E314J: Literature and Computer Programming (Fall 2006)

C:Who Programs the Programmer?

hackers cartoon
Who gets to tell the story of the hacker? Who has programmed the programmer? There’s the hacker you see coming out of the courtroom in shackles. There’s the hacker that gets banned from the internet. There’s the hacker that almost accidentally starts WW III, a la Matthew Broderick in War Games. But none of these really get us to the real hacker. Steven Levy and others argue that today’s connotations of the word “hacker” efface the true meaning of the word. Written in 1986, Loyd Blankenship’s Hacker Manifesto describes the “true” hacker:

“Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for.”

hacker painting
We’ll address numerous questions in this class, including: Who gets to tell the story of the computer programmer, the problem solver, the coder? Has this story been told fairly? Has it been told completely? How could one tell some counter-stories/counter-histories of the hacker? How do representations of the hacker character in literature and popular culture contribute to hacker culture? Do hackers thrive on this image, or do they disregard it altogether?

This course will take on these questions and many more in an attempt to understand representations of the computer programming community. We will begin from the assumption that literature, culture, and stories matter just as much as the code that sits behind/underneath/inside your operating system. Representations of the hacker and the “computer geek” do important work in constructing images and categories. Our job will be to compile these stories. That is, we’ll compile narratives the way a computer program is “compiled” – we’ll decode and recode the narratives of the computer programmer.

Policy Statement

Unique #: 34440
Instructor: Jim Brown
Meeting Place: FAC 7
Time: T/Th 9:30-11am
Office Hours: T/Th 11-12:30 (PAR 102)
Email: jimbrown[at]mail[dot]utexas[dot]edu
Website: http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/jbrown/309k_spring06

Required Texts (available at The Co-op)
Transmission by Hari Kunzru
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland

Additional Requirements
- Access to a computer and printer
- An e-mail account that you check daily

Coursework
We will doing fair amount of reading and writing in this class. I will expect you to have read the assigned readings and be ready to discuss them. I reserve the right to give quizzes on the reading, but I really don't want to do this. Please plan to do a good bit of fun reading in this class.

This is a Substantial Writing Component class, so you will also do good bit of writing. You will write two 3 page papers, one 4-6 page paper, multiple wiki entries, and LRO materials. Class meetings will be devoted to various activities, including writing workshops, student presentations, and class discussions. Regular attendance and participation are essential to success in this class.

Attendance
My hope is that you are taking this class because it is interesting to you. For this reason, I would also hope that you want to attend class on a regular basis. You should attend class daily, arrive on time, do assigned reading and writing, and participate in all in-class editing, revising, and discussion sessions. I will take attendance daily by passing around a sign-in sheet. If you arrive after the sign-in sheet has gone around the room, you will be considered absent. Please keep in mind that the grading criteria for this class includes language about attendance. When you argue for your grade at the midterm and the final, attendance will be a factor. Notify me beforehand of your participation in official athletic events or observance of religious holidays. Save absences for when you are sick or have a personal emergency. If you find that an unavoidable problem prevents you from attending class, please discuss the problem with me.

Grades
Grades in this course will be determined by use of the Learning Record Online (LRO), 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 development across five dimensions of learning:

1) Confidence and independence
2) Knowledge and understanding
3) Skills and strategies
4) Use of prior and emerging experience
5) Reflectiveness.

You will also discuss your development in terms of the major strands of work in this course:

1) Understand and apply literary analysis to a wide range of texts
2) Analyze, apply, and formulate theories about the work of narratives in culture
3) Develop and refine writing and revision skills

Late Assignments and Drafts
All assignments, including drafts, must be turned in on the due date at the beginning of the class period. You will turn in papers by uploading them to the course website. You are responsible for turning in assignments regardless of whether you attend class on the due date. I will not accept late coursework.

Format of Final Papers
Rough drafts and final drafts of all papers must be typewritten. The first page of your paper must include the following information: your name, my name, course number and unique number, date, and paper title. Double space the lines and use 1 inch margins all the way around the text (this is typically the default setting in programs like Microsoft Word.) Unless you are told otherwise, your papers should be in MLA format.

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 the 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 be patient and 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, please visit this site regularly. The course site should be a helpful tool for you, so feel free to make suggestions about anything you feel should be included.

Computer Use and Availability
Computers are available to you in the CWRL open lab (PAR 102), the Student Microcomputer Facility (SMF) on the second floor of the Flawn Academic Center (FAC).

Intellectual Property
All material submitted to this website and to the class wiki is published under a Creative Commons license (see the lower right-hand corner of this page). This means that your work and mine have "some rights reserved." See the details of the Creative Commons license for what kinds of reuse of our work is allowed. Creative Commons is not a replacement for copyright, it is a something that is coupled with copyright that allows authors to determine how their work will be reused. Creative Commons also doesn't replace the University plagiarism policy. You should abide by University policies on scholastic honesty.

Just as i expect others to use or reuse our work according the rules of our Creative Commons license, I will expect you to attribute your sources when writing for this class. In this class, we will be talking about how programmers collaborate on texts and how ideas of intellectual property are different for hackers/programmers. We will also talk about the difference between hackers (people who like to use computers for creative things) and crackers (people who use computers to steal stuff). Don't be a cracker.

Students With Disabilities
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic adjustments for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TDD.

Course Overview

Course Calendar
The course calendar is available via Google Calendar. If you use google calendar you can subscribe to the E314J calendar by searching for it in public calendars. Otherwise, you can view the web version of the Google calendar or a text version.

Unit Structure:
Each unit will lead off with a “mechanism text.” This gives the class a shared set of terms with which we will approach the texts in that unit. As a class, we will read a novel for each unit and in-class discussions will be spent on how to apply the mechanism for a given unit to the novel that we are reading (for instance, in Unit 1 we will deal with issues of representation in Transmission). At the end of each unit, students will analyze a text based upon the mechanism we’ve been discussing (for instance, in Unit 1 students will write about a text in terms of representation).

Writing Assignments:
1) We will have a class wiki. Students will write wiki entries about terms or concepts in the novels that they find interesting and/or confusing. Students are responsible for two wiki entries per week.

2) 4-6 page writing assignment for Unit 1 (submitted twice)

3) 3 page writing assignments for Units 2 and 3 (submitted twice)

4) Learning Record Materials

Unit 1

Representations: Portraying Computer Programmers

Mechanism text:
“Representation” by W.J.T. Mitchell (from Lentricchia and McLaughlin)

Novel:
Transmission by Hari Kunzru

Other Texts:
War Games (film)
Video Clips of “Nick Burns” SNL Sketch
Video Clips of The IT Crowd
Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary by Linus Torvalds (excerpt)

Central Questions:
What do cultural texts do?
What do they represent?
How does a literary text relate to reality?
What kinds of stories do we tell about programmers?

Paper Assignment:
4-6 page analysis of a text in terms of representation

Paper 1

English 314J
Fall 2006
Jim Brown

Due Dates
Paper 1-1: 9/26
Paper 1-2: 10/10

Paper 1
Representations: Portraying Computer Programmers

In our first unit, we’ve been discussing issues of representation as they relate to Hari Kunzru’s Transmission. For your first paper, you will be writing a 4-6 page paper comparing Kunzru’s novel to some narratives about “real” hackers. It should be fairly clear at this point why I’ve included some quotation marks around the word “real.” As we’ve been discussing, representations are not confined to literature or film or television. Even an autobiographical text is a representation. As W.J.T. Mitchell writes in our first reading: “Every representation exacts some cost, in the form of lost immediacy, presence, or truth, in the form of a gap between intention and realization, original and copy” (21). It is with this idea in mind that you will approach paper 1.

