Refik Anadol, Machine Hallucinations, 2022
IML 607: Critique and Criticality
Units: 2.0
Wednesdays, 16:00 – 17:50
MA+P Graduate Studio
Instructor: Kiki Benzon (she/they)
Office: SCI 101J
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: kbenzon@cinema.usc.edu
Course Description
This course offers students the opportunity to develop media arts projects within a context of rigorous and regular critique. Not only will we practice receiving, interpreting, and applying structured feedback from peers, faculty members, and visiting scholars, but we will also hone our own skills in critique generation and delivery. We will learn several methods and traditions of critique and traverse the history of arts critique, paying particular attention to interdisciplinary and media-rich practices and works. The course will be divided into two phases: 1) peer critiques, where we will move as a group through a sequence of critiques of student work and 2) experimental critiques, where students will develop and facilitate a critique session that is itself critical of conventional “art school” crits. Most classes will allow time for studio work, where students can consider/implement elements addressed during feedback sessions or pursue research and development related to a current or new project. Students will actively chronicle what they derive from critique sessions and readings and, at the end of the term, will be asked to write a reflection upon the critique process and its effects upon their evolution as a media arts practitioner.
Learning Objectives
– to become familiar with several methods of contemporary studio critique
– to participate thoughtfully in group critiques—purposefully practicing perception, interpretation, and evaluation
– to approach critique critically
– to develop a personal style of critique through encounters with our readings, exposure to other critics, and concentrated experiences in offering and receiving critiques
Assessment of Assignments
Peer critiques / student presentations
Students will choose a week to present their work and assign a reading and screening/website/artwork that can inform their peers’ response to the presenter’s work. A formal critique will take place.
| Assignment | % of Grade |
| Peer critiques / student presentations | 40 |
| Experimental critiques | 40 |
| Final reflection | 20 |
| Grade | % |
| A | 95 – 100 |
| A- | 90 – 94 |
| B+ | 87 – 89 |
| B | 83 – 86 |
| B- | 80 – 82 |
| C+ | 77 – 79 |
| C | 73 – 76 |
| C- | 70 – 62 |
| D+ | 67 – 69 |
| D | 63 – 66 |
| D- | 60 – 62 |
| F | 59 and below |
Assignment Submission Policy
Assignments submitted after the deadline will be subject to a one letter-grade penalty per day late.
MA+P Division Absence policy
MA+P classes depend on group work and in-class critique, which makes attendance crucial. You are expected to be present for every scheduled class session. If you must miss a class, please be sure to get any notes and assignments from a classmate so you do not fall behind. Students are allowed two absences before a reduction in grade. Tardiness or leaving class early for (0 to 15 minutes) will be considered ½ an absence. Missing more than 30 minutes of a class is considered an absence. After your second absence, each additional absence will lower your final grade by 5%. If you anticipate attendance issues, please notify your professor immediately.
Course Schedule: A Weekly Breakdown
Week 1: January 10
Introduction to the course
Week 2: January 17
| Reading | Kelly, Mary. “Concentric Pedagogy: Toward an Ethics of the Observer.” October. 168. (2019): 43–46.
Newell, Michael. “CRITS, CONSENSUS, AND CRITICALITY: Making artists in the contemporary art school.” The Routledge Companion to Criticality In Art, Architecture, And Design. Brisbin and Thiessen, eds. 2019. |
| Activity | Discuss design / arts critique |
Week 3: January 24
| Reading | Unkefer, Erin et al. ‘“Out of My Element”: The Experiences of Black Art Students in Critique.’ Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. 16.1 (40-52): 2003. |
| Activity | Group critique |
Week 4: January 31
| Reading | Elkin, James. How to Use Your Eyes. Routledge, 2000.
