John-Paul Bader
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Internet
Seminar, English/Deutsch, 2 SWS, 2 ECTS
Thursdays, 15-17 h, weekly, starts 20.10.2022, Grunewaldstr. 2-5, room 112

Registration starts 17.10.2022 via Moodle: https://moodle.udk-berlin.de/moodle/course/view.php?id=1658
Moodle Einschreibeschlüssel / Moodle Enrollment Key: theinternet

The seminar is giving students a better understanding of the most important mass medium of the 21st century – the Internet. We use it on a daily basis, some of us throughout the day, knowingly or unknowingly, yet nobody really explains how it works. The seminar does and it is based on explaining things by first principles and therefore starts with 1's and 0's and questions like: "Why digital is better?"

Technical aspects are broken down into understandable concepts so that students with a non-technical background can grasp the ideas while still providing new insights for the more tech-savvy attendants.

While some of the topics in this seminar depend on interests and questions of the students, there are a few core pillars: The World Wide Web, Digital Art/Media Art, Privacy and Security, Freedom of Information and Censorship, The Darknet, Crypto Currencies and NFTs.

Requirements for the ungraded Studium Generale credits: To complete the seminar and receive the credit points, the students have contribute to "world knowledge" by sharing something they have learned. Either by adding information to Wikipedia or OpenStreetMap, writing a tutorial on their blog or a platform, or by making a Youtube video.

John-Paul Bader studied Graphic Design at the UdK and worked a graphic designer since the age of 16 with a constant auto-didactic appetite and above average interest in how computers work. In 1999 he joined the Chaos Computer Club, Europes largest hacker association and transitioned from print to web design, to frontend programming before becoming a backend developer and administrator. During studying at UdK he took care of the faculties network infrastructure and after his studies in 2008 he started a seminar at the UdK, teaching students about the various aspects of the Internet while working professionally as a Software Developer since 2008.