Rhetoric, Technology, Culture Spring 2011

Summary:

A major component of this course, as indicated in the syllabus, is the incorporation of rhetorical theory and technology into student research and teaching. This project asks students to develop a research project, articulating that project first as a conference paper (and in a conference proposal) and then as a multimedia text for an online scholarly publication that takes advantage of online, new media tools. Heeding the warning of Collin Brooke, this rearticulation will not be a transposed version of the conference paper. As Brooke argues in Linqua Fracta:

New communication and information technologies do not simply provide us with new sites of rhetorical practice; instead, they challenges us to reconceive rhetoric altogether.

The multimedia text, then, will need to be a re-conceptualized version of the conference paper and its argument, delivered and arranged to suit the constraints and affordances of online journals such as Kairos, Present Tense, The Writing Instructor, and Harlot.

The choice of research topic is up to the student, who should, nevertheless, take into account the available outlets (both conferences and journals), which have their own wants, needs and timelines. The research project should be anchored in the primary texts of the course, but students are encouraged to incorporate, integrate, and/or interrogate their own research agenda into and through the project. In other words, students are challenged to put rhetoric and technology to work for them.

Deliverables:

Conference Proposal
The Conference Proposal should follow guidelines specified in the corresponding conference cfp. (10% of project grade.)

Conference Paper
The Conference Paper should conform to the expectations of the corresponding conference cfp. Conference papers are generally between 10 and 20 pages depending on the presenter's allotted time. (40% of project grade.)

Journal Proposal
The Journal Proposal should conform to the expectations of the selected journal. (10% of project grade.)

Multimedia Text
The Multimedia Text, based upon the Conference Paper, should meet the publication standards of an online journal stressing multimedia, hypertext submissions. (40% of project grade.)