For this assignment, you will choose one of the texts below to compare to Transmission. These texts are non-fiction and they are written by or about “real life” hackers like Linus Torvalds, Kevin Mitnick, Steve Jobs, and others. Browse through these texts and decide which is most interesting to you. Upon deciding which text you’d like to compare, choose a section of that text that you will focus on. You will most likely also have to choose a shorter section of Transmission to focus on. Because this is a 4-6 page paper, you won’t be able to cover the entire novel, but this doesn’t mean you have to confine yourself to one section of the text. For instance, you may choose to make an argument about the Chris character in Transmission, and this might require you to jump around in the text a bit. Regardless of what you choose, you must confine your analysis to some smaller portion of the novel.

Your paper will be a comparison of the different representations of the hacker/programmer/geek. How do the representations in the text you’ve chosen compare to Kunzru’s? Think about some of the ways that Mitchell talks about representation in our “mechanism text” – can you apply some of Mitchell’s question to your two texts? Here are some questions that might guide your analysis:

-Who is representing the programmer in these texts and why is this important? This would be along the lines of the “Maker” side of Mitchell’s diagram. This might mean talking about the authors of these texts and how they choose to tell their story – for instance, how does Linus Torvalds represent his childhood and how does this relate to Arjun’s story? But it could also mean talking about how the characters within the texts create representations. For instance, how are Arjun’s representations of himself different than Lena’s interpretation of him? How do media representations of Arjun play out in the text? What power do they have?

-How do the audiences differ for these texts and how does that play in to how the programmer is represented in them? This would be along the lines of the “Beholder” section of Mitchell’s diagram.

-How is the non-fictional text you are analyzing like a fictional one? How is Kunzru’s text like a non-fictional text? How distinct is the line between these two types of texts and is this line important? Why or why not?

-Mitchell speaks of the “conventions” of a Hollywood Western – “shoot-outs, wide open spaces, cowboys, Indians” (14). What conventions can you trace through the texts that you are looking at?

These are just some questions to get you started – this is by no means an exhaustive list. Regardless of how you approach this paper, keep in mind that the main goal of this paper is to get you thinking about how representations work, how they differ, how they’re similar, and why they’re important. Remember that you’re forming an argument about these two texts, so it is important to note the differences and similarities between these texts while also noting why those differences/similarities are important.

Paper Format
Your paper should be 4-6 pages and in MLA format. Consult an MLA style guide and ensure that your heading, margins, and citations are in MLA style.

Goals of the Assignment
While I will not be grading papers, I will be making comments on both your first and second submissions, and as I make these comments I will be focusing on whether or not you have addressed the goals of the assignment:

-To understand the concept of representation and why it’s important
-To make an argument comparing two texts and explaining why that argument is important
-To apply the methods and strategies we have talked about in class
-To trace the similarities, differences between representations in fiction and non-fiction and note why these relationships matter

Possible Texts (if you wish to use something not on this list, please check with me):

Brockman, John. Digerati : encounters with the cyber elite. 1st ed. San Francisco: HardWired : Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West, 1996.

Butcher, Lee. Accidental millionaire : the rise and fall of Steve Jobs at Apple Computer. 1st ed. New York: Paragon House, 1988.

Graham, Paul. Hackers & painters : big ideas from the computer age. 1st ed. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2004.

Kushner, David. Masters of Doom : how two guys created an empire and transformed pop culture. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2003.

Lammers, Susan M. Programmers at work : interviews with 19 programmers who shaped the computer industry. Redmond, WA: Tempus Books of Microsoft Press, 1989.

Lohr, Steve. Go to : the story of the math majors, bridge players, engineers, chess wizards, maverick scientists, and iconoclasts, the programmers who created the software revolution. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2001.

Mitnick, Kevin D., and William L. Simon. The art of intrusion : the real stories behind the exploits of hackers, intruders, & deceivers. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley, 2005.

Raymond, Eric S. The cathedral and the bazaar : musings on Linux and Open Source by an accidental revolutionary. Rev. ed. Beijing ; Cambridge, Mass.: O'Reilly, 2001.

Sivakumar, N. Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? Debugging Indian Programmers. Bridgewater, NJ: Divine Tree, 2004.

Stallman, Richard M. Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman. Boston, MA: GNU Press, 2002.

Stephenson, Neal. In the beginning ...was the command line. New York: Avon Books, 1999.

Torvalds, Linus, and David Diamond. Just for fun : the story of an accidental revolutionary. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2001.

Ullman, Ellen. Close to the machine : technophilia and its discontents : a memoir. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1997.

Wade, Mary Dodson. Ada Byron Lovelace : the lady and the computer. A people in focus book. 1st ed. New York, 1994.

Unit 2

Subculture: Cyberpunks and Hackers

Mechanism Texts:
Subculture by Dick Hebdige (excerpt)

Novel:
Neuromancer by William Gibson

Other Texts:
Hackers (film)
“Cyberpunk” by Bruce Bethke
The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling
Various Hacker Manifestos
Various Issues of Phrack

Central Questions:
Why are subcultures significant?
What are the relationships between subcultures and cultures at large?

Paper Assignment:
4-6 page Analysis of cyberpunk/hacker subcultural artifact.

Paper 2

English 314J
Fall 2006
Jim Brown

Due Dates
10/19: Description of artifact (post to forum)
10/24: Paper Proposal (post to forum)
10/31: Paper 2-1 Due
11/9: Paper 2-2 Due

Paper 2: Subcultural artifacts

Our mechanism text for this unit was Dick Hebdige's discussion of subculture in Subculture: The Meaning of Style. In that book, Hebdige reads punk subculture by looking closely at its artifacts - punk music, zines, clothing, etc. He also discusses how subculture appropriates certain artifacts (to use them in different ways than they were intended) and how culture at-large appropriates subcultural artifacts via the "commodity form" and "ideological form" of appropriation (see the reading again for a more detailed discussion of these terms).

In this unit, we've been looking at Neuromancer. This text was taken up by a certain segment of the hacker community as an important (some might say canonical) text. It has also been studied by literary critics and has received some acclaim outside of the hacker community. In this way, we can see how the book moved between a subculture and culture at-large - and how the meanings of the novel may have shifted as it moved between communities.

In this paper, you'll be choosing an artifact to study in ways similar to Hebdige and Sarah Brouillette (in her article "Corporate Publishing and Canonization.") By tracing the various meanings and histories of your artifact, you'll tell us how it was taken up in different communities. You'll also explain the various meanings your artifact had to different groups of people.

Paper Format
Your paper should be 4-6 pages and in MLA format. Consult an MLA style guide and ensure that your heading, margins, and citations are in MLA style.

Goals of the Assignment
While I will not be grading papers, I will be making comments on both your first and second submissions, and as I make these comments I will be focusing on whether or not you have addressed the goals of the assignment:

-Choosing an appropriate artifact - one that tells us something about a hacker subculture and about culture at-large
-Application of the theories of culture and subculture discussed in class
-Close analysis of your artifact from multiple angles
-An answer to the "So what?" question - what does such analysis tell us about subcultures and culture at-large?

