(Da der Kurs auch für M.Sc. Digital Media und dort in Englisch angeboten wird, sind die Ziele und Inhalte auf Englisch formuliert)

• Understanding the basic theoretical concepts of the sign as a triadic and recursive relation, and of semiosis as the dynamic existence of signs, mainly as in Peircean theory.
• Gaining an overview of the history of semiotics with its contradictions and methodical development.
• Understanding the differences between prominent semiotic approaches (de Saussure, Peirce, and Bühler), and how they influence the theoretical foundations of computing.
• Gaining insight into the new concept of an algorithmic sign, and in consequence of human-computer interaction as a semiotic coupling, of the computer as the semiotic machine, of software as a complex sign, and of executing programs as a sign process, thus becoming aware of the usefulness of applying semiotics to software processes.
• Learning to apply semiotics to matters of interaction design.
• Gaining first experience with the difference of nterpretation & construction, resp. hermeneutic & rationalistic methods.

• The naive approach to signs in everyday life
• The theoretical concepts of de Saussure, Peirce, Bühler, Eco
• Syntactics, semantics, pragmatics
• History of semiotics
• The relation of media, signs, and human activities
• Early semiotic approaches to software
• The concept of algorithmic sign, its semioses, and software as algorithmic sign
• Computing science as computational semiotics, computer as instrumental medium
• Current trends of media

(Wie aus dieser Inhaltsübersicht deutlich wird, sind die theoretisch/methodischen Grundlagen der Semiotik der wesentliche Vertiefungsaspekt dieses Moduls.)

vorzugsweise ein längeres Essay zu einem anspruchsvollen Thema mit Vortrag und Verteidigung

[1] Peter Bøgh Andersen & Frieder Nake, Computers and signs [2] Daniel Chandler, Semiotics – the basics [3] Umberto Eco, A theory of semiotics [4] Winfried Nöth, Handbook of semiotics [5] Charles S. Peirce, The essential Peirce (Peirce edition project)