Do you know what is real or fake, factual or made up, truth or lies? Do you think we live with a shared reality, that reality is up to each individual, or that reality is an algorithm that has been hacked? Has what is real become wildly confusing as disinformation, alternative facts, or conspiracy theories? What does it mean to see deepfakes, chat bots, AI systems, virtual life forms, replicants, and counterfeits swarm across the digital and offline world? In this course we examine how the technologies we make and use shape the real, who the players of the ‘reality business’ are, and how this matters in the choices we make in daily life. Over the semester, we will create artworks and short essays in response to texts, artistic works, films, animations, and performances by Indigenous, Afro-diasporic, Latinx, Asian and other global theorists and artists. This course provides foundational skills in critical analysis through hands-on assignments that improve how one communicates concepts and ideas. Foundations in Critical Studies introduces critical thinking skills essential to college-level work in the humanities and sciences. Students develop their critical capacities through close reading and active response to cultural texts and phenomena drawn from multiple disciplines and reflecting diverse perspectives on major themes or topics in contemporary life.

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