Unit 3

Writing: Narrative as Code and Code as Narrative

Mechanism text:
"Narrative" by J. Hillis Miller (from Lentricchia and McLaughlin)

Novel:
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland

Other Texts:
The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric Raymond
Code Reading (excerpt)
The Psychology of Computer Programming (excerpt)
The Mythical Man-Month (excerpt)

Central Questions:
How is coding like writing?
How is programming like storytelling?
What kinds of stories do programmers tell each other?

Assignments:
2-3 page close reading paper

MySpace Presentations

English 314J
Fall 2006
Jim Brown

Due Date
Thursday, December 7

Your final assignment for this class is to present the Myspace page that you've created. You will have 5 minutes to present your Microserfs Myspace pages. During these presentations, you can show us some of the different ways you've created an online identity for your character. You may also want to talk about things that, given more time, you would have done to the page.

In addition to this information, you must present at least one portion of your page that demonstrates our three different unit concepts. Here's how you'll do this:

1) Discuss your page in terms of representation. How is your character represented? What expected representations of a computer programmer does your page either conform to or disrupt? How does your page work, in terms of Mitchell's discussion of representation?

2) What subcultures might your character be a part of? What subcultural references does your page make, and how might those references be read differently by those within the subculture and those outside of the subculture? How could you discuss your page in terms of Hebdige's discussion of subculture?

3) Provide a brief close reading of your own page. What part of this text might be a candidate for a close reading? What kind of quirk or strange moment does it contain? What might we make of that quirk?

You may want to glance back at the Mitchell, Hebdige, and Miller readings to jog your memory about each unit. Also, you only have 5 minutes for this presentation (we need to make sure everyone has enough time to present). So, as you prepare, please keep this time constraint in mind. This is not the most formal presentation, but it will require preparation and organization.

As always, I won't be "grading" these presentations in the traditional sense. However, I will be taking notes and looking for evidence of the following:

1) The presentation is organized and shows evidence of thoughtful preparation
2) Your ability to apply the concepts we've talked about in each of our three units.
3) Evidence of a thoughtfully developed Myspace page.

Paper 3: Close Reading

English 314J
Fall 2006
Jim Brown

Due Dates
11/30: Paper 3-1 due
12/5: Paper 3-2 due

Paper 3: Close Reading

Our reading of Microserfs has been driven by a more formalistic approach to literature than our previous two units. We've been practicing some close reading to see how texts work, how language works, and what we can learn when we really zoom in on text.

For your third paper, you'll be writing a short (2-3 page) close reading paper. The paper will focus on a section of Microserfs. Our in-class exercise with a short section of Transmission should have given you a starting point for this paper. Also, refer to the close reading hand-out that we looked at in class as you choose what sections of the text to look at and begin to formulate your argument.

Remember that after you've zoomed in on one section of the text, you may want to zoom out and make connections with other portions of the text. The hand-out gives you some different approaches for picking a section of the text (I've attached an electronic copy at the bottom of this page, but you must be logged in to download it).

Paper Format
Your paper should be 2-3 pages and in MLA format. Consult an MLA style guide and ensure that your heading, margins, and citations are in MLA style.

Goals of the Assignment
While I will not be grading papers, I will be making comments on both your first and second submissions, and as I make these comments I will be focusing on whether or not you have addressed the goals of the assignment:

-First and foremost: your paper must make an argument about the text. Explain what you've found and why it is important.

-A thoughtful application of close reading methods covered in class (and on the hand-out).

-An attempt to understand how language and narrative work in the portion of the text you've chosen. In other words, what is interesting about the portion of the book you've chosen?

-An attempt to put the things you've found in your short section of text into context. This would answer the question: How do your findings fit with the larger concepts at work in the novel?

Attachment	Size
close reading handout.doc	27 KB

Course Calendar

Thu Aug 31, 2006
Syllabus, course intro, course website, LRO

Tue Sep 5, 2006
Read: Learning Record FAQ | Write: LRO Questions | In Class: Discuss LRO, representations of programmers

Thu Sep 7, 2006
Read: Mitchell “Representation” |Write: Wiki entry | In Class: Discuss Mitchell reading, wiki entries

Tue Sep 12, 2006
Read: Transmission 1-79 | Write: wiki entry | In Class: Discuss wiki entries and reading

Thu Sep 14, 2006
Read: Transmission 80-121 | Write: wiki entry | In Class: Discuss wiki entries, reading, and Paper 1

Fri Sep 15, 2006
LRO Part A Due by 1:00pm

Tue Sep 19, 2006
Read: Transmission 122-215 | Write: wiki entry, choose text for paper 1 and begin to take notes about it | In Class: Discuss wiki entries, reading, and texts for Paper 1

Thu Sep 21, 2006
Read: Transmission 216-276 | Write: wiki entry | In Class: Discuss wiki entries, reading, and Paper 1

Tue Sep 26, 2006
Write: Wiki Entry | In Class: watch War Games and discuss

Thu Sep 28, 2006
Write: Paper 1-1 Due | In Class: revision workshop in pairs

Tue Oct 3, 2006
Read: Hebdige | Write: wiki entry, finish written peer review | In Class: Discuss wiki entries, subcultures, and Hebdige

Thu Oct 5, 2006
Read: Neuromancer 1-98 | Write: wiki entry | In class: Discuss wiki entries and reading

Tue Oct 10, 2006
Write: Paper 1-2 Due | In Class: Bug visits class

Thu Oct 12, 2006
Read: Neuromancer 99-156 | Write: forum post | In Class: Discuss forum posts, reading, possible artifacts

Tue Oct 17, 2006
Read: Brouillette; Neuromancer 157-186 | Write: forum post | In Class: discuss reading, Paper 2, and LRO

Thu Oct 19, 2006
Read: Neuromancer 186-230 | Write: forum post - describe your artifact | In Class: Discuss artifacts, reading, and LRO

Fri Oct 20, 2006
Midterm LRO due by 5:00pm

Tue Oct 24, 2006
Read: 230-271 | Write: Post Paper Proposal to Forum | In class: Discuss reading and paper proposals

Thu Oct 26, 2006
Write: Draft of paper | In Class: revision workshop

Tue Oct 31, 2006
Write: Paper 2-1 Due | In Class: peer review

Thu Nov 2, 2006
Read: Miller | Write: add at least 5 things to wiki outline | In Class: Discuss wiki entries and reading.

Tue Nov 7, 2006
Don't forget to Vote! | Read: Microserfs 1-106 | Write: forum post | In Class: Discuss forum posts, reading, and close reading methods

Thu Nov 9, 2006
Write: Paper 2-2 Due | In Class: continue discussion of Microserfs, discuss close reading

Tue Nov 14, 2006
Read: Microserfs 107-222 | Write: forum post | In Class: Discuss forum posts, reading, and Paper 3

Thu Nov 16, 2006
Read: Microserfs 223-318 | Write: forum post | In Class: Discuss forum posts, reading, and Paper 3

Tue Nov 21, 2006
Read: Microserfs 223-318 Write: forum post In Class: Discuss forum posts, reading, and Paper 3

Thu Nov 23, 2006
No Class - Thanksgiving

Tue Nov 28, 2006
In Class: Reality Check, Discuss Paper 3, watch portion of Pirates of Silicon Valley

Thu Nov 30, 2006
Write: Paper 3 Draft | In Class: Paper 3 revision workshop

Tue Dec 5, 2006
Write: Paper 3 Due | In Class: Course evaluations

Thu Dec 7, 2006
In Class: MySpace page presentations

Sun Dec 10, 2006
12pm
Final LRO Due

Course Bibliography

This is a bibliography that you might want to consult as you work on your papers or other projects for this class. It contains texts that we'll cover in this class, but it also contains texts that we may not discuss.