Waters-Eller, Susan and Joseph J. Basile, eds. Beyond Critique: Different Ways of Talking about Art. MICA Press, 2013. |
| Activity | Group critique |
Week 5: February 7
| Reading | Rogoff, Irit. “‘Smuggling’ – an Embodied Criticality.” eflux. 14. (2010) |
| Activity | Group critique |
Week 6: February 14
| Reading | Lee, Billie. “On Performing the Critical.” Beyond Critique: Contemporary Art in Theory, Practice, and Instruction. Pamela Fraser and Roger Rothman, eds. Bloomsbury, 2017. (143-152) |
| Activity | Group critique |
Week 7: February 21
| Reading | Silberberger, Jan. “Reimagining the Crit.” Against and for Method: Revisiting Architectural Design as Research. 2021. |
| Activity | Group critique |
Week 8: February 28
| Reading | Love, Heather. “The Temptations: Donna Haraway, Feminist Objectivity and the Problem of Critique.” Critique and Postcritique. Elizabeth S. Anker and Rita Felski, eds. Duke UP, 2017. |
| Activity | Group critique |
Week 9: March 6
| Reading | d’Souza, Allan. “Critique as Radical Prototype.” How Art Can Be Thought: A Handbook for Change. Duke UP, 2019. |
| Activity | Reflections on the group critique process, and preparation for experimental critiques. |
Week 10: March 13
Spring Recess – No Class
Week 11: March 20
| Reading | Doren, Mariah. “Is the critique relevant? The function of critique in a studio art classroom, told three times.” Visual Inquiry: Learning & Teaching Art. 4.3 (2015). |
| Activity | Experimental critique |
Week 12: March 27
| Reading | Fraser, Pamela and Roger Rothman, eds. Beyond Critique: Contemporary Art in Theory, Practice, and Instruction. Bloomsbury, 2017. |
| Activity | Experimental critique |
Week 13: April 3
| Reading | Barthes, Roland. “Rhetoric of the Image.” The Responsibility of Forms: Critical Essays on Music, Art, and Representation. Hill and Wang, 1985. |
| Activity | Experimental critique |
Week 14: April 10
| Reading | Hickey-Moody, Anna. “Manifesto: The Rhizomatics of Practice as Research.” Arts, Culture and Pedagogy: New Materialism. Anna Hickey-Moody and Tara Page, eds. London: Rowman & Littlefield International, 2015. |
| Activity | Experimental critique |
Week 15: April 17
| Topics | Due: final reflection first draft. |
Week 16: April 24
| Topics | Due: final reflection final draft. |
ACADEMIC POLICIES
Land Acknowledgement Statement:
We acknowledge our presence on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Kizh and Chumash peoples. Please visit Native-Land.ca to learn more, and to discover the Original People of your home.
SCA Diversity and Inclusion Statement:
Diversity and Inclusion are foundational to the SCA community. We are committed to fostering a welcoming and supportive environment where students of all identities and backgrounds can flourish. The classroom should be a space for open discussion of ideas and self- expression; however, SCA will not tolerate verbal or written abuse, threats, harassment, intimidation or violence against person or property. If students are concerned about these matters in the classroom setting they are encouraged to contact their SCA Diversity and Inclusion Liaison, http://cinema.usc.edu/about/diversity.cfm; e-mail diversity@cinema.usc.edu. You can also report discrimination based on a protected class here https://equity.usc.edu/harassment-or-discrimination/
Students and Disability Accommodations:
USC welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University’s educational programs. The Office of Student Accessibility Services (OSAS) is responsible for the determination of appropriate accommodations for students who encounter disability-related barriers. Once a student has completed the OSAS process (registration, initial appointment, and submitted documentation) and accommodations are determined to be reasonable and appropriate, a Letter of Accommodation (LOA) will be available to generate for each course. The LOA must be given to each course instructor by the student and followed up with a discussion. This should be done as early in the semester as possible as accommodations are not retroactive. More information can be found at osas.usc.edu. You may contact OSAS at (213) 740-0776 or via email at osasfrontdesk@usc.edu.
In the spirit of disability culture, please feel free to stim, stretch, knit, doodle, move around, change seats, do yoga or do what feels right to your bodymind.
Academic Integrity:
The University of Southern California is a learning community committed to developing successful scholars and researchers dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and the dissemination of ideas. Academic misconduct, which includes any act of dishonesty in the production or submission of academic work, compromises the integrity of the person who commits the act and can impugn the perceived integrity of the entire university community. It stands in opposition to the university’s mission to research, educate, and contribute productively to our community and the world.
All students are expected to submit assignments that represent their own original work, and that have been prepared specifically for the course or section for which they have been submitted. You may not submit work written by others or “recycle” work prepared for other courses without obtaining written permission from the instructor(s).
Other violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabrication (e.g., falsifying data), collusion, knowingly assisting others in acts of academic dishonesty, and any act that gains or is intended to gain an unfair academic advantage.
The impact of academic dishonesty is far-reaching and is considered a serious offense against the university. All incidences of academic misconduct will be reported to the Office of Academic Integrity and could result in outcomes such as failure on the assignment, failure in the course, suspension, or even expulsion from the university.
For more information about academic integrity see the student handbook or the Office of Academic Integrity’s website, and university policies on Research and Scholarship Misconduct.
Please ask your instructor if you are unsure what constitutes unauthorized assistance on an exam or assignment, or what information requires citation and/or attribution.
Creating a policy for the use of AI Generators in your course
Review the considerations and sample options below to include language in your syllabi regarding the use of AI in your courses.
