Course Overview:
The purpose of this course is to extend graduate students’ understandings of rhetorical theory and practice, and of the production-oriented side of Digital Humanities work, particularly in relation to (and in the context of) “new media”–a phrase put here in quotation marks to underscore the complexity of its vernacular and academic meanings.
The course will work towards developing fleshed out disciplinary definitions of rhetoric and new media, drawing on classical and postmodern theories of rhetoric, critical theories of technology, and theories and descriptions of what constitutes new media. Much of this work will draw from and articulate with scholarship in the still-constellating interdisciplinary arena of Digital Humanities.
Because this course is the 709 seminar and not 705, rhetoric will dominate in the materials covered. That said, however, the course is still under the umbrella of C/R, so room will be made in the course for significant considerations of rhetorical education, shifting conceptions of literacy, and DH pedagogies. Should a student strongly oriented in Composition wish to pursue that strain as an individual emphasis, they will certainly be able to.
The course will proceed primarily as a discussion seminar and digital exploration workshop. We will read and talk about typical scholarly texts covering theories of rhetoric and new media; however, we will also engage with new modes of digital scholarship, and we will give a fair amount of time over to hands-on experiences with digital applications that the students will collaboratively choose and teach to one another.
No prior knowledge of Composition and Rhetoric is absolutely required, but it will certainly serve as an effective foundation, as will previous study in critical theory and/or digital literacy.
Likely Assignments:
- Reading Responses. (30%) Each week (usually) students will write a response to the materials we are studying. These will take multiple forms and digital modalities and will be hosted on our class website.
- Presentations/Workshops (20%). Students will develop and deliver workshops on digital tools for new media rhetorics appropriate to Humanities work.
- Scholarly or Creative DH Publication (50%). Students, depending on their concentration and/or interest, will work on a 700-level major course project that is simultaneously appropriate as an example of Digital Humanities work. They will choose a target publication venue (digital of course) and work towards meeting its guidelines and content expectations.
Likely Readings (*Do NOT purchase until confirmed at the start of the course):
Books:
- Crick, Nasthan. The Rhetoric of Social Movements: Networks, Power, and New Media. 2020
- Hahner, Lesllie. Make American Meme Again: The Rhetoric of the Alt-Right. 2019
- Eyeman, Doug: Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice. 2015
- Jenkins, Henry, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green. Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. New York: NYU Press, 2013.
- Hirsch, Brett, ed. Digital Humanities Pedagogy: Practices, Principles and Politics. Open Book Publishers. 2012.
- Ridolfo, Jim and Hart-Davidson, William. Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities. Chicago University P, 2014.
PDF Selections from:
- Berry, David, Ed. Understanding Digital Humanities. Palmgrave/Macmillan, 2012
- Computers and Composition Online
- Enoch, Jessica, and David Gold, eds. Special issue of College English (76.2 2013): “The Digital Humanities and Historiography in Rhetoric and Composition.”
- Gold, Matthew K and Laura Klein, eds. Debates in the Digital Humanities. U of Minn. P, 2012
- Journal of Digital Humanities
- Digital Humanities Quarterly
- Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy
- Journal of Digital and Media Literacy
- Kairos: a Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Demonstrate ability to map, historicize, and contextualize specialized areas.
- Demonstrate written and oral ability to place creative and/or scholarly work within broader artistic and/or critical conversations with peers, students, and established scholars/writers as well as in publication.
- Develop and practice college-level teaching skills.
- Apply one or more theoretical models in the study or production of literature, culture, or rhetoric /composition.