engl 693 syllabus & calendar
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Nathaniel A. Rivers I Saint Louis University I ENGL 693 I Summer 2011 I Page 1
ENGL 693: Rhetoric, Technology, and Culture Professor: Dr. Nathaniel A. Rivers Location: Des Peres Hall 206 Time: MW 1:00:00 pm -‐ 4:30:00 pm
Course Introduction The ubiquity of electronic communication and the evolution of new media technologies (e.g., Facebook, Wikipedia, and online games) need no introduction. Our public and private lives are increasingly lived across electronic networks. We work, play, buy, learn, and create in digitally-‐mediated social networks constructed of words, sounds, and images. Wireless technologies and portable smart devices have only accelerated this migration. The move toward networks of new media, which has been scrutinized from any number of critical perspectives, has been deeply felt in the areas of rhetoric and writing. Both fields have devoted significant intellectual energy exploring the implications and promises of technology: what is its impact on the composition and distribution of texts, on the work of persuasion and identification, and on the cultivation of ethos and identity? Course Methodology This course and its understanding of technology is grounded in the critical methodology of rhetoric, which students will hopefully come to value as a productive method for shaping and negotiating their personal, professional, and technological lives. Rhetoric, briefly and broadly defined, is the use of symbols to produce an effect (e.g., a verbal command to “Stop,” a red traffic light, a Journey song imploring us “Don’t’ Stop Believing,” or a floor plan that makes it harder to enter one room over another). Though rhetoric has become a negative word within political circles and contemporary media, it has a rich history as one of the oldest intellectual pursuits in the western world. With a focus on audience,
context, and the persuasion inherent to all human endeavors, rhetoric greatly informs the purpose of this course. New technologies provide new ways of understanding the ancient art of rhetoric, which this course, borrowing from George Kennedy, likewise defines as “the energy inherent in emotion and thought, transmitted through a system of signs, including language, to others to influence their decisions or actions.” This definition will likely evolve over the course of this semester.
This course envisions three distinct ways of articulating rhetoric and technology:
technology is a function of rhetorical action
technology functions as a rhetorical agent
rhetoric is a technology
Course Assignments There are three key assignments in this course. The first two papers, each to be written on one 8.5x14 sheet of paper (legal size), synthesize readings that fall within a particular phase. Students should address as many of the readings as possible (rather than simply doing a close reading of one text): connections are key. I expect that composing and fitting this synthesis onto on sheet of legal-‐sized paper will be difficult. These papers are then shared with the class on “paper day.” That is, students read aloud their papers. I cannot stress enough the performative nature of this assignment: papers should be written to be read
“New communica-‐tion and informa-‐tion technologies do not simply provide us with new sites of rhetorical practice; instead, they challenge us to reconceive rhetoric altogether.”
–Collin Brooke
Rhetoric is “the energy inherent in emotion and thought, transmitted through a system of signs, including language, to others to influence their decisions or actions.”
–George A. Kennedy
Nathaniel A. Rivers I Saint Louis University I ENGL 693 I Summer 2011 I Page 2
aloud and to engage other students. Rather than simply demonstrating mastery of the material, these papers should perform the course readings in ways that make them salient for an audience of peers.
The final project is a summary exploration of one of the topics covered during the course, which should be read through the readings from the final phase of the course. That is, students should revisit their first two papers in light of the last two weeks’ readings. Complementing the summary paper in light of both performativity and new media, students will create a trailer (30 seconds to 1 minute long), which should capture in some combination of text, voice, music, image, and/or video both the thesis of the summary paper and its significance. A sample trailer will be screened.
