Prompts

Class 8 → 9


For 4/18:

For this week, the assignment is simple. Put your “internet observation” skills into practice ...

  • On Princeton’s campus (please explore widely!), choose five locations you would like to be on a tour with the theme of “walking the internet.” Based on our readings and class discussions, we know the internet is not this mystical thing in the “cloud” but a very grounded one in physical systems all around (below and above) us, often hiding in plain sight. The internet connects us all, linking disparate subjects (like in the game we played the first class, Wiki Golf), so let’s show these themes of the internet through a walking tour of Princeton. Use this theme as a jumping off point … use your imagination and try to be both literal and metaphorical.

    Themes:

    - connectivity
    - links between disparate things
    - layers beyond
    - hiding in plain sight
    - building knowledge together

  • Take five horizontal-oriented (that is, landscape and not portrait) photos for each of these locations. Take these photos during daylight (not night time). Your photo should feel representative for that stop on the tour, easily identifiable by someone reading the tour website. The photo should also “do the work” of showing what’s special / relevant about the location. (If you’re showing a specific aspect, make sure to show that in the photo through your choice of framing and composition.)

  • Add these locations and five photos to this collaborative Google Map.

    I have invited all of you, but please let me know if you don’t have access for some reason!

    To do this:

    - Drop a pin for your location
    - Add your landscape-oriented photo to the pin (look for the camera icon)
    - Write alt-text for your image in the “description” area, using words to convey the image succinctly
    - Save your pin, and make sure you add 5 … try to get a good range of locations!

  • After you add to map, please also add your 5 photos to this Are.na channel. This will allow us to have high res images ready for our working session next class!

Class 6 → 7 & 8


For next week (4/4, NYC):

  • In preparation for our field trip to NYC next week, Read the introduction and other excerpts from the book Networks of New York: An Illustrated Field Guide to Urban Internet Infrastructure by Ingrid Burrington (2016). Write a log on Are.na of your reflections. [~30 minutes]
For the week after (4/11):

  • Based on all the pieces you read so far in the Are.na Annual, write your own “Editor’s Letter” … That is, if you were introducing this publication, how would you tie all the pieces together / introduce them as a unit? (Try not to let the editor’s letter at the beginning of the book influence you, if possible.) Note that the theme of the book is “Service.” Put this in your Are.na channel when you’re done and be ready to discuss when we meet as a class. [~30 minutes]

    Pieces we’ve read:
    "Wikipedia as a Sacred Text” by Carolyn Li-Madeo & Sharon Park (page 237), “The Instability of Stone” by Morgan Strahorn (page 34), “ASDFGHJKLKGJL” by Tiger Dingsun (page 20), “Romantic Love as Creative Telos” by Jo Suk & Miaoye Que (page 42), “Our Symphony” by Maxwell Neely-Cohen (page 54), “A Meditation on Mahamaya” by Rohan Chaurasia (page 175), “Hey, It’s Me” by Michael Norman (page 185)

  • Continue teaching yourself about CSS Layout & Responsive and experimenting by playing around with possibilities. Maybe last time you explored “inline-block” … this week, try exploring “flexbox” of “CSS Grid.” Also, if you haven’t tried looking at your site on your phone / exploring media queries, take this chance to do that. This time around, I collected *all the interviews* into a very bare-bones (no style) site. Here is its code. Press "Remix" button at the top of the code, and edit this site to create your own version that has a clear choice of style. Try learning something you don't know about CSS layout / positioning and try your results here. (You'll very likely add CSS to the style.css page, along with any HTML you want on the associated pages.) Some ideas: Maybe you want each interview to look like an app on a make-believe phone. Or maybe you want each interview look like a book in a library. Up to you! You might also try seeing what this page looks like on your phone. [~ 1.5 hours]

    Some (hopefully fun) CSS layout resources:
    - Flexbox Froggy — for learning Flexbox
    - CSS Grid Garden — for learning CSS Grid
    - Learn Layout — for learning about a history of CSS Layout

  • Read everyone's interviews. (I have collected them here or here.) Note what themes emerge in multiple interviews, or what connections we could draw between all the interviews. Write your reflections on the common / emergent themes. Any ideas for how we could organize or frame these together? Put this written reflection in your Are.na. [~1 hour]

