This research and writing-based course will examine immersive technologies as cultural forms with a long and reflective past. From philosophical conceptions of the virtual to popular forms of entertainment, our readings will trace a history of ideas about media that, in various ways, have reshaped the experience of individuality and reconfigured social relations. These readings will touch on theories of reality, representation, simulation, identification, and spectacle; models of perception, cognition, and consciousness; as well as the political and economic systems within which new technologies of subjective construction and consumption develop. Questions surrounding design’s role in forging everyday applications and cultural meanings for these technologies will underpin our discussion of critical texts whose immediate objects may be literary, visual, or historical. Throughout, as well, we will consider design itself as a process and a mode predicated on virtual states and potential realities. Independent research will connect topics of this far-ranging discussion to areas of personal interest and current relevance.

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