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77650-01 - Seminar: Knowing Software (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Pierre Depaz (pierre.depaz@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This seminar focuses on “knowing software”; that is, on software as a means of knowing, and on the means of knowing software. As a unique means of manipulating symbols, software is the latest newcomer in a long lineage of cognitive technologies (from writing to counting, list-making and perspective-drawing, diagramming and simulating). Through their representational techniques, these technologies are used to make sense of the world, and to provide us with specific kinds of understandings of the social, economical, environmental and political phenomena around us. The first part of the proseminar will investigate how software makes us learn things through computation and what are the epistemological consequences of this new style of knowing. The second part of the seminar will take a methodological turn, and focus on how we can know software. Software is a strange kind of object, both abstract and concrete, commercial and public, always changing and always connected to other software. We will learn how to combine methodologies from literature, media studies, visual studies, science and technology studies and computer science in order to best grasp all the aspects and implications of a software. The final assessment will be the study of a specific kind of software (e.g. Excel, Blender, Unity, Moodle, Gephi, Omniverse or Jupyter Notebooks). |
| Learning objectives | Participants will gain fundamental knowledge in the key concepts and methodologies in software studies, and have the opportunity to apply this knowledge to specific case studies. They will also develop a deep understanding of software as a unique kind of media object, one that is used for learning things and developing insights through a computational mode of thinking. |
| Bibliography | Der detaillierte Semesterplan wird in der Auftaktsitzung vorgestellt. |
| Course application | Anmeldung über MOnA notwendig (services.unibas.ch). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 24.09.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 01.10.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 08.10.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 15.10.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 22.10.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 29.10.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 05.11.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 12.11.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 19.11.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 26.11.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 03.12.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 10.12.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Wednesday 17.12.2025 | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 210 |
| Modules |
Modul: Digital Humanities, Culture and Society (Master's degree subject: Digital Humanities) Modul: Strategien des Digitalen (Master's degree subject: Media Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Medienwissenschaft |