Class 5 → 6

  • Learn about more advanced topics in CSS (positioning, media queries, etc.) by going through the “CSS Layout & Responsive” fruitful guide. Then, look at this very bare-bones (no style!) site that collects the interviews conducted so far along with its code. Press "Remix" button at the top of the code, and edit this site to create your own version that has a clear choice of style. Try learning something you don't know about CSS layout / positioning and try your results here. (You'll very likely add CSS to the style.css page, along with any HTML you want on the associated pages.) Some ideas: Maybe you want each interview to look like an app on a make-believe phone. Or maybe you want each interview look like a book in a library. Up to you! You might also try seeing what this page looks like on your phone. (Note: I apologize if I've mis-adapted any of your interviews here — note this site is just an exercise.) [~ 1.5 hours]

  • Read two pieces from the 2023 Are.na Annual. “A Meditation on Mahamaya” by Rohan Chaurasia (page 175) and “Hey, It’s Me” by Michael Norman (page 185). Note that Rohan Chaurasia also created the cover for the book. Write another log in response, similar to previous week’s. Post in your Are.na channel when you’re done. (Note: These will be the last official assigned "content" pieces from the annual.) [~30 minutes]

  • Download the Wikipedia app on your phone if you haven’t yet. Spend some time going through it. What aspects, features, and/or small details do you appreciate? What do you have a question about? Carolyn Li-Madeo, designer at Wikipedia (specifically on the app), will be our guest next week. [~15 minutes]

Class 4 → 5

  • Review CSS. Watch my video introducing CSS [17min, 30sec]. Optionally: Feel free to review the 2 - CSS Basics fruitful guide. Also, if you want to get started learning the fundamentals of CSS layout, I’d recommend going through the steps of learnlayout.com. If you feel like touching up or creating another version to your last week’s CSS sites, feel free. [~30min]


  • Interview. The main priority this week is your interview. (The original prompt is pasted below this email.) This week, I *strongly recommend* making contact / scheduling time with your interviewee this week.

    • A handful of people (Minh, Oyinkansola, Iroha, Anya, Emmie*) will share their full interview webpages next week, 3/7. [~ few hours?]

    • For the rest of you (Avi, Britney, Ian, Alice, Irene, Marie, David), you’ll finish yours for after spring break, 3/21. For this group of people, could you email me who you plan to interview, why, and also a plan B (should this person not get back to you). Email me this before next class session. [~15min]

  • Read two pieces from the 2023 Are.na Annual: “Romantic Love as Creative Telos” by Jo Suk & Miaoye Que (page 42) and “Our Symphony” by Maxwell Neely-Cohen (page 54). Write another log in response, similar to last week’s. Post in your Are.na channel when you’re done. [~30 minutes]

    • Class 3 → 4

    Note: There is no class next week, Febraury 21. These are due the following week, February 28.

    • Read two pieces from the 2023 Are.na Annual (book you received 2 classes ago): “The Instability of Stone” by Morgan Strahorn (page 34) and “ASDFGHJKLKGJL” by Tiger Dingsun (page 20). [~30 minutes]

    • Follow this prompt from Carolyn: “At your next meal, read an article related to what you are eating while you are eating it.” [~15 minutes]

    • On Wikipedia, find a page that could use an extra citation. Add this needed citation — it should be one that wasn’t there before but helps support the page. [~15 minutes]

    • Write a third entry in your “Log.” The theme of this Are.na Annual is the word “service.” How were both pieces (by Strahorn & Dingsun) addressing this theme? What are the connections between these two pieces? The differences? What stuck out to you the most about each, that you’d like to remember? Also, do you feel like editing / contributing to Wikipedia is a service? Was there anything you learned through adding a citation? [~15 minutes]

    • Learn about CSS by going through the “CSS Basics” fruitful guide. (Also, if you’re looking for more CSS resources, I recommend the resources under “CSS” on my Tutorials page of my teaching website, including my CSS video!) Instead of following the prompt at the end, do a different exercise:

    • ( 1 ) First, reinforce your HTML skills by translating something you've written in the past — like an essay or a letter (that you would be comfortable sharing with the class) — into HTML. Focus on using the most specific and semantically-correct HTML elements as possible. Your page should have clear hierarchy. Do this using Glitch.com again, and paste the result to your Are.na channel when you’re done. [~15 minutes]

