I am teaching two courses in the Critical Studies Department of the California College of the Arts over the 2023 Spring semester.

The “The Post-Real” course addresses the following questions:

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 increase? 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.

The “Fact or Fiction: Navigating Reality” course addresses the following questions:

Throughout history, secular and sacred cultures have worked to impart a shared sense of what is real. People have told stories, shown artifacts, performed rituals and practices, or read crucial texts in order to build cohesive communities. Recent technological changes have introduced a dizzying number of platforms to publicize wildly competing claims about reality.

In this course we will take a deep dive into concepts of the real, the post-real, simulation, interfaces, memes, representation, and more. We will pair creative assignments with critical readings and artworks by Indigenous, Afro-diasporic, Latinx, Asian, and other global theorists and artists, including the Initiative for Indigenous Futures, Baudrillard, Ruha Benjamin, data labs, and more. Over the semester, we will work with AI systems and companions on hands-on experimental research projects. This course increases our capacity to navigate the questions and opportunities of this new reality.