ENG 3010: New Media Across the Disciplines (Fall 2010)
Photo Credit: "Collagist Summary" by Derek Mueller
In this course, we will examine The New Media Reader, an anthology of new media scholarship. We will attempt to understand how computer scientists, artists, architects, literary writers, interface designers, cultural critics, and other scholars have theorized and used new media technologies. In addition to reading this anthology, we will also carry out a research project in which we consider how we might add to the text. What new media scholarship might be a useful contribution to a future edition of The New Media Reader? Anthologies present an ongoing scholarly discussion about a topic, and our task will be to both analyze that conversation and contribute to it.
Disciplines are not static entities; they constantly change and evolve, and disciplinary boundaries are porous. Increasingly, writing across the university also takes place in interdisciplinary collaborations. In interdisciplinary work, disciplines come into conversation with one another, sometimes overlapping and sometimes colliding. By studying these overlaps and collisions, students in this course will prepare themselves for reading, research, and writing in upper-level college courses. This course also prepares students for future Writing Intensive classes by asking them to consider how research and writing take place across the university in broad disciplinary and interdisciplinary patterns.
Syllabus
ENG 3010: New Media Across the Disciplines
Instructor: Jim Brown
Office: 5057 Woodward Avenue, 10-410.2
Office Hours: T/Th 3pm-5pm (or by appointment)
Class Meeting Place: 327 State Hall
Class Time: T/Th 1:25-2:50
Email: jimbrown [at] wayne [dot] edu
Website:
http://courses.jamesjbrownjr.net/3010_fall2010
Required Texts:
The Academic Writer, A Brief Guide by Lisa Ede
The New Media Reader, Edited by Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort
Prerequisite for ENG 3010
To enroll in ENG 3010, students must have completed their WSU Basic Composition (BC) requirement (ENG 1020 or equiv.) with a grade of C or better.
General Education IC Requirement and Prerequisite for WI
With a grade of C or better, ENG 3010 fulfills the General Education IC (Intermediate Composition) graduation requirement. Successful completion of an IC course with a grade of C or better is a prerequisite to enrolling in courses that fulfill the General Education WI graduation requirement (Writing Intensive Course in the Major).
Course Goals
In this course, you will learn to:
Identify and Evaluate Arguments
We will learn to identify and evaluate the structure of analysis and argument from a variety of disciplinary and (inter)disciplinary perspectives, including authors’ claims, evidence, appeals, organization, style, and effect. As you read arguments and create your own, you should be considering how an argument is put together, and you should be able to identify and evaluate your own arguments and those of others.
Analyze the Rhetorical Situation
We will analyze the rhetorical situation for writing in various disciplines, including audience, purpose, disciplinary context, and medium. As we read scholars in various fields, it will be your task to study and understand how scholars in different fields work within differing rhetorical situations.
Research
You will conduct research using various resources in our academic library and on the Web. As you study new media technologies and the authors who write about them, you will evaluate and cite existing research. When conducting this research, you should be considering the source and its credibility.
Writing Process
We will learn to develop a flexible writing process that includes generating ideas, writing, revising, providing/responding to feedback in multiple drafts, and editing texts for correct grammar, mechanics, and style. Each writer's process is different, and you'll be developing your own process and reflecting on that process.
Technology
You will learn to make productive use of a varied set of technologies for research and writing. We'll use various technologies in this class with the goal of helping you make use of these technologies in other classes and in various writing situations. You are not expected to become an expert in these technologies, but you are expected to take the time to learn how they work.
Course Work
Short Writing Assignments
You will be completing a number of short writing assignments as you read The Academic Writer and The New Media Reader. These assignments will be shared with the instructor via Dropbox and must be submitted by midnight the night before class meets.
Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Paper (6 page maximum)
You will write a paper that compares two of our readings from the NMR. Using the skills of critical reading and rhetorical analysis presented in Lisa Ede's textbook, you will compare how two scholars in the NMR construct their arguments.
