Multimedia in the Next Decade

We began this course with a question: we viewed a "professional cat video" from YouTube and asked whether this everyday example of Multimedia art should be understood primarily as something "new" or rather as something "old". The purpose of approaching our initial "critique" with this question in mind was to highlight how multimedia pieces inevitably draw on various traditions/disciplines of making with long histories, while also using those traditions/disciplines in new ways. We returned to this idea of "remediation" throughout the course, sometimes implicitly, in the form of discussion or critique that highlighted the influence of different and "older" forms on something.
Now, at the end of this course, your task for the final exam is to write a short essay (5 double-spaced pages) that presents an imaginative yet grounded answer to the following questions: What will Multimedia art and communications be like ten years from now? How will the formats and genres of our present time continue to operate in that future? What aspects of our current Multimedia landscape will not be strongly present in that future landscape? What will that mean for the people who make the Multimedia of the future? What will that mean for those who "consume" the Multimedia of the future?
In writing this essay, you must support your vision of Multimedia's future (in part) with ideas explored throughout the lectures and tutorials of this course. You are strongly encouraged to include the critique/analysis of one or more specific works in your essay (for example, imagining a specific work from our own time or earlier as a key precedent to the work of the future). You are also encouraged to draw - critically and with proper academic citation wherever appropriate - on additional reference materials, such as academic, expert, and community commentary on Multimedia forms and technologies.
Have fun, and we (Dr. 0, Alejandro, Alex, Hannah, J., Renata, and Stephen) look forward to reading your (strongly grounded) predictions of the future!
Further Notes/Requirements:
This work must be solely your own independent effort. Collaboration with others on this essay is prohibited, with one single exception: you may ask questions, share ideas, promising sources, etc in the Avenue discussion forum where all members of the class can see the discussion (more about this below). The actual writing of the essay must be done by yourself, working alone, and you must not share the essay with others, nor can any other individual give you proofreading or writing assistance (automatic proofreading/grammar tools are okay, though).
It is strongly recommended that you review McMaster's academic integrity policy - it is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. Link: https://secretariat(dot)mcmaster(dot)ca/app/uploads/Academic-Integrity-Policy-1-1.pdf
Further to the previous notes, please be aware that in marking the exams we will be taking multiple measures to detect plagiarism and inappropriate collaboration.
"5 double-spaced pages" means 5 double-spaced pages with a standard 12 pt font (eg. Times New Roman or Arial), no extra spaces between paragraphs, no margins greater than 1 inch or less than 3/4 inch, and exactly double-spaced lines (not more or less than double-spaced). Please do NOT include a title page, contents, headers, footers, or page numbers. Please DO include your name in the document, on the first page.
Submit your essay in PDF format only, to this Avenue submission folder, before the deadline. You are strongly encouraged to submit well ahead of the deadline wherever possible.
Citations should be in APA format, with a bibliography. The bibliography does not count as part of the 5 pages. Note that the emphasis in the questions above is on your ideas and understanding - it would be perfectly normal for references to other work to be relatively few in number and thus for bibliographies to be relatively short. However, when you do refer to the specific scholarly work of others - you MUST cite it and include it in your bibliography. Here is a basic resource for API citation format (you can find others as well): https://owl(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html
These essays will be assigned a numeric grade according to the standard McMaster grading scale. As this is an exam, no feedback beyond the numeric grade will be provided.
DO continue to follow the discussion in the Avenue general discussion forum, which may include clarifications, questions, promising scholarly/community sources, etc. Please note that the discussion forum will close at 11:59 PM the day before the exam is due, so any questions or requests for clarification about the exam must be asked at the very latest the day before the exam is due. Please also note that, while you may contact Dr. 0 privately by email after that, he will be unable to offer assistance with the exam on the day the exam is due.
Do NOT contact the teaching assistants with questions about your exam. The only place where questions about the exam can be asked is the Avenue discussion forum. After the exam, the only place questions can be asked is by email to Dr. 0.
Pro tip: start early - do small bits at a time - leave several days to go back and rewrite/improve, in several passes.