In-‐class discussions will be largely student-‐driven. To this end, each student is asked to come to each class with the following:
1. Two questions for each day’s set of readings 2. A brief statement that identifies a singular rhythm within that day’s set of readings
The concept of the singular rhythm is borrowed from John Muckelbauer’s The Future of Invention. The singular rhythm is a mode of engagement that seeks, in short, affirmative and productive readings of texts. Affirmative readings are an alternative to common, critical engagements with texts that operate in
the negative register (e.g., what this text leaves out, overlooks, or otherwise excludes, simplifies, or glosses?). This is not to say that such readings are unproductive or unnecessary (as such readings are often both productive and necessary). It is to suggest other ways of reading that mine each and every text for something that can be “taken away,” “augmented,” “adopted,” or “utilized.” It is a way of reading that leaves the reader open to persuasion—to approach a text perfectly willing to be “converted to the enemy's camp.” Affirmative readings generate new questions, new ideas, and new ways of thinking. A singular rhythm, then, is a connective thread in and between texts. Rather than privileging certain readings, ranking them, or replacing them with one another, the singular rhythm allows us to see each reading as contributing to our understanding of particular issues or themes. This mode of engagement likewise informs the longer course papers.
Course Policies Technology Expectations Computer problems are not valid excuses for incomplete work. Practice the core principle of digital data work: redundant backup. Digital technology will fail; be prepared for that eventuality. Additionally, students are to expected to have the following:
• access to word processing • a suitable email account checked regularly for course-‐related business • ability to interact with websites • a Flash drive or other means to backup coursework
Personal Technology Devices in the Classroom Students may use laptops, cell phones, and other digital devices during class, provided that they do not disrupt other students’ learning. This is not a trick. This course is situated in an increasingly connected multimedia environment. Each student is responsible for his or her own engagement with class meetings, and thus his or her resultant success or failure.
Late Work Late work is not accepted.
Course Assignments Points Paper Day Paper (x2) 25 (50) Summary Paper Trailer 10 Summary Paper 15 Participation (attendance, questions, rhythms) 25
Total 100
“The student of media soon comes to expect the new media of any period whatever to be classed as pseudo by those who acquired the patterns of earlier media, whatever they may happen to be.”
–Marshall McLuhan
Nathaniel A. Rivers I Saint Louis University I ENGL 693 I Summer 2011 I Page 3
Attendance & Student Conduct As a graduate level seminar driven by student discussion, attendance and participation in all facets of the course is essential. Given the vital importance of student participation, I expect every student to attend every class. If an absence is unavoidable, students are asked to discuss it with me beforehand so that alternative arrangements can be made. Additionally, insults, slurs, or attacks of any kind are not allowed in this class. Students who engage in this behavior will be permanently removed from the class. In order to have an effective teaching and learning environment we must practice both respect and tolerance. Course Reading List This list organizes the course readings into three phases. These three phases articulate related readings and organize our thinking around specific issues or rhythms in rhetorical theory. These phases are not mutually exclusive; they necessarily bleed into one another. Students may find many of these readings difficult. The density of the prose, the abstractness of the concepts, and the confrontation of divergent viewpoints and values make this reading list equal parts challenging and rewarding. I fully expect, however, that genuine and generous engagement with these texts will see students through the semester.
Phase One: Introducing Rhetoric and Technology Baron, Dennis. “From Pencils to Pixels.” Burke, Kenneth. “Terministic Screens.” Johnson, Robert. Selections from User-‐Centered Technology. Kelly, Kevin. What Technology Wants. Lanham, Richard. “The ‘Q’ Question.” Ong, Walter. “Writing as a Technology That Restructures Thought.” Plato. Phaedrus. Rheingold, Howard. Selections from Smart Mobs.
Phase Two: Manifesting Pedagogy Anson, Chris. “Distant Voices: Teaching and Writing in a Culture of Technology.” Bernhardt, Stephen. "The Shape of Text to Come.” Blackmon, Samantha. “(Cyber)Conspiracy Theories?” Brooke, Collin. Lingua Fracta: Toward a Rhetoric of New Media. Colby, Rebekah Shultz & Richard Colby. “A Pedagogy of Play.” Gee, James. “Games and Learning.” Johnson-‐Eilola, Johndan, and Stuart Selber. “Plagiarism, Originality, Assemblage.”