New Media Reader Chapter (5 page maximum)
You will design a chapter in the NMR. Each chapter in the book is a contribution from a new media scholar. These chapters are accompanied by an introductory essay that explains the scholar's significance and explains why this particular piece of writing fits with the anthology. These introductions also have "links" to other portions of the book (in the form of numbered tabs in the margins), text boxes, suggestions for further reading, and lists of references. Your chapter will incorporate all of these features. You will be both writing and designing this chapter.
Video Mashup
Using one of the videos included on the NMR's CD-ROM, you will create a video mashup. You will combine the footage contained on the CD-ROM with footage that you find online or with footage that you shoot yourself.
Learning Record Online
Grades in this class will be determined by the Learning Record Online (LRO). The LRO will require you to observe your own learning and construct an argument for your grade based on evidence that you accumulate throughout the semester. You will record weekly observations and you will synthesize your work into an argument for your grade. You will construct this argument twice - once at the midterm and once at the end of the course. We will be discussing the LRO at length during the first week of class. See below for more details.
Attendance
Success in this class will require regular attendance. I will take attendance at each class meeting. Your Learning Record will include a discussion of attendance.
Computers and Cell Phones
Please feel free to use your computer during class, provided that your use of it is related to what we are class. Please silence and put away cell phones during class. Text messaging during class is distracting to me and those around you.
Lateness
If you are more than 5 minutes late for class, you will be considered absent. If there is something keeping you from getting to class on time (i.e., you have a long trek across campus right before our class), please let me know during the first week of class.
Grades
Grades in this course will be determined by use of the Learning Record, a system which requires students to compile a portfolio of work at the midterm and at the end of the semester. These portfolios present a selection of your work, both formal and informal, plus ongoing observations about your learning, plus an analysis of your work in terms of the five dimensions of learning and the goals for this course. You will evaluate your work in terms of the grade criteria posted on the LRO site, and you will provide a grade estimate at the midterm and final.
The dimensions of learning have been developed by teachers and researchers, and they represent what learners experience in any learning situation:
1) Confidence and independence
2) Knowledge and understanding
3) Skills and strategies
4) Use of prior and emerging experience
5) Reflectiveness
In addition to analyzing your work in terms of these dimensions of learning, your argument will also consider the specific goals for this course. These goals are called Course Strands (these are also listed above in the "Course Goals" section):
(1) Identify and evaluate the structure of analysis and argument in writing from a variety of disciplinary and (inter)disciplinary perspectives, including authors’ claims, evidence, appeals, organization, style, and effect.
(2) Analyze the rhetorical situation for writing in various disciplines, including audience, purpose, disciplinary context, and medium.
(3) Conduct research using various resources in an academic library and on the Web.
(4) Develop a flexible writing process that includes generating ideas, writing, revising, providing/responding to feedback in multiple drafts, and editing texts for correct grammar, mechanics, and style.
(5) Make productive use of a varied set of technologies for research and writing
The LRO website provides detailed descriptions of the Course Strands and the Dimensions of Learning.
Your work in class (and in other classes during this semester) along with the observations you record throughout the semester will help you build an argument in terms of the dimensions of learning and the course strands. We will discuss the LRO in detail at the beginning of the semester, and we will have various conversations about compiling the LRO as the semester progresses.
Late Assignments
Due dates for assignments are posted on the course schedule. While I will not be grading your assignments, I will be providing comments and feedback. I will not provide feedback on late assignments. Also, late assignments will be factored into your argument in the LR (see the grade criteria for more details).
Intellectual Property
Much of what we'll be working on this semester involves the appropriation of existing texts. This is no different than any other type of writing - all writing involves appropriation. The key will be to make new meaning with the texts that you appropriate. Copying and pasting existing texts without attribution does not make new meaning. Some of your work will make use of different materials (text, video, audio, image), and you will have to be mindful of intellectual property issues as you create texts for this class.
Technology Policy
We will use technology frequently in this class. Although I am assuming that you have some basic knowledge of computers, such as how to use a keyboard and mouse, and how to use the Web and check e-mail, most things will be explained in class. If you don’t understand what we are doing, please ask for help. If you are familiar with the technology we are using please lend a helping hand to your classmates.
