Additional information on assignments, grading, administrative matters
Deconstructing the design and implementation of software as a political medium and re-building functional alternatives.
Code is political. It is a means of political processes and activism. It is political inherently by the ethical choices often hidden in the black box of The Algorithm. In the course we aim to deconstruct the design, implementation, and data of software as a political medium. We will work through political applications such as simulations, ownership of intangible assets, predictive policing, algorithmic recommendations, suggestions, and filters, social networks, and the blockchain.
Along with an introduction to the related political theory and media studies, students will work on several hands-on projects to offer actual or speculative alternatives to the existing systems. To that end, this course will include several workshops in JavaScript, Python, and other tools.
A previous year's course has been recorded and transcribed: The video recorded lectures on Youtube
Subject to modification and clarification
Bibliography
Other Material
The video recorded lectures on Youtube
The assignments are listed in brightspace.nyu.edu Overview on the weekly scheduled assignments and talks
NYU Politics of Code by Joerg Blumtritt @jbenno - Other classes I teach: github.com/jbenno