Week 1 Introduction
Aug 26
Introductions and course goals. Schedule, texts, syllabus and assignments. In-class
exercises.
Week 2 No Class (Labor Day)
Sept 02
Week 3 Language, Memory, Writing
Sept 09
Foer, “Secrets of a Mind-Gamer”
Young & Sullivan, “Why Write?”
Ong, “The Orality of Language”
Week 4 Technologies of Writing
Sept 16
Plato, excerpts from Phaedrus
Havelock “The Coming of Literate Communication to Western Culture”
Johnstone, “Discourse & Medium”
In class exercise: analysis of Sundiata extract (provided in class)
Week 5 Language, Literacy, Rhetoric
Sept 23
Gee & Hayes, “Literacy”
Postman, “The Word Weavers/World Makers” & “The Judgment of Thamus”
Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”
Parry, “The Art of Branding a Condition”
Material on Framing and rhetorical analysis
Week 6
Conferences
Sept 30
Meetings to discuss the first assignment, final project ideas, and writing interests
Week 7 Social Literacies, Technology & Power
Oct 07
Winner, “Do Artifacts have Politics?”
Thornton, “The Lost World of Colonial Handwriting”
Gee & Hayes, “Literacy & Interpretation”
Assignment 1 Due
Week 8 Writing Technologies & the Order of Things
Oct 14
Lupton and Miller, “Period Styles: A Punctuated History”
Shirky, “Ontology is overrated.”
Weinberger, “Taxonomies and tags: from trees to piles of leaves”
Technology Workshop: Tags, folksonomies and social bookmarking
Week 9 Print, Power and Publication
Oct 21
Deibert, “Print and the medieval to modern world order transformation.” (CR)
Shirky, “Everyone is a Media Outlet”
Richardson, “The Read/Write Web,” and “Weblogs: Pedagogy & Practice”
Technology workshop: introduction to content management systems
Week 10
Electronic Text & Digital Literacies
Oct 28
Jenkin, “What Wikipedia can teach us about the new media literacies”
Charney, “The Effects of Hypertext on Processes of Reading & Writing”
Barton, “Language in the digital world -- Ten Reasons Why Studying the Online
World is Crucial for Understanding Language”
Technology Workshop
Week 11
Mapping, Defining & Representing Digital Literacies
Nov 04
WIDE study report, “Revisualizing Composition: Mapping the Writing Lives of FirstYear College Students.” (CR)
Bawden, “Origins and Concepts of Digital Literacy”
Collection of materials from reports defining digital literacies
Week 12
No Class (Veteran’s Day)
Nov 11
Assignment 2: Mid-semester project plan
Week 13
Rhetoric, Social Networks and Online Community
Nov 18
Boyd and Ellison, “Social Network Sites: definition, history and scholarship”
Werry, “Imagined Electronic Community”
Zadie Smith, “Generation Why?”
Week 14
Online Learning & the Future of Education
Nov 25
MOOCs, for-profits and online education
Watch: College Inc.
Excerpts from materials on MOOCs and for-profit universities
Week 15
Online Learning & the Future of Education continued
Dec 02
Seely-Brown, “Learning in the digital age”
Taylor, “Useful devils”
Werry, “The work of education in the age of eCollege”
Gee, “School”
Week 16
Presentations
Dec 09
Student presentations
Tues
Bawden, “Origins and Concepts of Digital Literacy” (Lankshear & Knobel)
Buckingham, “Defining Digital Literacy - What Do Young People Need to Know About
Digital Media?” (Lankshear & Knobel)
Thurs
WIDE study report, “Revisualizing Composition: Mapping the Writing Lives of First-Year
College Students.” (CR)
McClure and Clink. "How Do You Know That? An Investigation of Student Research
Practices in the Digital Age." (CR)
HAND IN: mid-semester project plan
Week 9: Mapping, Defining & Representing Digital Literacies continued
Tues
Excerpts from Stanford Study of Writing & MacArthur Foundation Digital Literacy Initiative
(online)
Tues
Yancey, “Writing in the 21st Century” (CR)
Richardson, “What it all means”
Selber, “Rhetorical Literacy: Computers as Hypertextual Media, Students as Reflective
Producers of Technology” (CR)
Week 10: Journalism 2.0, blogs & civic literacy
Tues
Alterman, “Out of Print: The Death and Life of the American Newspaper” (CR)
Jones, “Losing the News” (CR)
Benkler and Shaw, “A Tale of Two Blogospheres: Discursive Practices on the Left and
Right.” (CR)
Thurs
Lasch, “The Lost Art of Political Argument” (CR)
Hindman, “What is the Online Public Sphere Good For?” (CR)
Due: reading response # 4
Week 11: Rhetoric, Social Networks and Online Community
Tues
Werry, “Imagined Electronic Community” (CR)
Boyd and Ellison, “Social Network Sites: definition, history and scholarship” (CR)
Thurs
Fife, “Using Facebook to Teach Rhetorical Analysis”
Fieldhouse & Nicholas, “Digital Literacy as Information Savvy” (Lankshear & Knobel)
Farrell et al., “Self-Segregation or Deliberation? Blog Readership, Participation and
Polarization in American Politics” (CR)
Due: reading response # 5
Week 12: Rhetoric, Social Networks and Online Community continued
Tues
Gladwell, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted” (CR)
Zadie Smith, “Generation Why?”
Thurs
Lankshear & Knobel, “Digital Literacy and Participation in Online Social Networking
Spaces”
Gee, “School & Passionate Affinity Spaces”
Technology Workshop: mapping academic social networks
Week 13: Online Learning & the Future of Education
Tues
Erstad, “Trajectories of Remixing: Digital Literacies, Media Production, and Schooling” (in
Lankshear & Knobel)
Werry, “The work of education in the age of eCollege” (CR)
Postman, “Virtual Students, Digital Classroom” (CR)
Thurs
Seely-Brown, “Learning in the digital age”
Richardson, “RSS: The New Killer App for Educators” (p. 71 – 82)
Technology workshop: RSS feeds for education
Week 14: Online Learning & the Future of Education contined
Tues
Gee, “School”
Taylor, “Useful devils”
Analysis of ads/web pages for online universities
Thurs
Davies & Merchant, “Looking from the inside out: academic blogging as new literacy”
“Everything Is a Remix” web video
Lankshear and Knobel, “Remix: The art and craft of endless hybridization”
Due: reading response # 6
Week 15
12/05
Due: Class presentations
12/07
Due: Class presentations
FINAL PAPER DUE