Scribd
Upload
104 views5 pages

Contemporary Virtual Rhetorics Syllabus

This document provides information about an English course called "Contemporary Virtual Rhetorics" that examines rhetoric in digital spaces. The course aims to help students understand how meaning is constructed and conveyed online through examining classical and contemporary rhetorical theory. Major assignments include an autobiographical essay on students' views of technology, an analytical essay applying a course theory to a digital medium, and an immersive project involving adopting an online identity. The course has no required textbooks and materials will be provided digitally or as hard copies.

Uploaded by

Colin M. Griffin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
104 views5 pages

Contemporary Virtual Rhetorics Syllabus

This document provides information about an English course called "Contemporary Virtual Rhetorics" that examines rhetoric in digital spaces. The course aims to help students understand how meaning is constructed and conveyed online through examining classical and contemporary rhetorical theory. Major assignments include an autobiographical essay on students' views of technology, an analytical essay applying a course theory to a digital medium, and an immersive project involving adopting an online identity. The course has no required textbooks and materials will be provided digitally or as hard copies.

Uploaded by

Colin M. Griffin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

ENGLISH 290: CONTEMPORARY VIRTUAL

RHETORICS
Technology gives us power, but it does not and cannot tell us how to use
that power. Thanks to technology, we can instantly communicate across
the world, but it still doesn't help us know what to say.
-Jonathan Sacks

Instructor: Colin M. Griffin


M/W/F: 2-250, B Building Room 108
Office Hours: M 10-12 & W/Th 12-1:30
Telephone: 1(234)567-8901
Course Description & Goals
This course encourages students to cultivate deeper
understandings of the digital spaces they routinely engage with
through evolving conversations that examine the rhetoric at
work within them. Communication and persuasion are
migrating into virtual mediums with frequency, and studying
the applications of this transition is important to the continued
development of rhetorical understanding. This course
incorporates classical and more contemporary rhetorical theory
in deconstructing how meaning is constructed and conveyed in
todays popular digital arenas. This course further aims to
critically examine the creation of authority in such spaces to
encourage analytical engagement with ideas of power,
oppression, and privilege.
Upon successful completion of the course, students should:
Have a heightened awareness of how meaning is made and
communicated in the popular digital arenas of
contemporary society
Understand how genre, audience, and community impact
the way meaning is conveyed
Be aware of how power assigns value to information
Be able to contribute to ongoing/create new
conversations regarding ethics, social justice, and the
communication of information

Required Texts
There are no textbooks that students need to purchase for this
course. The instructor will provide all necessary materials; hard
copies of reading selections will be made available to students,
and PDF files will be made digitally available through the course
blackboard. Course readings include (but are not limited to)
selections from the following texts:
Bauerlein, M. (2008). The dumbest generation: How the digital age stupefies
young Americans and jeopardizes our future (or, don't trust anyone
under 30). New York, NY: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
Foucault, M., & Gordon, C. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other
writings, 1972-1977. New York: Pantheon Books.
Shirky, C. (2010). Cognitive surplus: Creativity and generosity in a connected age. New
York, NY: Penguin Press.
Turkle, S. (2012). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from
each other. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

Grading Breakdown
Project One: 20%
Project Two: 20%
Project Three: 30%
Weekly Discussions: 20%
Class Citizenship: 10%
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F Below 60
Project Descriptions*
*These descriptions are brief representations of course projects.
More detailed explanations will be provided as we begin to work
on each assignment

Weekly Discussion Posts (20%)


These postings, due every Friday by midnight via blackboard,
should serve as spaces where we continue our discussion
outside of the classroom. Posts should offer student critique of

the weeks readings and pose significant questions to keep us


thinking about relevant applications of the theories and
concepts we are exploring. These posts should be a minimum of
250 words or, if multimodal, indicative of similar effort.

Project One: Autotechnogrpahy Essay (20%)


For this project, students will compose a 1000-1200 word essay
that discusses their current views on technology and virtualized
society. These essays should also discuss how the student
interacts/engages with technology in their own lives, and how
those interactions have worked to influence that larger
perspective. This project does not have to be completed in essay
format; multimodal composition is acceptable with instructor
approval. Students will submit proposals to the instructor
within a week of the project being assigned.
Project Two: Theoretical Application Essay (20%)
For this project, students will compose a 1200-1500 word essay
that forms logical and relevant connections between a
theory(ies) discussed from one of the course readings and a
digital medium (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Forums, etc.) with
which they routinely engage. This project should express the
students perception of their chosen theory, using experiential
observations in support of their reasoning. This project should
include at least two (2) secondary sources. This project does not
have to be completed in essay format; multimodal composition
is acceptable with instructor approval. Students will submit
proposals to the instructor within a week of the project being
assigned.
Project Three: The Immersion Project (30%)
This project will call for students to create an online identity of
their choosing (i.e. gender, age, nationality, experience, etc. are
all chosen by the student) and enter into a socially interactive
virtual medium with which they have no prior experience.
Students should use concepts covered in class readings and
discussions to hypothesize about how their chosen identity may
influence their communicative capacity within that space. This
project does not have to be completed in essay format;
multimodal composition is acceptable with instructor approval.

Students will submit proposals to the instructor within a week


of the project being assigned.
Keep in mind that late work (without proper documentation)
will not be accepted. Projects will be due by the start of class on
the date indicated on your weekly schedule, unless otherwise
noted by the instructor.
Attendance Policy
This class requires that everyone be present and actively
engaged for it to run efficiently. If voices are missing from the
discussion, it limits our ability to engage with new and differing
perspectives. Subsequently, students are expected to attend all
scheduled class meetings. Students who miss more than four
(4) class meetings will lose 10 class citizenship points for each
exceeding absence. Keep in mind that this category is 10% of
the overall grade. Should you need to miss a class meeting,
please inform your instructor ahead of time so that you can be
provided with any materials/updates that you would otherwise
miss.
Class Citizenship
Being engaged with this class does not simply mean attending; it
means being a part of a developing and connected learning
community that respectfully allows for the expression of
opinions without fear of their reception. This classroom will
ALWAYS be a safe space for student voices, and aggressive or
discriminatory behavior will in NO WAY be tolerated. Violations
will be taken seriously, and may result in removal from the
course or other disciplinary action. Students are to respect the
views of their peers regardless of differences of opinion, as
considering the perspectives of others is a vital aspect of the
learning process.
ADA Statement
(Insert University-specific ADA statement here)
Inclement Weather Statement
(Insert University-specific IW statement here)

You might also like