My name is Steve Ramsay and I'm a professor of English and Humanities
Computing at the University of Georgia.

I am going to be teaching a class on interactive fiction at the
University of Georgia this fall, and I want to encourage any UGA
students who frequent this list to come join us.

We're going to play a lot of games and read a lot of the critical
literature on IF.  We're also going to learn to program our own games
(using inform).

This may the coolest thing happening at UGA this year :)

The course is ENGL 4890 (under the generic course heading "Topics in
Criticism and Culture" but really entitled "Digital Narratives").

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about the course.  A
couple of people have suggested I keep a weblog on the development of
the course.  I'll let people on this list know if I get that together.

Thanks!

Stephen Ramsay, Assistant Professor
Department of English, University of Georgia
email: sram...@uga.edu
web: http://cantor.english.uga.edu/

news:eT7ua.20997$Pv6.7232@fe05.atl2.webusenet.com...

English and Humanities Computing? Now that's an interesting field!

I'd be interested, from a teacher's perspective, why Inform?

I'll bet!

Digital Narratives, I like the sound of that. Sounds... mature. :)

    "So, what do you do?"
    "I write Digital Narratives."
    "O cool! What kind of car do you drive?"

--Kevin

Sounds fun...like 50% lit class, 50% computer lit class & 50% creative
writing class :) Well, if it's about IF, then it can't be any less
than 150% better than a normal lit class...being a former lit major
myself.

Good luck to you! It would be cool as a final project to upload all
games and source to the if archive that are completed in your
class...as perhaps a substitute for a weblog.

"Humanities Computing"...you'll have to give me a few days to ponder
the implications of that one. :)

I would encourage caution.  What would this mean to the future of feuds
between science and humanities?

--
David Griffith

Hello all,

I posted some follow-ups to several messages, but hit the wrong button
on my mailer.  Here goes (in no particular order):

They would be suffused with a sense of humility ;)

(You ain't seen complexity till you've dealt with humanistic data)

Mostly because I think the documentation is fairly good.  I'm actually a
bit nervous about it, though.

There's a lot of interesting stuff in inform (in terms of programming
concepts), and I'm actually pretty excited about the fact that my
students will be able to learn a bit about OO from inform.  Still,
inform would certainly not be my first choice for a first programming
language (I usually teach Ruby in my humanities computing courses).

I think I'm going to tell my students: "Look, this class is going to be
a blast.  We're going to play games, read about games, talk about games,
and even build games.  But I won't lie to you.  The programming aspect
is not for the faint-hearted and you're going to have to really commit
to this class if you're going to get anywhere."

But actually, I'd love to hear arguments for or against inform on this
score.  Has anyone tried to teach if to undergraduates?  Did you use
inform (or TADS, or something else)?

Since a couple of people have communicated their bemusement  over the
term "Humanities Computing," I thought I'd post the description of HC
from the curriculum info at UGA:

-cut-

Humanities Computing endeavors to put the traditional objects of
humanistic inquiry into productive dialogue with computer technology.
As such, its terms are primarily of a philosophical and theoretical
nature. Students engaged in the study of humanities computing are
asked--first and foremost--to reflect upon the implications of
information technology for humanistic study and to consider the ways in
which that technology may work to enhance the varied projects of
critical endeavor.

An informed consideration of these matters necessarily entails an
acquaintance with the substantial body of theoretical scholarship in
humanities computing. In addition to this, however, students must
become adept at the use and creation of computer-based scholarly tools.
Ideally, the hands-on experience of using and creating such tools
deepens the students' awareness of the theoretical implications, while
conversely, philosophical reflection works to sharpen the students'
competence as users and creators of computer-based materials.

Students who choose to pursue humanities computing as an academic
field--whether by itself or as an adjunct to more conventional areas of
study--should find themselves well prepared by the core curriculum. The
technical training which the curriculum affords should also help to
prepare students for work in teaching, publishing, libraries, museums,
and those areas of commercial endeavor for which humanistic training is
understood to complement technical proficiency.

-cut-

There are actually three scholarly journals devoted to HC (all of which
have published articles on IF, incidentally) and a number of conferences
held each year.  I'd be happy to provide more information to anyone
who's interested.

Thanks for the thoughtful replies!

Steve

--
Stephen Ramsay
Assistant Professor
Department of English, University of Georgia
email: sram...@uga.edu, web: http://cantor.english.uga.edu/

I've been asked for syllabi for this sort of course when I tell potential
academic employers (I'm a Ph.D.. in philosophy) that I'm interested in this
stuff. Even with a very bright and enthusiastic group of students, I'd
definitely go with ADRIFT - it's a curiously powerful resource for a GUI,
and I think trying to get humanities student who've just started leaning the
pleasures of IF to commit to learning Inform seems to me to be WAY
over-ambitious.

Mark Silcox

news:jiEua.1812$8x5.291@fe10.atl2.webusenet.com...

news:jiEua.1812$8x5.291@fe10.atl2.webusenet.com...

Nick Montfort may have (tried teaching IF) and Dennis Jerz most
certainly has; their URLs from Parsifal (below). And there was
another college whose student games were downloadable from
its website; somebody posted its URL within the last twelve
months, but sadly I can't recollect it. All used Inform.

Cheers, Roger
--
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
You'll find my Cloak of Darkness, Parsifal, Informary
and more at http://www.firthworks.com/roger/

On Fri, 9 May 2003 08:47:27 +0100, "Roger Firth"

It was the University of Michigan, Dearborn:

http://www.engin.umd.umich.edu/CIS/course.des/cis487.html

The student games are here:

http://www.engin.umd.umich.edu/CIS/course.des/cis487/z5/index.php

Cheers,

Steve

I think that's the right approach. Excellent documentation is a
must...otherwise beginning programmers who run into a for(;;)
statement and fundamentally don't grasp it, most definitely need to be
able to look it up on their own, and not have to give you a call at 1
AM on a Sunday :)

You might even want to write your own intro documentation.

My take, as someone who is a self-taught programmer (though a inept
one), is that just about any IF language (perhaps outside of the
cutting edge) is perfect for beginners. I say that because prgramming
two rooms and an object with which to win the game is quite simple (or
at least it is in TADS, not soooo sure about inform as I haven't
looked at it since I first got into IF and chose TADS over inform).
Meaning, one can see, and play, the fruits of one's labor right off
the bat.

I think the biggest hurdle for beginners, beyond the tedium of looking
up classes and functions, is syntax...with punctuation taking the
cake.

After knocking it off my bookshelf the other day, I came to the
conclusion that David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest would have been
better done as a piece of IF rather than a novel. A 1200 room maze, as
many footnotes/bogus clues, and one object, which when you find it,
will turn you catatonic--die(). It's the only way to end the game.

Best of luck to you.  Sounds like a great course.  Maybe if they'd had
classes like this at my university I would have stuck around and gotten my
degree. ;)

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