This course identifies four major themes in current practice and thinking about digital aesthetics and theory; systems; mediation; emergence; networks. The course will trace the cultural and aesthetic histories of these four themes, examining how they have developed through conceptual debate in electronic and new media theory, and through technical and artistic practices in the 20th and 21st centuries. It will also focus upon the current state of debate and practice within these four areas. This course makes extensive reference to alternative aesthetic strategies and practices in new media aesthetics, and students will be encouraged to undertake research into innovative and experimental uses of, and ideas about, digital technologies.