Bethke, Bruce. "Cyberpunk!" 1980. (October 1, 2000). http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/cyberpunk/

Brockman, John. Digerati : encounters with the cyber elite. 1st ed. San Francisco: HardWired : Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West, 1996.

Butcher, Lee. Accidental millionaire : the rise and fall of Steve Jobs at Apple Computer. 1st ed. New York: Paragon House, 1988.

Copyright Collection (Library of Congress). Pirates of Silicon Valley. 1999.

Coupland, Douglas. Microserfs. 1st ed. New York: ReganBooks, 1995.

"Cult of the Dead Cow". http://www.cultdeadcow.com/

Gates, Bill, and Collins Hemingway. Business @ the speed of thought : using a digital nervous system. New York, NY: Warner Books, 1999.

Gibson, William. Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books, 1984.

Graham, Paul. Hackers & painters : big ideas from the computer age. 1st ed. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2004.

Himanen, Pekka. The hacker ethic, and the spirit of the information age. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2001.

Kevorkian, Martin. Color monitors : the black face of technology in America. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2005.

Kunzru, Hari. Transmission. New York: Dutton, 2004.

Kushner, David. Masters of Doom : how two guys created an empire and transformed pop culture. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2003.

Lammers, Susan M. Programmers at work : interviews with 19 programmers who shaped the computer industry. Redmond, WA: Tempus Books of Microsoft Press, 1989.

LC Purchase Collection (Library of Congress). Tron. United States
United States: Buena Vista Distribution Co. Walt Disney Home Video., 1982.

LC Purchase Collection (Library of Congress). Wargames. United States
United States: United Artists CBS/Fox Video, 1983.

Levy, Steven. Hackers : heroes of the computer revolution. [Updated afterword] ed. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 1994.

Lohr, Steve. Go to : the story of the math majors, bridge players, engineers, chess wizards, maverick scientists, and iconoclasts, the programmers who created the software revolution. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2001.

Mitnick, Kevin D., and William L. Simon. The art of intrusion : the real stories behind the exploits of hackers, intruders, & deceivers. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley, 2005.

"Phrack.org". http://www.phrack.org/

Raymond, Eric S. The cathedral and the bazaar : musings on Linux and Open Source by an accidental revolutionary. Rev. ed. Beijing ; Cambridge, Mass.: O'Reilly, 2001.

Sivakumar, N. Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? Debugging Indian Programmers. Bridgewater, NJ: Divine Tree, 2004.

Softley, Iain, et al. "Hackers." United States: MGM/UA Distribution Company, 1995. 11 reels of 11 on 6 (ca. 9450 ft.).

Stallman, Richard M. Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman. Boston, MA: GNU Press, 2002.

Stephenson, Neal. In the beginning ...was the command line. New York: Avon Books, 1999.
http://artlung.com/smorgasborg/C_R_Y_P_T_O_N_O_M_I_C_O_N.shtml

Stephenson, Neal. Snow crash. New York: Bantam Books, 1992.

Sterling, Bruce. The zenith angle. 1st ed. New York: Del Rey, 2004.

Thomas, Douglas. Hacker culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.

Torvalds, Linus, and David Diamond. Just for fun : the story of an accidental revolutionary. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperBusiness, 2001.

Updike, John. Villages. 1st ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2004.

Ullman, Ellen. Close to the machine : technophilia and its discontents : a memoir. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1997.

Wade, Mary Dodson. Ada Byron Lovelace : the lady and the computer. A people in focus book. 1st ed. New York, 1994.

Ward, Mark. "Key hacker magazine faces closure." BBC News, 2005.

Wark, McKenzie. A hacker manifesto. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.

Weinberg, Gerald M. The psychology of computer programming. Silver anniversary ed. New York: Dorset House Pub., 1998.

Google Calendar

RHE 309K: Arguing the Digital Divide (Spring 2006)

As victims of Hurricane Katrina and their loved ones scrambled to locate one another in August of 2005, the internet became an invaluable tool. In Austin, Austin Free-Net helped evacuees locate family members by setting up contemporary computer labs in the Austin Convention Center.

Most major news sources developed "safelists" where survivors could communicate with loved ones. Access to technology was most definitely the last thing on the minds of Katrina victims. However, the Internet became a source of information and a space where separated family members could reunite.

The Katrina tragedy triggered conversations about poverty, class, and race in America, and this class will also touch on a number of these issues. We will look at the arguments surrounding the Digital Divide - the gap between technological "haves" and "have-nots." In reading and analyzing these arguments, our goal will be to figure out why this topic gained momentum in the 1990s and why it still draws interest from politicians, academics, and concerned citizens.

Course Overview

We will begin the class by becoming acquainted with the arguments of the digital divide. We'll investigate questions such as: Who argues that this is a major problem? Who argues that the digital divide is overblown? Why are these arguments made? Who are the particular audiences for these arguments and do the major voices in this conversation take note of opposing arguments? We will not only "listen" to the conversation about the digital divide, we will also participate in the discussion. The first paper assignment will allow you to play the role of a local non-profit organization applying for grant money.

The second section of the course will focus on the "conversation" mentioned above. We'll look at arguments that consider factors such as race, socio-economic status, and gender. We'll find that the digital divide is a slippery topic and one that Benjamin Compaine calls a "moving target." We'll continue to read through the arguments of Compaine's The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth and see how it takes a much different stance than our other text, Technology and Social Inclusion. What assumptions do these texts make about the importance of digital technology? What solutions do they propose, if any? Do they view the digital divide as a unique problem, or do they see this as on more gap in a long history of "haves" and "have-nots"? Who do these scholars believe is responsible for closing the gap? The second paper will require you to compile your own anthology of readings about the digital divide. By presenting your own version of the conversation, you'll be able to break down the debate as you see it.

The final portion of this course will allow you to deal with the digital divide outside of the classroom. We'll work with Austin Free-Net, a local organization that helps launch free community internet access sites. In groups, you'll travel to Austin Free-Net locations to visit with volunteers. During your visit, you'll learn the stories behind these community technology centers. Your final project will be a presentation of the successes, failures, challenges, and needs of these centers. This presentation may come in the form of a film project, a web page, a photo essay, or any other format that allows you to tell the stories of these AFN sites.

Policy Statement

RHE 309K: Arguing the Digital Divide

Instructor: Jim Brown
Meeting Place: FAC 10
Time: T/Th 12:30-2pm
Office Hours: T/Th 11-12:30 (Cactus Cafe)
Email: jimbrown@mail.utexas.edu
Website: http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/jbrown/309k_spring06

The following are available at the University Co-op.

Required Texts:

Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth, Compaine
Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide, Warschauer

Optional Texts:

SF Express, Ruszkiewicz et. al.
Revising Prose, Lanham

Additional Requirements
- Access to a computer and printer
- An e-mail account that you check daily

Coursework
You will write two individual papers (each submitted twice), maintain a blog, participate in forum discussions, and colloborate on a group project at the end of the semester. Class meetings will be devoted to various activities, including writing workshops, student presentations, and class discussions. Regular attendance and participation are essential to success in this class.

