In this course, we will explore what place difference occupies in software environments using the lenses from the fields of software studies, media studies, feminist studies, art, political theory, and computer science. Digital environments have contributed to already-existing polarizing effects described by some as echo chambers, walled gardens and filter bubbles. Early media scholars had hoped that the rise of the Internet would bring about more democratic forms of engagement as well as the inclusion of previously excluded communities. However, sameness has occupied a large space in mainstream software, undermining the potentials of the digital medium. This course begins with an examination of what software is and how difference is conceived. We will then study how difference is treated by software tasked with searching, seeing, listening, conversing, executing, reading, and translating. Assignments consist of short written experiments and a final media-based "talk-through" critique of a selected software piece. This project builds on a live-coding environment to present a critique of a software piece. No previous coding experience required. [Tracks C, M]