Course Title: Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacies in the Era of GenAI
Course Description
This course will explore the shifting face of writing post advent of GenAI. While scholars have long recognized the inevitable disruption of computers on writing, early versions of AI-assisted writing software existed on the margins, were often inaccurate, and focused primarily on trivial errors. That is no longer the case. With the widespread adoption of GenAI, the way writing happens is fundamentally changing.
Over the semester, we will look at the current paradigm shift sparked by GenAI in the context of longstanding discussions of communication technologies, such as Walter Ong’s discussion of orality versus literacy, Gregory Ulmer’s concept of “electracy,” and even Plato’s Phaedrus. We will also draw on insights from computers and writing scholars (such as Alex Reid and Cynthia Selfe) over the last several decades, alongside older scholars of rhetoric (such as Janice Lauer and Donald Murray) to consider the rhetorical and epistemic effects of GenAI writing. While not diving into the technicalities of programing languages, students will learn the basics theory behind machine learning and large language models, as well as having lots of hands-on experience with GenAI tools, such as ChatGPT, Bard, and Claude, among others. Finally, we will consider the ethics of GenAI, particularly in its tendency to reify hegemonic views and erase language diversity.
Learning Outcomes
- Acquire a basic understanding of the technology underpinning GenAI models
- Grow in ability to prompt GenAI to create texts and rhetorically revise those texts
- Establish a grounding in theories of literacy, textual production, and writing processes
- Develop critical AI literacies
Potential Texts
- Rhetorics of the Digital Nonhumanities, Alex Reid
- Technology and Literacy in the 21st Century, Cynthia Selfe
- You Look Like a Thing and I Love You, Janelle Shane
- Orality and Literacy, Walter Ong
- “What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work?,” Stephan Wolfram
- “Ethics for AI Writing,” Heidi McKee and Jim Porter
- AI and Writing, Sid Dobrin
- “What Is Electracy?” Gregory Ulmer
- “Rhetorically training students to generate with AI,” Gabriel Lorenzo Aguilar
- “Towards a framework for local interrogation of AI ethics,” Matthew Vetter et al.
- “Composition Studies: Dappled Discipline,” Janice Lauer
- “Writing as process,” Donald Murray
Potential Assignments:
- 5 reading responses (350-500 words each)
- Piece co-created with Gen AI (2000 words) with meta-reflection (1000 words)
- Annotated bibliography (1500 words)
- Final research project (3000 words)