    • ( 2 ) Then, press the “Remix” button on Glitch to create a copy of your default HTML version. You’ll do this 3 times, for 3 different versions. For each, use CSS to create a distinctly styled version. First version: Traditional — focus on readability and legibility. Second version: Space the text out in some way — try a very tall or very wide page, or multiple pages linked together. How can certain parts have more pause between or inside them? Third version: Freestyle / your own version — try a different, distinct reading experience from the previous two. You can also consider trying to copy an existing website’s style by inspecting element / peeking at its CSS. Paste each of these “styled versions” to your Are.na when you’re done. [~1 hour]

    Finally, a heads' up that there will be something due in 2 weeks (Class 5 — March 7th), an interview. Read the linked description, and please start thinking about who you would like to interview and start reaching out to them as soon as possible.

    Class 2 → 3

    Solo

    • Read “Charles Broskoski on self-discovery that happens upon revisiting things you’ve accumulated over time,” a conversation between Are.na Co-Founder (Charles Broskoski) and me (Laurel Schwulst) from 2017. [~15 minutes]

    • Create another entry in your “Log” after reading this. Is there anything in particular you’d like your future self to remember about this interview? What was most resonant to you? Also: Can a person be their “best self” on the internet? If so, how? And what do you believe the web should have more of and less of? When you're done, add it to your Are.na channel. [~15 minutes]

    Together

    Meet up with your partner from this past week (who you shared your “grocery list of interests” exercise).

    With them, you’ll ( 1 ) have a conversation and ( 2 ) do your HTML learning & exercise side-by-side — in case either of you get stuck, help each other. (I often find it's nice to learn coding alongside someone else, even if we aren't talking.)

    • ( 1 ) Conversation — Continue sharing your “grocery list of interests” if you didn’t have time in class. Then, have a conversation with your partner using the below questions as guides: What is on your grocery list of interests? Is there anything that connects all your interests? Any larger themes? What "dishes" could you create by combining a few of your "ingredients"? What interesting “fusion” dishes could you create by combining your & your partner’s ingredients? Afterwards, add your grocery list of interests and anything you realized through this conversation to your personal Are.na channel. [~15 minutes]

    • ( 2 ) Learning HTML — Teach yourself basic HTML by going through the chapter called “1 - HTML Basics” from the Fruitful Guides. (Also, if you’re looking for more HTML resources, I recommend the resources under “HTML” on my Tutorials page of my teaching website.) Once you know the basics of HTML (or as you’re learning), follow the prompt at the end of “1 - HTML Basics” to create a simple “profile” website for yourself using only HTML. To do this, I’d recommend signing up for an account on Glitch.com (which is essentially a Google Docs but for making web projects), which will make it easy to share your work and collaborate in the future. Here are some tutorials (one, two) for getting started using Glitch. When you’re done, paste your resulting website into your Are.na channel. [~1 hour]

    Class 1 → 2

    • Read "Wikipedia as a Sacred Text," a conversation between designers Carolyn Li-Madeo and Sharon Park. [~15 minutes]

    • Take a walk and note 1-5 things that you hear, smell or see on your walk. Try learning one new fact about something you encountered on your walk. Use Wikipedia to learn the fact. (This is Carolyn's prompt). [~15-30 minutes]

    • Find something small, like a typo or grammar mistake, on Wikipedia to improve. Then, create a Wikipedia account, if you don't have one already, and try to edit the page on Wikipedia. (As Carolyn and Sharon talked about in the article, consider your role). [~15 minutes]

    • Write your first entry in your "Log." What was most resonant / curious to you about the above three activities (reading the conversation, taking a walk and learning something, editing something on Wikipedia)? Pretend your future self is reading this entry. What would you like them to remember, if anything? Is there anything these activities sparked in you? Anything you're especially curious about that you could easily see your future self exploring more? Type this entry and have it ready on your computer for next class. [~15 minutes]

    • For next class, practice an introduction about yourself that's 3 minutes, 33 seconds long. You can do whatever (safe & considerate for class environment) within this time limit that helps the other class members know you a little more. It could be simply sharing some things about yourself aloud, or you could show some of your favorite things, or whatever really. Have fun and practice to make sure it fits within 3:33. [~5-30 minutes]