Professor: Jim Brown
Class Time: Wednesday, 6:00-8:50pm
Meeting Place: Fine Arts 217
Jim's Office: Fine Arts 213
Jim's Office Hours: TBA
Jim's Email: jim[dot]brown[at]rutgers[dot]edu
Course Website: http://courses.jamesjbrownjr.net/554_fall2016
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this class, students in this class will be able to:
- Summarize and analyze academic arguments about how digital technology affects writing
- Apply critical concepts to a range of texts and technologies
- Create computational objects in Python and Processing
Required Books
- Montfort, Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities
- Kirschenbaum, Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing
Texts Available for Download (Sakai)
Flusser, Vilém. "The Gesture of Writing."
Liu, Lydia. "Writing." Critical Terms for Media Studies
Wellbery, David. Foreword to Friedrich Kittler's Discourse Networks
Kittler, Friedrich. Gramophone, Film, Typewriter. (excerpt)
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. (excerpt)
Rotman, Brian. Becoming Beside Ourselves. (excerpt)
Hayles, N. Katherine. My Mother Was a Computer. (excerpt)
Frabetti, Frederica. Software Theory
Vee, Annette. "Understanding Computer Programming as Literacy." Literacy in Composition Studies
Bogost, Ian. "Procedural Rhetoric." Persuasive Games
Brock, Kevin. "One Hundred Thousand Billion Processes: Oulipian Computation and the Composition of Digital Cybertexts." Technoculture
Rieder, David. "Snowballs and Other Numerate Acts of Textuality." Computers and Composition Online
Van Ittersum, Derek. "Computing Attachments: Engelbart’s Controversial Writing Technology." Computers and Composition
Chun, Wendy. Updating to Remain the Same. (excerpt)
Jones, John. "Network* Writing." Kairos
Carlson, Matt. "The Robotic Reporter." Digital Journalism
Maher, Jennifer. "Artificial Rhetorical Agents and the Computing of Phronesis." Computational Culture
Course Work and Grades
In this class, the following work will be evaluated:
- Talking Points (10%)
- Lab Materials (15%)
- Short Paper and Presentation (25%)
- Final Project (50%)
Grades will be assigned on the following scale:
A 90-100
B+ 87-89
B 80-86
C+ 77-79
C 70-76
D 60-69
F 59 and below
Attendance
Success in this class will require regular attendance, and I will take attendance at each class meeting. You are required to attend class daily, arrive on time, do assigned reading and writing, and participate in all in-class work. Please save absences for when you are sick or have a personal emergency. If you find that an unavoidable problem prevents you from attending class or from arriving on time, please discuss the problem with me.
Lateness
If you are more than 10 minutes late for class, you will be considered absent. If there is something keeping you from getting to class on time (i.e., bus or train schedules), please let me know during the first week of class.
Computers, Smartphones, etc.
Please feel free to use your computer or any other device during class, provided that your use of it is related to what we are working on in class. Please silence cell phones during class.
Late Assignments
Due dates for assignments are posted on the course website. Late assignments are not accepted.
Intellectual Property
Using the work of others without attribution, having another student complete an assignment for you, or any other violations of the university's Academic Integrity Policy will result in a failing grade. If you have questions about the that policy, please see the Dean of Student Affairs website.
The Office of Disability Services
From the The Office of Disability Services (ODS):
"The ODS provides students with confidential advising and accommodation services in order to allow students with documented physical, mental, and learning disabilities to successfully complete their course of study at Rutgers University – Camden. The ODS provides for the confidential documentation and verification of student accommodations, and communicates with faculty regarding disabilities and accommodations. The ODS provides accommodation services, which can include readers, interpreters, alternate text, special equipment, and note takers. The ODS acts as a signatory for special waivers. The ODS also works with students, faculty, staff and administrators to enforce the American with Disabilities Act of 1990."
If you believe you might require an accommodation, please contact the ODS early in the semester.
Technology Policy
We will use digital 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.
Sakai, 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.