Considerations when crafting a policy for AI/Chat GPT use in your course:
- Does your department, program, or school have an existing policy?
- Under what circumstances is AI use permitted in the course and/or for specific assignments?
- How should students cite or credit AI-generated material? (USC Libraries AI Generators Citation Guidance)
- How will students be held accountable for AI’s tendency toward hallucination (i.e., deceptive data)?
- What are the ethical considerations of using AI in general and in your discipline?
- How can AI be used as an effective learning tool, rather than a content creator for course assignments?
Sample Option A–not permitted
Since creating, analytical, and critical thinking skills are part of the learning outcomes of this course, all assignments should be prepared by the student working individually or in groups. Students may not have another person or entity complete any substantive portion of the assignment. Developing strong competencies in these areas will prepare you for a competitive workplace. Therefore, using AI-generated tools is prohibited in this course, will be identified as plagiarism, and will be reported to the Office of Academic Integrity.
Option B–permitted on specific assignments
In this course, I encourage you to use artificial intelligence (AI)-powered programs to help you with assignments that indicate the permitted use of AI. You should also be aware that AI text generation tools may present incorrect information, biased responses, and incomplete analyses; thus they are not yet prepared to produce text that meets the standards of this course. To adhere to our university values, you must cite any AI-generated material (e.g., text, images, etc.) included or referenced in your work and provide the prompts used to generate the content. Using an AI tool to generate content without proper attribution will be treated as plagiarism and reported to the Office of Academic Integrity. Please review the instructions in each assignment for more details on how and when to use AI Generators for your submissions.
Option C–encouraged use
I expect you to use AI (e.g., ChatGPT and image generation tools) in this class. Learning to use AI is an emerging skill, and I welcome the opportunity to meet with you to provide guidance with these tools during office hours or after class. Keep in mind the following:
- AI tools are permitted to help you brainstorm topics or revise work you have already written.
- If you provide minimum-effort prompts, you will get low-quality results. You will need to refine your prompts to get good outcomes. This will take work.
- Proceed with caution when using AI tools and do not assume the information provided is accurate or trustworthy If it gives you a number or fact, assume it is incorrect unless you either know the correct answer or can verify its accuracy with another source. You will be responsible for any errors or omissions provided by the tool. It works best for topics you understand.
- AI is a tool, but one that you need to acknowledge using. Please include a paragraph at the end of any assignment that uses AI explaining how (and why) you used AI and indicate/specify the prompts you used to obtain the results what prompts you used to get the results. Failure to do so is a violation of academic integrity policies.
- Be thoughtful about when AI is useful. Consider its appropriateness for each assignment or circumstance. The use of AI tools requires attribution. You are expected to clearly attribute any material generated by the tool used.]
Include common examples of activities and assignments that might occur in your class:
- Please ask me if you are unsure about what constitutes unauthorized assistance on an exam or assignment, or what information requires citation and/or attribution.
- In this class, you are expected to submit work that demonstrates your individual mastery of the course concepts.
- Group work. Unless specifically designated as a ‘group project,’ all assignments are expected to be completed individually.
Include information regarding grade outcomes a student may expect if found in violation:
If found responsible for an academic violation, students may be assigned university outcomes, such as suspension or expulsion from the university, and grade penalties, such as an “F” grade on the assignment, exam, and/or in the course.
Statement on Fair Use:
Fair use is a legal principle that defines certain limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. MA+P projects are produced with fair use doctrines in mind using its four pillars: (1) the purpose and character of use, (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. Generally speaking, this means you must only use as much of a copyrighted work as is necessary to make your point, and you must cite your sources accordingly.
Citation Guidelines:
We assert that work produced in our classes is covered under the Doctrine of Fair Use. In order to make this claim, however, all projects must include academically appropriate citations in the form of a References section, which covers all sources, in order to receive a passing grade. The References section is either included in the project itself or as a separate document, as appropriate. For citation purposes, we follow Kairos Journal of Rhetoric,Technology and Pedagogy style guide; Kairos uses APA format, which is slightly modified and whose general guidelines and specific examples may be found here: http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/styleguide.html#apa
Computer Code:
Computer code is often shared and reused. This is appropriate in a MA+P course unless otherwise directed by the assignment. If you do use code, you should attribute it. Please follow these protocols from MIT which call for placing a comment in one’s code with a URL to the original source, a note if it was adapted, and the date of retrieval: https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/writing-code
PLEASE NOTE:
FOOD AND DRINKS (OTHER THAN WATER) ARE NOT PERMITTED IN ANY INSTRUCTIONAL SPACES IN THE SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS COMPLEX
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