Course Website and Email
You should check your email daily. Class announcements and assignments may be distributed through email. The course website will also have important information about assignments and policies. Pay close attention to the course calendar as we move through the semester. I reserve the right to move things around if necessary.
Writing Center
The Writing Center (2nd floor, UGL) provides individual tutoring consultations free of charge for students at Wayne State University. Undergraduate students in General Education courses, including composition courses, receive priority for tutoring appointments. The Writing Center serves as a resource for writers, providing tutoring sessions on the range of activities in the writing process – considering the audience, analyzing the assignment or genre, brainstorming, researching, writing drafts, revising, editing, and preparing documentation. The Writing Center is not an editing or proofreading service; rather, students are guided as they engage collaboratively in the process of academic writing, from developing an idea to editing for grammar and mechanics. To make an appointment, consult the Writing Center website: http://www.clas.wayne.edu/writing/
To submit material for online tutoring, consult the Writing Center HOOT website (Hypertext One-on-One Tutoring): http://www.clas.wayne.edu/unit-inner.asp?WebPageID=1330
Student Disabilities Services
If you feel that you may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability, please feel free to contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Additionally, the Student Disabilities Services Office coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. The Office is located in 1600 David Adamany Undergraduate Library, phone: 313-577-1851/577-3365 (TTY). http://studentdisability.wayne.edu
WSU Resources for Students
- Adamany Undergraduate Library http://www.lib.wayne.edu/info/maps/ugl.php
- Academic Success Center http://www.success.wayne.edu/
- Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) http://www.caps.wayne.edu
Schedule
*This schedule is subject to change
Ede = Lisa Ede's The Academic Writer
NMR = The New Media Reader
Talking Points and Book Excercise Assignments must be uploaded to Dropbox by midnight the evening before class meets.
Due dates are in bold. Assignments may be due on days that class does not meet.
9/2
Syllabus and Introductions
9/7
Reading: Chapter 1 of Ede, Introduction to the Learning Record
Writing: Questions about the Learning Record (bring to class for discussion), respond to drop box email
In Class: Book Exercise, discuss reading, discuss Learning Record
9/9
Reading: NMR Introductions (Murray and Manovich)
Writing: Talking Points, set up LRO accounts and post an observation
In Class: Discuss reading, discuss Learning Record
9/14
Reading: Chapter 3 of Ede
Writing: Book Exercise, write observation
In Class: Discuss reading, discuss Learning Record
9/16
Reading: NMR - Bush and Borges
Writing: Talking Points
In Class: Discuss reading, discuss Learning Record
[9/17 - LR Part A Due by Noon]
9/21
Reading: Chapter 4 of Ede, Kaprow in the NMR (pp83-88)
Writing: Book Exercise, p96 (Analyze Kaprow instead of the essay mentioned in the textbook), no talking points due
In Class: Discuss reading, discuss Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Paper
9/23
Reading: NMR - Boal (339-352), re-read pp98-100 of Ede
Writing: Talking Points
In Class: Discuss reading
9/28 [Class meets in State Hall, Room 337]
Reading: Ede (pp216-223, 226-230); NMR - Englebart (93-108)
Writing: Talking Points
In Class: Discuss Reading
9/30
Reading: NMR - Weiner (73-82)
Writing: Talking Points
In Class: Discuss reading
10/5
Reading: Review all readings
Writing: Rough draft of your paper (bring a copy to class and also upload to Dropbox prior to class)
In Class: Writing workshop
10/7
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Due - First Submission [uploaded to Dropbox before you come to class]
In Class: Review: The tools of rhetorical analysis
10/12
Reading: Chapter 2 of Ede
Writing: Book Exercise, "For Exploration" page 26
In Class: Discuss writing process
10/14
Reading: All of your work to date
Writing: You should be working on Parts B and C of the Midterm LRO
In Class: Discuss Midterm LRO, NMR Chapter Assignment, and research methods
10/19 [Class meets in State Hall, Room 337]
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: Midterm LR Due (parts B and C)
In Class: Discuss second submission of paper, research group meeting
10/21
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: Work on Second Submission (Bring current draft to class)
In Class: Peer Review Workshop
10/22
Comparative Rhetorical Analysis Due - Second Submission [due by 6:00pm]
10/26
Reading: Introductions to Turkle (499) and Raymond Williams (289-291)
Writing: Talking Points, bring sources to class for research group meeting
