The Cultural Politics of Code is a new reading group exploring ideas and methods from the emerging field of critical code studies.
Critical Code Studies (CCS) seeks to analyse both the functional operation of programs and the source code to interpret priorities and significance that may not be clear through either lens alone. CCS holds that the lines of code in a program are not value-neutral and can be analysed using the theoretical approaches applied to other semiotic systems, in addition to particular interpretive methods developed specifically for the discussions of programs. CCS is fundamentally interdisciplinary, taking cues from cultural studies, semiotic analysis, science and technology studies, and media archaeology.
This reading group will begin with discussion and exploration of the methods associated with CCS, moving on to collaborative codebase analyses and expansion of critical code methods to other fields in the digital humanities (e.g. digital museum studies, cultural analytics, interactive fiction studies). This term’s discussions will cover code aesthetics and poetics, black-boxing and machine learning, and explainability and accessibility of code.
Schedule
Hybrid sessions will run fortnightly during Michaelmas 2023, beginning on the 11th of October, in GR04 (English Faculty) and online. The reading list will be uploaded before the start of term and expanded upon as the term progresses.
Sign up to our mailing list to receive the Zoom registration link and further updates.
First Session: An Introduction to CCS
11 October 1700-1800
GR04, English Faculty Building, 9 West Road, Sidgwick Site
Readings
- Marino, Mark C. ‘Chapter 1: Introduction’, (2020) Critical Code Studies. (iDiscover ebook)
- Marino, Mark C. and Jeremy Douglass, ‘Introduction: Situating Critical Code Studies in the Digital Humanities’, (2023) Digital Humanities Quarterly. (link)
Optional Additional Readings
- Marino, Mark C. ‘Chapter 2: Critical Code Studies: A Manifesto’, (2020) Critical Code Studies. (iDiscover ebook)
- Montfort, Nick. ‘Programming Fundamentals’, (2016) Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities. (ebook)
Second Session: Code Aesthetics and Creative Coding
25 October 1700-1800
GR04, English Faculty Building, 9 West Road, Sidgwick Site
Readings
- Bertram, Lillian-Yvonne. Travesty Generator (2019). (link)
- Montfort, Nick et al. ‘Introduction,’ (2014), 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10. (link)
Optional Additional Readings
- Bergstrom, Ilias and R. Beau Lotto. ‘Code Bending: A New Creative Coding Practice’ (2015), Leonardo. (link)
- Maeda, John. Creative Code (2005).
- Montfort, Nick et al. ‘40: Randomness,’ (2014), 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10. (link)
- Soon, Winnie and Geoff Cox. Aesthetic Programming: A Handbook of Software Studies (2020): Open Humanities Press. (ebook)
Third Session: Deep Learning Models
8 November 1700-1800
Readings
- Hua, Minh, and Rita Raley. ‘How to Do Things with Deep Learning Code’ (2023), Digital Humanities Quarterly. (link)
- Seaver, Nick. ‘Algorithms as culture: Some tactics for the ethnography of algorithmic systems’ (2017), Big Data & Society. (link)
Optional Additional Readings
- Anthony, Lasse, Benjamin Kanding, and Raghavendra Selvan. ‘Carbontracker: Tracking and Predicting the Carbon Footprint of Training Deep Learning Models’ (2020), ICML. (link)
- Lipton, Zachary C. ‘The Mythos of Model Interpretability’ (2016), ICML. (link)
- Meinders, Christine et al. ‘Feminist Search (Code Critique)’ (2020), CCS Working Group 2020. (link)
Fourth Session: Biases, AI, and Explainability
Please note the updated time: 29 November 1700-1800
Readings
- Berry, David. ‘The Explainability Turn’ (2023), Digital Humanities Quarterly. (link).
- Noble, Safiya. ‘Google Search: Hyper-Visibility as a Means of Rendering Black Women and Girls Invisible’ (2013), InVisible Culture. (link)
- “Introduction: Wild Seed in the Machine” by Jessica Marie Johnson and Mark Anthony Neal, The Black Scholar, 2017 (link)
Optional Additional Readings
- Benjamin, Ruha. Race After Technology (2019). (iDiscover eBook)
- “Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification” by Joy Buolamwini and Timnit Gebru, MLR 2018 (link)
- “Bias in Big Data, Machine Learning and AI: What Lessons for the Digital Humanities?” by Andrew Prescott, DHQ (2023) (link)
Who Should Join?
We welcome anyone working at PhD level or above with an interest in thinking critically about code. Any level of coding experience is welcome; our reading list includes optional additional readings aimed at those joining our group from a non-technical background.
If you don’t meet these criteria, but are still interested in joining the reading group, please reach out to the convenors Claire Carroll (cec205@cam.ac.uk) and Orla Delaney (obd24@cam.ac.uk).
Convenors
Claire Carroll (cec205@cam.ac.uk) is a second year PhD researcher in English, affiliated with Cambridge Digital Humanities. Her work explores the second person voice in interactive digital fiction and the extra/diegetic modes of embodiment and immersion it promotes in readers. Claire is a 2023-2024 CDH Methods Fellow and a member of Pembroke College.
Orla Delaney (obd24@cam.ac.uk) is a third year PhD researcher in English, and an affiliated doctoral student at Cambridge Digital Humanities. Her work examines database infrastructures in cultural heritage institutions, using ethnographic methods to understand how those infrastructures produce meaning and relations within collections. She is a member of St John’s College.