Attendance
You should attend class daily, arrive on time, do assigned reading and writing, and participate in all in-class editing, revising, and discussion sessions. Students missing five classes can earn no higher than a B in the class. Six absences will result in failure of the course. A student is considered late when arriving after the sign-up sheet has gone around the room - lateness equals .5 absences. Notify me beforehand of your participation in official athletic events or observance of religious holidays. Save absences for when you are sick or have a personal emergency. If you find that an unavoidable problem prevents you from attending class, please discuss the problem with me.

Grades
Grades in this course will be determined by use of the Learning Record Online (LRO), 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 development across five dimensions of learning:

1) Confidence and independence
2) Knowledge and understanding
3) Skills and strategies
4) Use of prior and emerging experience
5) Reflectiveness.

This development centers on the major strands of work in this course:

1) Appreciation of Multiple Arguments and Positions
2) Critical reading skills
3) Thoughtful revision
4) Collaboration

Late Assignments and Drafts
All assignments, including drafts, should be turned in on the due date at the beginning of the class period. You will turn in papers by uploading them to the course website. You are responsible for turning in assignments regardless of whether you attend class on the due date. Late coursework will be factored into your grade.

Format of Final Papers
Rough drafts and final drafts of all papers must be typewritten. The first page of your paper must include the following information: your name, my name, course number and unique number, date, and paper title. Double space the lines and use 1 inch margins all the way around the text (this is typically the default setting in programs like Microsoft Word.) Staple your pages together in the upper left hand corner. Unless you are told otherwise, your papers should be in MLA format.

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 the 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 be patient and 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, please visit this site regularly. The course site should be a helpful tool for you, so feel free to make suggestions about anything you feel should be included.

Computer Use and Availability
Computers are available to you in the CWRL open lab (PAR 102), the Student Microcomputer Facility (SMF) on the second floor of the Flawn Academic Center (FAC).

Scholastic Honesty
Turning in work that is not your own, or any other form of scholastic dishonesty, will result in a major course penalty, possibly failure of the course. A report of the incident will also be made to the Office of the Dean of Students. The consultants at the Undergraduate Writing Center (FAC 211, 471-6222) are trained to help you with the proper use of sources.

We will be covering the use of sources in class. In general, I will ask you to provide me with photocopies or printouts of all sources you use. If you have any questions about how you are using sources on a particular assignment, see me before you turn it in.

Students With Disabilities
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic adjustments for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TDD.

Schedule

Daily Reading, Writing, and Discussion Schedule
DD = The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth
TSI = Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide
ERES = Electronic Reserves

1/17
Introductions: Syllabus/Schedule, Course Web Page, Learning Record Online (LRO)
Discussion: What is the Digital Divide?

1/19
Read:Wikipedia Entry for 'Rhetoric'; Wayne Booth's "Judging Rhetoric" from The Rhetoric of Rhetoric (handout)
Write: Blog Response to Reading, Post three questions to the LRO forum
In Class: Discuss different Kinds of Rhetoric, Discuss LRO

1/24
Read:xi-xvi of DD (preface); 7-15 in DD (NTIA); 1-10 of TSI
Write: Blog Response to Reading
In Class: Discuss roots of the digital divide and the differing approaches of DD and TSI, Discuss LRO

1/26
Read: Paper 1 Assignment Description
Write: LRO Part A Due
In Class: Discuss Paper 1

1/31
Read: 105-118 in DD (Compaine); 11-30 in TSI
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Discuss social inclusion and information gaps

2/2
Read: Read and comment on three Organizational Descriptions
Write: Organizational Descriptions (posted to blog by Wednesday 2/1, 10:00pm)
In Class: Paper 1 - Roundtable discussion

2/7
Read: 31-48 in TSI; 303-7 in DD (Schement); 309-14 in DD (Powell)
Write: Blog Post
In Class: Models of Access and the shrinking/growing gaps.

2/9
PAPER 1-1 DUE
In Class: JAWS Exercise (bring headphones to class)

2/14
Read: Lanham's "Action" (Handout)
Write: Perform steps 1-5 of the PM on paper 1-1
In Class: Share revisions in class

2/16
Read: 49-80 in TSI; 289-291 in DD (Simons); 263 in DD (Lacey)
Write: Blog Post
In Class: Discuss connectivity, access gaps

2/21
Read: 81-108 in TSI; Kennard (195-8 in DD)
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Discuss language and inclusion in the "larger conversation"

2/23
PAPER 1-2 DUE
In Class: Possible Guest Speaker

2/28
Read: Your observations, possible work samples
Write: Drafts of Midterm Parts B and C
In Class: LRO Workshop

3/2
MIDTERM LRO DUE
NO CLASS

3/7
Read: Small group reading assignment
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Small group discussions

Texts:
Maurrasse - A Future for Everyone
Marshall, Taylor, Yu - Closing the Digital Divide
Solomon, Allen, Resta - Toward Digital Equity
Kolko, Nakamura, and Rodman - Race in Cyberspace
Nelson, Tu, and Hines - Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Everyday Life

3/9
In Class: Share findings from small group discussions

3/14
SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS

3/16
SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS

3/21
Regroup/Reality Check.

3/23
Read: 109-152 in TSI
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Online chat about new/old literacies

3/28
PAPER 2-1 DUE
In Class: Discuss Virtual Class Transcript and Paper Swap

3/30
Read: Time article
Write: Blog Post
In Class: Discuss Digital Literacy and the "wired" generation

4/4
Read: Your partner's Paper
Write: Revision plan for your partner's paper
In Class: Discuss revision plans

4/6
In Class: Research AFN sites

4/11
PAPER 2-2 DUE
In Class: Guest Speaker, Lou Rutigliano

4/13
Groups conducting Site Visits
In Class: Possible Guest Speaker

4/18
Write: Blog Post about Guest Speaker
Groups conducting Site Visits

4/20
Group Work on Final Project

4/25
Group Work on Final Project

4/27
Share Final Projects

5/2
Course Evaluations, Questions about Final LRO

5/4
No Class

Final LRO Due Date: 5/5

Assignments

Paper 1

RHE 309K (43920)
Fall 2005
Jim Brown

Due Dates
•2/1: Organizational Description Due (posted to blog by Wednesday 2/1, 10:00pm)
•2/9: First Submission Due
•2/23: Second Submission Due

Paper Description
In October of 2005, the Austin City Council allocated $90,000 for the Grant for Technological Opportunities Program (GTOPs), a program designed, “to support digital technology projects that show promise of benefiting the community” (here’s the Press Release and here’s the GTOPs website).

Applications for grant money were due on January 20, and city council is currently reviewing grant proposals. However, we will use this situation as a role-playing activity and for your first paper assignment. For this paper, you will be representing a local non-profit organization. As a representative of that organization, you are charged with speaking at a City Council meeting. Your appearance in front of the City Council allows you to request grant money and describe a project that your organization would like to pursue.

Your presentation to Austin City Council will be in the form of a 4-6 page paper. You should consider your audience to be city council - more information on Austin City Council can be found at their website. You might also consider watching part of a city council meeting to get a sense for what the format is like (meetings are broadcast on cable access). You should also review the application and the selection criteria that the city council provides for the GTOP program (all of this informaiton can be found at the GTOPs website). While you won't be able to address everything required in a full grant proposal (a full grant proposal might be 20-25 pages), this information will give you a sense of what the city council is expecting of those applying to this program.

Organizational Description
Your first task will be to choose a local non-profit organization (NOTE: you cannot choose Austin Free-Net, which is the group we'll be working with at the end of the semester). You will have to research this organization to find out what they do and what kind of technology project this non-profit might propose. A list of local organizations can be found at: http://www.main.org/. This description should be one page (double-spaced) and should describe the organization you've chosen and the project you envision this organization proposing. Your proposed project can change, but you should at least be thinking about what you will propose to city council in your paper.