McGonigal, Jane. “This is Not a Game.” Rice, Jennifer Edbauer. “Rhetoric’s Mechanics.” Salvo, Michael. “Critical Engagement with Technology in the Computer Classroom.” Sheppard, Jennifer. “The Rhetorical Work of Multimedia Production Practices.” Yancey, Kathleen Blake, “Re-‐Designing Graduate Education in Composition and Rhetoric.”
Phase Three: Revisiting Rhetorical Technology, Ecology, and Agency Bay, Jennifer & Thomas Rickert. “New Media and the Fourfold.” Blythe, Stuart. “Agencies, Ecologies, and the Mundane Artifacts in Our Midst.” Brooke, Collin. “Forgetting to be (Post)Human.” Clark, Andy. Selections from Natural-‐Born Cyborgs. Haraway, Donna. “A Manifesto for Cyborgs.” Longo, Bernadette. “Human + Machine Culture.”
Muckelbauer, John & Debra Hawhee. “Posthuman Rhetorics: “It’s the Future, Pikul.” Rickert, Thomas. “In the House of Doing.” Rivers, Nathaniel & Jeremy Tirrell. “Productive Strife: Clark’s Cognitive Science and Rhetorical Agonism.” Turkle, Sherry. “Introduction: The Things That Matter.”
“All technology […] are fundamentally natural.”
-‐Kevin Kelly
Nathaniel A. Rivers I Saint Louis University I ENGL 693 I Summer 2011 I Page 4
Course Calendar
Week One Reading Assignment (94 pages)
Wed., July 6
Screening: “Blade
Runner”
§ Burke, “Terministic Screens” § Lanham, “The ‘Q’ Question” § Ong, “Writing is a Technology That Restructures Thought” § Plato, Phaedrus
Week Two Reading Assignments (56) (416)
Phase One: Introducing Rhetoric and Technology Mon., July 11
Discussion
§ Baron, “From Pencils to Pixels” § Johnson, “Users, Technology, and the Complex(ity) of the
Mundane” & “Refiguring the End of Technology” § Rheingold, “The Evolution of Reputation” & “Smart Mobs: The
Power of the Mobile Many” Wed., July 13 Discussion § Kelly, What Technology Wants Week Three
Reading Assignments (53) (222)
Mon., July 18
Paper Day #1
§ Edbauer Rice, “Rhetoric’s Mechanics” § Salvo, “Critical Engagement with Technology in the Computer
Classroom” § Sheppard, “The Rhetorical Work of Multimedia Production
Practices” Phase Two: Manifesting Pedagogy Wed., July 20 Discussion § Brooke, Lingua Fracta Week Four
Reading Assignments (46) (95)
Mon., July 25 Screening:
Henry Jenkins Interview
§ Colby & Colby, “A Pedagogy of Play” § Gee, “Games and Learning” § McGonigal, “This is Not a Game”
Wed., July 27
Screening: James Gee Interview
§ Anson, “Distant Voices” § Bernhardt, “The Shape of Text to Come” § Blackmon, “(Cyber)Conspiracy Theories?” § Johnson-‐Eilola & Selber, “Plagiarism, Originality, Assemblage” § Yancey, “Re-‐Designing Graduate Education”
Week Five Reading Assignments (47) (71)
Mon., Aug. 1
Paper Day #2
§ Bay & Rickert, “New Media and the Fourfold” § Blythe, “Agencies, Ecologies, and the Mundane Artifacts in
Our Midst” § Brooke, “Forgetting to be (Post)Human” § Muckelbauer & Hawhee, “Posthuman Rhetorics”
Phase Three: Revisiting Rhetorical Technology, Ecology, and Agency
Wed., Aug. 3
Screening: “eXistenZ”
and Sample Trailer
§ Clark, “What Are We?” § Rickert, “In the House of Doing” § Rivers & Tirrell, “Productive Strife”
Week Six Reading Assignment (57)
Mon., Aug. 8
Discussion
§ Haraway, “Cyborg Manifesto” § Longo, “Human + Machine Culture” § Turkel, “The Things that Matter”
Wed., Aug. 10
Screening: Summary
Paper Trailers
Summary Papers Due: Friday, August 12
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