The course is a lecture series and consists of 8 events. Each lecture takes place on Mondays from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (fortnightly, every other week with exceptions). We meet on: 10/21, 10/28, 11/11, 11/25, 12/2, 12/16, 01/13, 01/27 The first meeting is on October 21st at 2:00 p.m. Please note that the first meeting will take place on October 21st at 2:00 p.m. The course is divided into 8 topics. I speak German half the time and English half the time. 1. Media history: print, mass media, digital media, virtual reality Topics: oral traditions, alphabet and writing systems, Gutenberg's invention of printing, books, newspapers, magazines, telegraph, phonograph, telephone, typewriter, photography, film, radio, television, reality TV, computers, pornography, music industry, Graphical User interfaces, Internet, smartphones, Virtual Reality. 2. Film studies We discuss these films as milestones in film history: Le voyage dans la lune (1902), Metropolis (1927), Triumph of the Will (1935), Modern Times (1936), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Blade Runner (1982) , and Matrix (1999). We follow the development of computer animation in film. We will examine the narrative structure of the films in comparison to novels and video games. In what way is film an art form, a representation of social reality and/or a practice of simulation? 3. Television studies We discuss these television series as milestones in television history: Star Trek (1966-1969, 1987-1994), Lost (2004-2010), Deutschland sucht den Superstar (2002-now), and Black Mirror (2011-now). Of particular interest will be how television has transformed from an entertainment medium to a conveyor of literature and philosophy and sociology. We analyze the forms of reality TV. 4. Computers, Internet and digital media We start with the invention of the computer: Alan Turing's computable numbers; Claude Shannon's information theory; John von Neumann's computer architecture and Alan Kay's object orientation. We continue to discuss the PC revolution, hypertext, the World Wide Web, video games, virtual worlds, social media, cell phones and smartphones, and wearables. 5. Critical and utopian media theories Critical media theory observes the dramatically increased importance of media, technologies and software in our lives. The key ideas of media theory: McLuhan's global village and the medium is the message; Adorno's culture industry; Baudrillard's simulation, simulacra and hyperreality; Virilio's speed and accident; Debord's Society of the Spectacle; Kittler's Media Post-Humanism; Turkle's Alone Together; Hayle's Hyper and Deep Attention; Haraway's cyborg theory. 6. News media and democracy; Posthumanist media theories How have television, the Internet, the entertainment industry, reality TV and social media influenced news reporting? What is fake news? Are we now rich in media and poor in democracy? Society and the economy have more and more to do with the conflict between human and posthuman actors. Posthuman media theories are linked to ecological perspectives. 7. Media of the future How can media theories be extended to future media design? We look at the areas of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), digital neurological interfaces, artificial intelligence (AI), robots and androids, autonomous cars, Internet of Things, 3D printers, blockchain. We examine post-capitalism and new forms of currency. 8. Creative coding Will the paradigm of media be replaced by the paradigm of code? A medium (like the screen) mediates between two dimensions of reality. With VR and AR and smartphones, etc. we are immersed, existence is determined and controlled on all micro levels by software code. Artists, designers and creative people (practitioners of digital media) learn programming. How is creative coding different from the practice of programming as a technical discipline? Can software code be poetic? One of the main objectives of the course is that every student acquires the ability to write a scientific/academic paper. For this purpose, the basics of scientific/academic work are taught, including correct citation methods, creating a literature list, when to cite, etc. We will work on these topics continuously during the second half of each event. We will also discuss the topics that each student is particularly interested in. We will discuss how any student can write a creative and thorough essay (standard academic format) on 5 pages.