In Class: Discuss reading, research group meetings
10/28 [Class meets in State Hall, Room 337]
Reading: Chapter 11 of Ede
Writing: Book Exercise
In Class: CSS Workshop Part 1, research group meetings
11/2
Reading: Research for Paper 2
Writing: Find at least two sources for paper 2, post to research wiki
In Class: Research group meetings, discuss paper 2
11/4
Reading: Chapter 10 of Ede
Writing: Book Exercise, page 252
In Class: Discuss reading, discuss paper 2
11/9 [Class meets in State Hall, Room 337]
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: Draft of NMR Chapter Assignment (bring to class)
In Class: CSS Workshop Part 2
11/11
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: NMR Chapter Due - First Submission
In Class: Discuss mashup assignment
11/16
Reading: Chapter 12 of Ede
Writing: Book Exercise
In Class: Discuss reading
11/18
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: Revision of NMR Chapter
In Class: Peer review workshop
11/23
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: NMR Chapter Due - Second Submission
In Class: Discuss mashup assignment
11/25
THANKSGIVING
11/30 [Class meets in State Hall, Room 337]
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: No Writing
In Class: Mashup workshop Part 1
12/2 [Class meets in State Hall, Room 337]
Reading: Chapter 9 of Ede
Writing: You should be working on your mashup
In Class: Discuss strategies for invention, mashup workshop Part 2
12/7
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: You should be working on your mashup and final LRO
In Class: Discuss final LRO, discuss mashups, course evaluations
12/9
Reading: No reading assignment
Writing: Mashups Due
In Class: Mashup presentations
12/13
Final LR Due (parts B and C)
Assignments
The links below provide information about the assignments for this course. This page will be updated throughout the semester with links to all major assignments.
Book Exercises in Lisa Ede's The Academic Writer
As we read Lisa Ede's The Academic Writer, we'll be completing short exercises both outside of class and during class. I'll announce the assigned exercises in class, prior to the reading assignments. These exercises should help you work through the material in the textbook, and they will also serve as evidence that you're keeping up with the reading. You will post these exercises to your Dropbox folder, and I will comment on them periodically.
Talking Points for readings in The New Media Reader
We will be reading selections from The New Media Reader throughout the semester, and we'll discuss these readings in class. You will write talking points as preparation for these discussions. Talking points should be no more than 500 words, and they can come in whatever format you'd like: questions, incomplete phrases, notes, paragraphs, quotations from the text that you found interesting, connections to other readings, connections to ideas we've discussed in class, etc. You may also want to use these assignments to apply the terms and concepts of our textbook (The Academic Writer) to the readings in The New Media Reader.
You will post these talking points to your Dropbox folder, and I will comment on them periodically. Use the talking points assignments to work through what you find most interesting about the readings or to ask any questions.
Comparative Rhetorical Analysis
Due Dates
First Submission - Due 10/7
Second Submission - Due 10/21
Approximately 1500 words
Description
In this course, we're focusing on how scholars, engineers, writers, and artists theorize and use new media. The New Media Reader offers us a window into how people in various disciplines make different kinds of arguments, and this assignment will ask you to compare two of our readings. The tools of rhetorical analysis allow us to, among other things, understand how an argument is constructed and who the target audience might be. In this assignment, you'll be considering such questions with regard to two of our readings, and then you'll be making comparisons between these two readings. Lisa Ede's The Academic Writer offers us a number of ways to analyze an argument: Aristotle's three appeals, stasis theory, the Toulmin method. She also encourages us to think about writing as design and to develop a "rhetorical" sensitivity. You'll use all of these tools and ideas in this paper.
You'll be comparing two of our readings from the New Media Reader. You can choose from any of the readings we've read thus far. If you would like to write about a chapter in the The New Media Reader that we haven't yet read, please check with me first.
Your task is to develop an argument about how these two arguments are constructed and how their rhetorical situations are similar or different: What similarities and differences are there between these two arguments? How do the authors' disciplinary backgrounds affect their argument, their audience, their rhetorical tactics, and their goals?
