/event/global-game-jam-2017-at-mit/

We have 30 free slots open for the MIT Community (must have an @mit.edu email address to register).
Contact: Richard Eberhardt, E15-329, 617 324-2173, REBERHAR@MIT.EDU

Keynote & Kickoff Presentations

Jan/20
Fri
05:00PM-08:00PM
32-123

The jam begins with a keynote, presentations about the Jam, and reveal of the Jam topic.
Teams will be formed by 8:00pm.

Game Jam

Jan/20
Fri
08:00PM-11:45PM
32-124 & 32-144

Jan/21
Sat
09:00AM-11:45PM
56-154, 56-169, and

Jan/22
Sun
09:00AM-03:00PM
32-124 & 32-144

Work days for the Jam. Participants will be working in teams to create their games.

Presentations & Postmortem

Jan/22
Sun
03:00PM-06:30PM
32-123

Game Jam participants will present the work they created over the weekend and postmortem their process.
This is open to the general public – no registration is required for this session.

"Hands On" Workshop and Demo
2017-01-26 18:00 - 20:00 | MIT Building 4, Room 145, 182 Memorial Drive (Rear), Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 15 participants
Fee: $10.00 for materials fee
Learn how to draw the hand and why you couldn’t do it before.
The hands represent unique challenges to both the beginning and intermediate artist. By approaching drawing and observation through a different lens, we will overcome many of these obstacles. This course focuses on underlying structure and the process of observation, rather than relying on anatomical instruction. Learn how to translate the hand that you see onto paper using pencil and graphite.
This workshop will meet once and consists of:
• Drawing demonstration with a step-by-step explanation
• Drawing tools and material demonstration
• Drawing the hand from observation
• Individual feedback from the instructor
Online payment of the enrollment fee reserves a spot: http://mauriciocordero.com/instruction/#pay
Contact: Mauricio Cordero, mcordero@mit.edu

India and Indianisms: Documentary Master Classes
2018-01-09 - 2018-01-23 | Open area opposite E15-320, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Anandana Kapur, Fulbright Fellow at the MIT Open Documentary Lab
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Come attend screenings of documentary films followed by discussions on a few things that define India today – love, innovation and spies. We will also talk about approaches to documentary filmmaking, behind the scenes choices and DIY tips for those who want to make a film of their own. Anandana Kapur is an award winning filmmaker from India whose works have screened in over 35 countries. She also teaches courses on documentary practice, gender and rights based media.
The last workshop of this screening series will showcase excerpts from works in progress. A key focus will be on how documentary aesthetics can shape conversations for change. Some of the suggestions may shape the trajectory of future works!
Ps: Bring some coffee, popcorn or a friend…or two.
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Anandana Kapur, anandana@MIT.EDU

Much Ado About Knotting

Jan/09
Tue
03:30PM-05:00PM
outside E15-335

Are matches made in heaven or via multi-million dollar enterprises?

Jasoosni: Look who’s watching you!

Jan/16
Tue
03:30PM-05:00PM
outside E15-335

Is that a friend from a gym or an undercover spy?

The Great Indian Jugaad; Conversations

Jan/23
Tue
03:30PM-05:00PM
outside E15-335

The Great Indian Jugaad: MIT loves hacks, India adores Jugaad!
Conversations: Stories by the “Invisible” Women of Delhi

SO BAD IT'S GOOD: An Introduction to Media Analysis Through Watching Bad Media
2018-01-23 - 2018-01-25 | MIT Building 5, Room 217, 55 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Kaelan Doyle Myerscough
Enrollment: contact kaelandm@mit.edu before day you plan to attend
Limited to 20 participants
Attendance: Participants are encouraged, but not required, to attend all three sessions
What is it that makes watching so-called “trashy TV” so fun? What does it mean for a film to be “so bad it’s good?” In such a saturated media landscape, what makes us seek out and enjoy the worst of it? And what is with all of those screenings of The Room?
In this three-day course, we will watch and analyze bad media as an introduction to media studies concepts and fields. Each class will consist of a screening and an extended discussion.
Contact: Kaelan Doyle Myerscough, kaelandm@mit.edu

The Room
Tuesday, Jan 23
03:00PM-06:00PM
The Room: The Anatomy of a Good-Bad Movie. We’ll stage a screening of The Room complete with plastic spoons and a football, then talk about what makes the film so enjoyably bad, why people think this is, and the fandom that has cropped up around it.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Wednesday, Jan 24
03:00PM-05:00PM
Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Reality TV, social media, and “trashiness.” We’ll use the Kardashian empire to talk about how and in what contexts people watch TV and consume social media, and how the contemporary internet landscape has reshaped reality TV.
Monster Factory
Thursday, Jan 25
03:00PM-05:00PM
Monster Factory: Bad games and the art of making fun of them. What makes bad games enjoyable, and how is this different from bad film and television? We’ll watch a few works by YouTube creators to figure this out, and then get our hands dirty with character creators and make some monsters of our own.

Imagining Prototypes: Writing about Design
2020-01-09 13:00 - 15:00, 2020-01-13 13:00 - 15:00 | MIT Building 56, Room 169, Access Via 21 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
Nora Jackson, Karen Pepper
Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/03
Limited to 10 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
An activity-based writing workshop for anyone who builds anything at MIT and beyond, or who dreams of doing so. The workshop will introduce techniques in writing for designers who rely on written or oral communication to generate interest in a design idea or prototype.
Thursday 1/9 from 1-3 pm: discussion of a pre-circulated reading packet with design writing samples; come to the workshop with an object/prototype in mind that you will write about by Mon 1/13
Monday 1/13 from 1-3 pm: workshop participants present and peer review their design write-ups

Contact: norajack@mit.edu and kpepper@mit.edu
Sponsor(s): Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Comparative Media Studies
Contact: Nora Jackson, norajack@mit.edu

Session 1

Jan/09
Thu
01:00PM-03:00PM
56-169

discussion of a pre-circulated reading packet with design writing samples; come to the workshop with an object/prototype in mind that you will write about by Mon 1/13
Nora Jackson, Karen Pepper

Session 2

Jan/13
Mon
01:00PM-03:00PM
56-169

workshop participants present and peer review their design write-ups
Nora Jackson, Karen Pepper

DJ History and Technology
2020-01-10 14:00 - 16:00, 2020-01-17 14:00 - 16:00, 2020-01-24 14:00 - 16:00, 2020-01-31 14:00 - 16:00 | MIT Building E15, Room 335, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