As I have noted above, this description must be posted to your blog by Wednesday, 2/1 at 10:00pm. It should be posted as a blog entry, not as an attached word file. This is important because other students in the class will be commenting on your description.

Submission Guidelines
You will be submitting your organizational descriptions as blog entries. You will also submit your papers via your blog; however, your paper will NOT be in the form of a blog entry. You will submit your paper as an attachment to a blog entry using the "attach new file" function. As noted at the top of this sheet, your first submission is due on 2/9 and your second submission is due on 2/23.

Please note that first submission does not mean "rough draft." Your first submission should be a good-faith attempt at completing the assignment. I will comment on first submissions using Microsoft Word Commenting. These comments will help you to approach a thoughtfully revised second submission.

Format Guidelines

Your final draft should be 4-6 pages long, typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. Any references to articles or other research must be in MLA format. REFER TO THE SF EXPRESS HANDBOOK. THE PAPER VERSION OF YOUR DRAFT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE MODEL PAPER ON PAGES 87-98 of SF Express. If you don't have the SF Express handbook, you must use some other MLA manual.

Paper 2

RHE 309K (43920)
Fall 2005
Jim Brown

Due Dates
•3/28: First Submission Due
•4/11: Second Submission Due

Paper Description
Benjamin Compaine's Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth is an anthology of work about the digital divide. It brings together a number of different arguments about the topic and attempts to show the issue from different angles. As editor of this collection, Compaine chose what would be included, how it would be sorted, and how each argument would be framed in terms of his own overarching argument.

For your second paper, you will create your own short anthology about the digital divide. After selecting which pieces you'd like to include, you will write an introduction to your anthology. This introduction should put the different arguments that you've chosen into dialogue with one another. How do they speak to one another? Do the authors participate in a useful "conversation" or do they talk past one another? You should say how they fit together, show where different arguments clash with one another, and explain the different goals each of the pieces have. You can talk about these different arguments in terms of the audience they hope to reach, the different kinds of arguments they make, whether they fairly address their opposition, or any other elements you choose to focus on.

Submission Guidelines
You'll be submitting your papers via your blogs. However, your paper will NOT be in the form of a blog entry. You will submit your paper as an attachment to a blog entry using the "attach new file" function. As noted at the top of this sheet, your first submission is due on 3/28 and your second submission is due on 4/11.

Please note that first submission does not mean "rough draft." Your first submission should be a good-faith attempt at completing the assignment. I will comment on first submissions using Microsoft Word Commenting. These comments will help you to approach a thoughtfully revised second submission.

Format Guidelines
You must include a table of contents for your anthology. On this page, you might want to break your book up into sections, but this isn't required. The introduction to your anthology should be 4-6 pages long, typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. Any references to articles or other research must be in MLA format. REFER TO THE SF EXPRESS HANDBOOK. THE PAPER VERSION OF YOUR DRAFT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE MODEL PAPER ON PAGES 87-98 of SF Express.

Paper Swap Assignment

RHE 309K (43920)
Fall 2005
Jim Brown

Due Date: 4/4

Assignment Description
In this class, we've talked about revision as an involved process. It's a process that forces you to rethink ideas, rewrite large portions of your argument, and add or subtract entire sections of text.

This assignment will allow you to perform this type of revision on someone else's writing. In this sense, you'll be acting as a collaborator or possibly even an editor. Your approach to someone else's writing should also help them approach the second submission of their paper.

For this assignment, you will write a 2 page (double-spaced) revision plan for your partner. This document will explain what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of their argument, suggest some ways to revise the paper, and guide them in what should be added or taken away. Your document should provide specifics and SHOULD NOT be a discussion of mechanical issues such as sentence structure or grammar. You can mention these types of issues, but they cannot be the focus of your write-up. Your focus should be on your partner's argument, how it's constructed, and how it could be constructed in a more effective way.

Submission Guidelines
You'll be submitting your revision plans as a word document. You will submit this document just as you do a paper assignment - as an attachment to a blog entry. Revision Plans should be posted to your blog before class on April 4. During class on April 4, you will meet with your partner to discuss your revision plans.

Austin Free-Net Assignment

RHE 309K (43990)
Fall 2005
Jim Brown

Due Dates
•4/6-4/18: Conduct Site Surveys
•4/18-4/20: Project Proposal Due
•4/27: Presentations Due

Project Description
Your final project will take you on a short trip to one of Austin Free-Net’s free public internet access sites. At your assigned location, you will interview those in charge. Your interview will gather a wide range of information including what kind of access the site provides to visitors, what the site’s needs and wants are, the profiles of their typical users, and much more. Upon conducting the survey, you should be paying close attention to what these site managers say. Your goal will be to identify some need and to make an attempt to fill that need. Here are some possible projects you could take on:

•Take video footage of your site survey and use it to create a promotional video for the site and for AFN.

•Help those in charge of the site to set up a blog that they could use as a way to interact with their users. This site could become the default homepage on their browsers and could notify users of things like upgrades, changes, training classes. Alternately, the blog could be a place where users could post creative work such as poetry and short stories.

•Create informational materials in the form of a web page or a packet that your AFN site can provide to those who make use of the facility. This could be information about the classes they offer, suggestions about how to make use of digital technology, job search tips, easy online publishing strategies (such as Blogger or LiveJournal), or online communities (such as Friendster, Xanga, or Facebook).

•Design some classes that your AFN site could offer to their users. Many sites already offer classes, but you could put together some syllabi of new courses or maybe even offer new ways of teaching their current courses.

This is only a short list of possibilities, and the project you choose will depend on what you uncover during your site survey. Remember that your main tasks will be to 1) listen closely during your conversations with those at the site and 2) use your writing and critical thinking skills to help them fill a need or solve a problem. The options I’ve listed above fit into different rhetorical situations and address different audiences. As you work through this project, remember who your audience is and think about the best way to address that audience.

Site Surveys
Austin Free-Net has provided us with a survey. This form will help AFN get a feel for what’s happening at their various sites. You will use this survey as a guide for your interviews, but you should also develop additional questions you’d like to ask before you conduct the survey. Also, as you conduct the interview and listen closely to the responses, additional questions will arise. Your survey should be a conversation with the people at the AFN site. This means that the survey will provide a guide for the conversation, but these won’t be the only questions you ask.

While you should allow the interview to guide the project you’d like to work on, you could also consider some options ahead of time. If you have an idea in mind, you should discuss this when you schedule your site survey (probably by phone). For example, if you think you might like to take video footage you’ll have to first check with the site to make sure this is okay with them. Feel free to brainstorm projects ahead of time, but be careful not to force a project that doesn’t quite fit the needs of the people you’re working with.

Project Proposal
Upon completing your survey, you’ll turn in a project proposal. This proposal will include the results of your survey and how those results have led you to the project you’d like to work on. Think of this as a way of pitching your project. This proposal should answer these questions:

•What is the rhetorical situation for your project? Who is the author? Who is the audience? What media will your project make use of and why did you choose these particular media?

•How does your project fit with your previous discussions of the digital divide?

•What need are you filling for the site?

•What did you learn during your site survey and how did you apply these findings when coming up with a project?

This list of questions is by no means all inclusive. Regardless of how you approach the proposal, it must explain your project and the justifications for it in some detail. It should also contain some explanation of how this project applies to our discussions of rhetoric and the arguments we’ve read about the digital divide.

