ENGL 485/570 (Sections 485-901, 570-901, Schedule #38440, #39196)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Spring 2019
MW 5:30-6:45pm :: Hibbs 440
Prof. David Golumbia
Office: 324D Hibbs Hall
Spring 2019 Office Hours: M 2-5pm
Literary Theory and Criticism: Texts, Technology, Games
This course focuses on three major, connected issues in our world right now: the global turn toward the political right, the role of race in politics and culture, and the ways that digital technologies, especially games, function as political and social objects. The readings will include several recent volumes on games, including ones that try to situate games and gaming politically (Dyer-Witheford and de Peuter, Games of Empire, and game developer Zoe Quinn's account of being the target of an organized hate campaign, Crash Override) and as formal and cultural objects (Boluk and LeMieux, Metagaming); four very different explorations of the politics of digital technologies (Eubanks, Automating Inequality; Han, Psychopolitics; Raunig, A Thousand Machines, and John Carreyou's Bad Blood, about the Theranos corporation that hypnotized Silicon Valley despite the stark improbability of its claims); a brief book about the overall shift toward the political right (Connolly, Aspirational Fascism), and two books about the intersections of texts and technology with race, especially African Americans (Sharpe, In the Wake, and Schalk, Bodyminds Reimagined).
The course it taught largely by discussion. Students will write two medium-length papers on relatively open topics, which can include work on primary texts (literary texts, media, games) informed by the issues raised in the course readings.
Texts
Texts for purchase (no specific editions are required):
- Stephanie Boluk and Patrick LeMieux, Metagaming: Playing, Competing, Spectating, Cheating, Trading, Making, and Breaking Videogames (U Minnesota Press, 2017)
- John Carreyrou, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (Knopf, 2018)
- William E. Connolly, Aspirational Fascism: The Struggle for Multifaceted Democracy Under Trumpism (U Minnesota Press, 2017)
- Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter, Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games (U Minnesota Press, 2009)
- Virginia Eubanks, Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor (St. Martins, 2018)
- Byung-Chul Han, Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power (Verso, 2017)
- Zoe Quinn, Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate (PublicAffairs, 2017)
- Gerald Raunig, A Thousand Machines: A Concise Philosophy of the Machine as Social Movement (Semiotext(e), 2010)
- Sami Schalk, Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women's Speculative Fiction (Duke UP, 2018)
- Christina Sharpe, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being (Duke UP, 2016)
Assignments and
Evaluation
Evaluation will be based on written exercises and course participation as
follows:
- Written Assignments: 60%. Students will write two papers of 2500 words minimum on topics related to the course, developed in consultation with the instructor. Each paper will count for 30% of the course grade. Graduate students have the option of writing a single paper of 5000 words minimum due at the end of term.
- Course Participation: 40%. A combined grade reflecting vigorous course participation and attendance. Being in class most of the time and contributing to discussion at least occasionally in such a way as to reflect having done the course reading will result in full or nearly full credit for course participation.
Course-Specific Policies
- Attendance. This course is taught primarily via discussion. Your
attendance and participation are vital to its success.
- No Late Work. No late work is accepted in this class. Work handed in
late is automatically marked down one-third grade (e.g., a B becomes a B-)
for each day it is late, and after one week becomes a failing grade for
the assignment.
- Class Preparation. You are expected to have done the primary reading and
any other primary course assignments before the beginning of course each
week.
- Honor System. All work in this course is subject to the University's
Honor System. You may work in teams for some assignments, but all
written work must be solely your own, and any reliance on published
work must be properly cited.
- Evaluations. Final grades for the course will not be released until
the entire class has submitted online course evaluations.
Official VCU Policy Statements
Please consult the Provost's official page on topics such as classroom conduct, email, the Honor System, and other important policy issues.
Week-by-Week Syllabus
Week One: Introduction
Week Two: Raunig, A Thousand Machines
- Mon Jan 21: MLK DAY, no class
- Weds Jan 23: A Thousand Machines
Week Three: Quinn, Crash Override
- Mon Jan 28: Crash Override
- Weds Jan 30: Crash Override
Week Four: No classes (instructor away)
- Mon Feb 4: no class
- Weds Feb 6: no class
Week Five: Boluk and LeMieux, Metagaming
- Mon Feb 11: Metagaming, Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 3
- Weds Feb 13: Metagaming, Chapter 5, Chapter 6
Week Six: Carreyrou, Bad Blood
- Mon Feb 18: Bad Blood
- Weds Feb 20: Bad Blood
Week Seven: Sharpe, In the Wake
- Mon Feb 25: In the Wake
- Weds Feb 27: In the Wake
Week Eight: No classes (spring break)
- SPRING BREAK: Mon Mar 4
- SPRING BREAK: Weds Mar 6
Week Nine: Eubanks, Automating Inequality
- Mon Mar 11: Automating Inequality
- Weds Mar 13: Automating Inequality. First paper due for undergraduates.
Week Ten: Schalk, Bodyminds Reimagined
- Mon Mar 18: Bodyminds Reimagined
- Weds Mar 20: Bodyminds Reimagined
Week Eleven: Connolly, Aspirational Fascism
- Mon Mar 25: Aspirational Fascism
- Weds Mar 27: Aspirational Fascism
Week Twelve: No classes (instructor away)
- Mon Apr 1: no class
- Weds Apr 3: no class
Week Thirteen: Dyer-Witheford and de Peuter, Games of Empire
- Mon Apr 8: Games of Empire
- Weds Apr 10: Games of Empire
Week Fourteen: Han, Psychopolitics
- Mon Apr 15: Psychopolitics
- Weds Apr 17: Psychopolitics
Week Fifteen: Conclusion
Week Sixteen: Conclusion
Final paper is due by the end of the final exam period for the course, 6:45pm, Weds, May 8, 2019, per the registrar's exam schedule. The paper should be submitted on Blackboard. No late papers can be accepted for the final paper assignment. There is no other final
exam for the course.
Last updated
February 1, 2019.