This seminar/workshop is an exploration of what it means to live with personal, portable, and handheld media technologies, from PSPs to I-phones to novels. We will study these technologies across time and space by situating them within their historical contexts and by studying their use in various settings, from the urban to the rural, from post-industrial societies to the developing world. We'll also employ a variety of theoretical frameworks and interdisciplinary approaches to explore such themes as movement, tactility, play, miniaturization, games, speed, shock, fun, distraction and attention. Simultaneously, we will attempt to analyze and theorize our own handheld media experiences through and against the course readings. We'll experiment with ways of mapping and recording our movements and media use, while making use of ethnographic, documentary and other methodologies.