Presentations
During the final week of class, you’ll present your projects to the class. You should consider inviting the people from your site to view your presentation. Your presentation should be both a showcase for your work and a reflection on what you’ve learned during the project. It will be a way to talk about the problem you identified, how you’ve proposed to solve it, obstacles you encountered throughout the process, and advice for future classes that work on similar projects.

Attachment	Size
AFN Group Assignments.doc	28.5 KB

RHE 309K: Arguing the Digital Divide (Fall 2005)

In 1993, Richard Lanham's The Electronic Word theorized about the movement of text from the printed book to the computer screen:

“The boundary between creator and critic simply vanishes...The work snowballs into electronic orality, changes and grows as it moves from one screen and keyboard to another."

Lanham believed that digital technology would force us to look, “AT text rather than THROUGH it.” He believed that reading a book meant looking THROUGH text to get to the content while the "electronic word" would force us to look AT text and consider the actual act of reading. He believed that it created "a new writing space...[and] a new educational space."

Two years later, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) conducted a survey of technological "haves" and "have-nots" called (entitled "Falling through the Net"). This research propelled discussions of the digital divide into the national spotlight, but there was not a consensus about the issue. In 2001, FCC Chairman Michael Powell made his stance on the digital divide clear:

"I think there's a Mercedes Benz divide. I'd like one, but I can't afford it."

In eight years, we passed from arguments of "new educational spaces" to arguments that compare computers to luxury vehicles. What happened? Do we still look AT digital technology, or do we merely look THROUGH it?

Course Overview

Our first task in this course will be to, in Richard Lanham's terms, force ourselves to look AT technology. We will consider the arguments inherent in our uses of technology, and we will consider what disappears along with technologies when they pass into the realm of everyday tools. By focusing on the technologies of writing, we'll start to take a closer look at the technologies that frame who we are and what we argue. How has the personal computer changed the writing and revision process? How does an argument change when it passes from what medium to the next? Every day we see texts shift between media. How is the book different than the movie? How is the movie different from the video game? We see arguments move from print to screen: How is the New York Times different from nytimes.com?

After this discussion of writing, rhetoric, and technology, we'll jump into the debates about the digital divide. We'll look at arguments that consider factors such as race, socio-economic status, and gender. We'll find that the digital divide is a slipper topic and one that Benjamin Compaine calls a "moving target." We'll read through the arguments of Compaine's The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth and see how it takes a much different stance than our other text, Virtual Inequality. What assumptions do these texts make about the importance of digital technology? What solutions do they propose, if any? Do they view the digital divide as a unique problem, or do they see this as on more gap in a long history of "haves" and "have-nots"? Who do these scholars believe is responsible for closing the gap?

This final discussion will lead us into the service learning portion of this course. We'll work with Austin Free-Net, a local organization that helps launch free community internet access sites. In groups, you'll travel to Austin Free-Net locations to conduct a site survey. During your survey, you'll learn the stories behind these community technology centers. Your final project will be a presentation of the successes, failures, challenges, and needs of these centers. This presentation may come in the form of a film project, a web page, a photo essay, or any other format that allows you to tell the stories of these AFN sites.

Policy Statement

RHE 309K: Arguing the Digital Divide

Instructor: Jim Brown
Meeting Place: FAC 9
Time: T/Th 9:30-11am
Office Hours: T/Th 11-12:30 (Cactus Cafe)
Email: jimbrown@mail.utexas.edu
Website: http://instructors.cwrl.utexas.edu/jbrown/309k_fall05

The following are available at the University Co-op.

Required Texts:

Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth, Compaine
The Medium is the Massage, McLuhan
Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide, Mossberger et. al.
SF Express, Ruszkiewicz et. al.

Optional Texts:

Revising Prose, Lanham

Additional Requirements
- Access to a computer and printer
- An e-mail account that you check daily

Coursework
You will write two individual papers (each submitted twice), keep a reading blog, participate in forum discussions, and colloborate on a group project at the end of the semester. Class meetings will be devoted to various activities, including writing workshops, student presentations, and class discussions. In class activities, discussion, and attendance will account for a portion of your grade. Regular attendance and participation are essential to success in this class.

Attendance
You should attend class daily, arrive on time, do assigned reading and writing, and participate in all in-class editing, revising, and discussion sessions. Students missing five classes can earn no higher than a B in the class. Six absences will result in failure of the course. A student is considered when arriving after the sign-up sheet has gone around the room - lateness equals .5 absences. Notify me beforehand of your participation in official athletic events or observance of religious holidays; these are the only excused absences. Save absences for when you are sick or have a personal emergency. If you find that an unavoidable problem prevents you from attending class, please discuss the problem with me.

Grades
Grades in this course will be determined by use of the Learning Record Online (LRO), 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 development across five dimensions of learning:

1) Confidence and independence
2) Knowledge and understanding
3) Skills and strategies
4) Use of prior and emerging experience
5) Reflectiveness.

This development centers on the major strands of work in this course:

1) Balanced argument
2) Critical reading skills
3) Thoughtful revision
4) Collaboration

Late Assignments and Drafts
All assignments, including drafts, should be turned in on the due date at the beginning of the class period. You will turn in papers by uploading them to the course website. You are responsible for turning in assignments regardless of whether you attend class on the due date. Late coursework will be factored into your grade.

Format of Final Papers
Rough drafts and final drafts of all papers must be typewritten. The first page of your paper must include the following information: your name, my name, course number and unique number, date, and paper title. Double space the lines and use 1 inch margins all the way around the text (this is typically the default setting in programs like Microsoft Word.) Staple your pages together in the upper left hand corner. Unless you are told otherwise, your papers should be in MLA format.

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 the 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 be patient and 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, please visit this site regularly. The course site should be a helpful tool for you, so feel free to make suggestions about anything you feel should be included.

Computer Use and Availability
Computers are available to you in the Student Microcomputer Facility (SMF) on the second floor of the Flawn Academic Center (FAC).

Scholastic Honesty
Turning in work that is not your own, or any other form of scholastic dishonesty, will result in a major course penalty, possibly failure of the course. A report of the incident will also be made to the Office of the Dean of Students. The consultants at the Undergraduate Writing Center (FAC 211, 471-6222) are trained to help you with the proper use of sources.

We will be covering the use of sources in class. In general, I will ask you to provide me with photocopies or printouts of all sources you use. If you have any questions about how you are using sources on a particular assignment, see me before you turn it in.

Students With Disabilities
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic adjustments for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TDD.

Schedule

Daily Reading, Writing, and Discussion Schedule

DD = The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth
VI = Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide
ERES = Electronic Reserves

9/1
Syllabus/Schedule
Introduce Web Page
Introduce LRO
What is Rhetoric?