Goals of the Assignment
While I will not be grading your paper, I will be providing feedback. That feedback will be focused on whether or not you've addressed the following goals:
1) Consider the differences between the disciplinary backgrounds of the authors and how those differences affect their arguments.
2) Articulate a clear argument about how these arguments are similar or different. While you may be able to determine a number of connections between the two arguments that you choose, it will be your task to focus your argument. What is your argument about how these two pieces of writing are similar or different?
3) Offer concrete evidence from the readings. When making claims about how these author's argue, offer specific examples as evidence.
4) Make use of the terms explained in The Academic Writer to conduct your comparative analysis. We've discussed a number of terms that help us make sense of arguments, and you should think of these terms as your tools for this paper.
5) Explain the purpose of your analysis. For instance, what does your analysis show us? How does it offer us a new way of looking at on one or both of these readings? How would you answer someone who read your analysis and responded with "So What?"
A Chapter in The New Media Reader
Due Dates
First Submission - Due 11/11
Second Submission - Due 11/23
Approximately 2000-2500 words
(equivalent: 8-10 pages, Times New Roman, 12-point, pages double-spaced)
Description
The New Media Reader contains a wide range of arguments from a wide range of scholars, and each chapter begins with an introduction that explains the author's background, their importance to new media studies, and related texts and authors. For this assignment, you will write and design your own chapter of The New Media Reader. You will conduct research about the author, determine where the chapter would fit in the text (which section of the text and which chapter number it would have), write a detailed introduction to this contribution to The New Media Reader, and design your document using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
We will be conducting research in groups, so you will be able to collaborate with your classmates as you find the piece you will be summarizing and analyzing and as you find secondary sources. Each group will compile a list of possible contributions to The New Media Reader, and I will then help the group decide which of these would serve as the best option for the assignment. Once the group has decided on its contribution to The New Media Reader, it will collaboratively research that contribution and its author.
We will be learning how to use CSS in class, and I will be teaching you the basics. You are not expected to be an expert web designer, but you are expected to understand the basics of laying out a page with CSS.
Goals of the Assignment
While I will not be grading your paper, I will be providing feedback. That feedback will be focused on whether or not you've addressed the following goals:
1) Show evidence that you have conducted detailed research about the author and his or her relevance to the field of new media.
2) Demonstrate why this author belongs in the The New Media Reader.
3) Present a thoughtful, coherent summary and analysis of the piece you've decided to include in the New Media Reader. You should provide a summary of the piece, an explanation of its importance, an explanation of its connection to new media studies, and discussion of its most interesting or unique features.
4) Find connections between the piece you've chosen to include in The New Media Reader and other pieces that are already included in the collection. The text offers the"links" in the margins to point out how one chapter is related to another, and you should be including links of your own.
5) Show evidence that you understand the basics of CSS and that you've carefully considered page design. You can include text boxes and other graphical features. You are encouraged to add features to the page design, but those features should be helpful to the reader in some way.
Mashup
Due Date
Final Mashup Due 12/9
Description
The New Media Reader's CD-ROM includes various pieces of video footage, and this assignment asks you to create a mashup some of that footage. You should incorporate footage that you find online in order to transform the original video and in order to make viewers think about the original footage in a new way. Mashups do not necessarily step the audience through an argument. Rather, they explore connections and put the source material into conversation with other content. Your job is to somehow make this old footage new.
Your mashup can be no longer than two minutes.
Goals of the Assignment
While I will not be grading your mashup, I will be providing feedback. That feedback will be focused on whether or not you've addressed the following goals:
1) Your mashup should be transformative. It should find a way to make the source material new and to make us think about it in a different way.
2) Your mashup should show evidence that you've researched the original clip and that you understand its historical context. The best video mashups incorporate footage for a reason; they do not just combine footage at random. Your mashup should show us that you understand why the editors of The New Media Reader chose to include this clip.
3) Your work should make its case without the use of voice-over and without relying on text. Your mashup should make use of sound and image to show us connections between the source material and the footage that you've found during your research.