Milstein First-Year Foundations

Catalog description

Milstein First-Year Foundations introduces students to the conceptual and practical tools needed for the pursuit and communication of interdisciplinary research. Drawing on perspectives from technology studies, media theory, and the arts, the course examines how text, images, and sound function as systems for producing and communicating knowledge. The course incorporates visits from guest faculty and hands-on activities that explore issues of mediation, representation, and interpretation. From literature, music, and art to AI-generated text, sounds, and images, students will learn to analyze how technologies shape meaning. Through iterative assignments, they will develop skills in designing research questions, working across media, and critically evaluating sources, preparing them to undertake independent research in the future.