9/6
Read: “Falling through the Net” (1-46 in DD), Prefaces of DD and VI, and LRO information page
Write: Blog Response to reading, post 3 questions to LRO forum
In Class: Be prepared to discuss Readings and LRO

9/8
Read: “Writing as Technology”(ERES), Lanham's “Electronic Literacy” (Handout)
Write: 1 Page response handwritten
In Class: Discuss the technologies of writing

9/13
Read: Remediation “Introduction” and “Computer Games”(ERES)
Write: Blog entry giving an example of Remediation
In Class: Discuss remediation

9/15
Read: McLuhan (1-81)
Write: Blog entry, LRO Part A Due
In Class: Discuss Reading and Paper 1

9/20
Read: McLuhan (82-157)
Write: Paper 1-1 Proposal Due
In Class: Discuss sample paper and paper ideas

9/22
Read: Compaine (315-335 in DD); 2-14 in VI
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Defining the Divide

9/27
PAPER 1-1 DUE
In-Class: JAWS Exercise, Brief presentation by Katrina Kosted about the Bridging Disciplines Program

9/29
Read: Lanham's "Action" (Handout)
Write: Perform steps 1-5 of the PM on paper 1-1
In Class: Share revisions in class

10/4
Read: 15-37 in VI; Schement (303-7 in DD); Powell (309-14 in DD)
Write: Blog Post
In Class: Data problems and the shrinking/growing gap.

10/6
Read: 38-59 in VI
Write: Blog Post
In Class: The skills divide

10/11
PAPER 1-2 DUE
In Class: LRO Workshop

10/13
Read: 60-85 in VI; Kennard (195-8 in DD)
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Discuss Economic Opportunities and Paper 2

10/18
MIDTERM LRO DUE
In Class: Discuss Anthologies

10/20
Read: Small group reading assignment
Write: Paper 2-1 Proposal Due
In Class: Small group discussions

Reading Options:

-Banks “Race, Rhetoric, and Technology: Searching for Higher Ground” (ERES)
-Hill “Beyond Access: Race, Technology, Community” (ERES)
-Cooper and Weaver “Computer Anxiety: A Matter of Gender” (ERES)
-Farmer “Teens in Need of Technology” (ERES)
-McPherson “I’ll Take My Stand in Dixie-Net” (ERES)

10/25
In Class: Share findings from small group discussions

10/27
PAPER 2-1 DUE
Guest Speaker: Ana Sisnett of AFN

11/1
Read: Compaine and Weinraub (147-177 in DD)
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Discuss Universal Service and Austin Free-Net Project

11/3
Paper Discussions

11/8
Read: 86-115 in VI
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Technology and Democracy
Read: 116-139 in VI
Write: Blog Entry
In Class: Discuss conclusions of VI

11/10
PAPER 2-2 DUE
In Class: Discuss AFN Survey/Setting up appointments

11/15
In Class: Group Planning Session

11/17
NO CLASS (groups should be conducting surveys)

11/22
PRELIMINARY SITE SURVEY REPORT DUE
In Class: Discussing AFN Site Surveys

11/24
NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING

11/29
Group Work on Final Project

12/1
Group Work on Final Project

12/6
Presenting Final Projects

12/8
Presenting Final Projects
Course Evaluations

Final LRO Due on date of Final Exam

Blogging the Digital Divide

Our 309K Blogs:

$node[name]'s blog

Read the latest entries from our blogs.

Assignments

Paper 1

RHE 309K (43990)
Fall 2005
Jim Brown

Due Dates
•9/20: Paper Proposal Due
•9/27: First Submission Due
•10/11: Second Submission Due

Paper Description
In Remediation and The Medium is the Massage, we have read about how media act on us in a number of different ways. According to these theories, the medium isn't just a container for an argument. Rather, media shape, constrain, and open up the possibilities of an argument.

In this first paper, you'll be analyzing a text of some sort in terms of the media it takes uses. You'll discuss the different ways your texts "writes" and how those different ways of writing shape the argument. During our class discussions we've defined the terms writing, text, and literacy very broadly, and you'll do the same for this paper. A text can be a film, novel, short story, poem, television show, webpage, or any other type of "text" you can imagine.

Regardless of the text you choose, you should be considering how it uses different media to present its argument or purpose. Keep in mind that the argument of a text is not always completely obvious or explicit. In addition, texts can have a number of different arguments happening at once.

Paper Proposals
Your paper proposals will be a paragraph about your paper topic. This paragraph will explain the text your examining and how you think an analysis of that text will play out. How does its medium (or its different media) shape, change, or direct its argument or purpose?

Paper proposals are not a "contract." You may find that your topic or argument changes as you begin to write. This is not a problem. The proposal is merely a way to get you thinking about the project.

Post your paper proposals as a blog entry by 9:30am on Tuesday, September 20.

Submission Guidelines

Like your proposals, you'll be submitting your papers to via your blogs. However, your paper will NOT be in the form of a blog entry. You will submit your paper as an attachment to a blog entry using the "attach new file" function. As noted at the top of this sheet, your first submission is due on 9/27 and your second submission is due on 10/11.

Please note that first submission does not mean "rough draft." Your first submission should be a good-faith attempt at completing the assignment. I will comment on first submissions using Microsoft Word Commenting. These comments will help you to approach a thoughtfully revised second submission.

Format Guidelines

Your final draft should be 4-6 pages long, typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. Any references to articles or other research must be in MLA format. REFER TO THE SF EXPRESS HANDBOOK. THE PAPER VERSION OF YOUR DRAFT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE MODEL PAPER ON PAGES 87-98 of SF Express. If you don't have the SF Express handbook, you must use some other MLA manual.

Paper 2

RHE 309K (43990)
Fall 2005
Jim Brown

Due Dates
•10/20: Paper Proposal Due
•10/27: First Submission Due
•11/8: Second Submission Due

Paper Description
Benjamin Compaine's Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth is an anthology of work about the digital divide. It brings together a number of different arguments about the topic and attempts to show the issue from different angles. As editor of this collection, Compaine chose what would be included, how it would be sorted, and how each argument would be framed in terms of his own overarching argument.

For your second paper, you will create your own short anthology about the digital divide. After selecting which pieces you'd like to include, you will write an introduction to your anthology. This introduction should put the different arguments that you've chosen into dialogue with one another. How do they speak to one another? Do the authors participate in a useful "conversation" or do they talk past one another? You should say how they fit together, show where different arguments clash with one another, and explain the different goals each of the pieces have. You can talk about these different arguments in terms of the audience they hope to reach, the different kinds of arguments they make, whether they fairly address their opposition, or any other elements you choose to focus on.

Paper Proposals
Your paper proposals will be a paragraph about your paper topic. This paragraph will which pieces you'll include in your anthology and why you've chosen them. In your proposal, you should be starting to work out your own argument about why these pieces are a useful presentation of the digital divide conversation. Post your paper proposals as a blog entry by 9:30am on Thursday, October 20.

Submission Guidelines
Like your proposals, you'll be submitting your papers via your blogs. However, your paper will NOT be in the form of a blog entry. You will submit your paper as an attachment to a blog entry using the "attach new file" function. As noted at the top of this sheet, your first submission is due on 10/27 and your second submission is due on 11/8.

Please note that first submission does not mean "rough draft." Your first submission should be a good-faith attempt at completing the assignment. I will comment on first submissions using Microsoft Word Commenting. These comments will help you to approach a thoughtfully revised second submission.

Format Guidelines
You must include a table of contents for your anthology. On this page, you might want to break your book up into sections, but this isn't required. The introduction to your anthology should be 4-6 pages long, typed, double-spaced, and carefully proofread. Any references to articles or other research must be in MLA format. REFER TO THE SF EXPRESS HANDBOOK. THE PAPER VERSION OF YOUR DRAFT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE MODEL PAPER ON PAGES 87-98 of SF Express.

Austin Free-Net Project

RHE 309K (43990)
Fall 2005
Jim Brown

Due Dates
•11/8-11/22: Conduct Site Surveys
•11/22: Project Proposal Due
•12/6: Presentations Due
•12/6-12/8: Presentations