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English 789: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Digital Media

Course Description
English 789 offers graduate students an opportunity to survey the history, theory, and applications of digital media in English studies, and to explore the challenges and opportunities presented by reading, viewing, listening, and composing in digital environments. As technologies of writing (and other modes of communication) change—from inscription in stone and clay to writing on papyrus and vellum, mechanical printing on inexpensive paper, and composing in multiple media—the nature of texts, our practices of reading and writing, and our approaches to acquiring literacies also change. New technologies present new possibilities and problems for communication and artistic expression, help us see familiar textual and expressive forms in different ways, and challenge us to reflect on the complex relationships among technologies, media, composing, and cultural contexts.

Digital media are often viewed as effecting revolutionary change in literate cultures by breaking down distinctions among traditional media and fundamentally altering the textual conventions, social relations, and cultural institutions that shape how we read, write, think, and interact. Some laud these changes for providing alternatives to hegemonic discursive and political structures associated with print culture, while others lament these changes precisely because they believe new media undermine the foundations of print literacy and culture. Still others question the revolutionary model itself, arguing that all media develop within historical contexts, and earlier media continue—and change—alongside emerging media in a duality of structuration.

Whatever broad historical and cultural view one takes of emerging digital media, they raise important practical and theoretical problems, and offer significant opportunities, for scholarship and teaching in English studies and, more broadly, literacy studies. In this course, students explore the development of new literacy environments; emerging genres of electronic discourse; digital literacy practices, and alternative modes of authorship. Among the issues that students will examine are the problems of access and the uneven distribution of technology along the axes of race, class, gender and age; changing concepts of identity; and new definitions of literacy communities and intellectual property.

The primary objective of this course is to continue to develop working theories of digital media literacies that take into account both histories of technological development and the cultural contexts within which people use, shape, and are shaped by technologies.

Concurrently with that collective theory-building, students will pursue individual digital media research projects and production projects. These three areas of participation will familiarize students with theoretical frameworks useful for digital literacy studies; methods of conducting research on, and within, digital literacy environments; and the production skills they will need to explore further how digital literacies might inform their work as scholars, teachers, and citizens.

Note: English 789 fulfills the "Third Core Course" requirement for the new Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Literacy Studies.

Learning Objectives
The primary objective of this course is to continue to develop working theories of digital media literacies that take into account both histories of technological development and the cultural contexts within which people use, shape, and are shaped by technologies. Concurrently with that collective theory-building, students will pursue individual digital media research projects and production projects.

These three areas of participation will familiarize students with theoretical frameworks useful for digital literacy studies; methods of conducting research on, and within, digital literacy environments; and the production skills they will need to explore further how digital literacies might inform their work as scholars, teachers, and citizens.

Textbooks
The following required texts are available at the University Bookstore and other local bookstores.

Bolter, J. David. Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000.
Hawisher, Gail. and Selfe, Cynthia L. Literate lives in the Information Age. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.
Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. Leonardo Series. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2001.
Takayoshi, Pam & Huot, Brian, eds. Teaching Writing with Computers: An introduction. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin, 2003.
Other texts (e.g., essays, digital media compositions) are available online, and links to them will appear in the course schedule.

Course Schedule
This section of English 789 focuses on -

Preparation for class meetings will typically require reading and responding to readings in our texts; viewing and evaluating online texts. Class activities will include discussion of readings, site visits, guest presentations, and hands-on workshops in the production of electronic texts. Assignments and Requirements
Below, I briefly describe the focus of each major assignment, its approximate length, its due date, and the percentage of your final grade that it will represent. Links to further information about the assignments accompany each description.

Reading Responses to our readings and resources, shared with the class and a wider audience. These responses can take multiple forms (e.g., alphabetic essays, still images, video explorations, audio essays, comic strips). Although responses are due variously throughout the quarter, only 2 must be shared with the entire class. Responses may also provide a generative platform for the research project.

Digital Literacy Reflection concerning students' process of learning to become literate 21st century citizens and use digital media in the course of their personal and academic work. These reflections will take the form of a digital literacy autobiography (an audio mini-documentary), modeled after the template for submissions to Ohio State's Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives..

Digital Media Case Study / Mini-documentary of an ongoing project by another scholar in some area of English studies, presented in a digital format (e.g., audio slideshow, video). Case studies might focus on bibliography, textual editing, the infrastructure (human and physical) of digital production, electronic literature, composing in digital media, digital media pedagogy in English studies, film and new media, qualitative data analysis in folklore/ethnography, electronic publishing, and so on.

Original Research Proposal for a digital media research or teaching project initiated by the student and focused in some area of English studies.

The proposal will consist of a conventional textual argument and an oral presentation supplemented by digital media (e.g., PowerPoint, video and/or audio clips, images) that help you effectively explain the problem on which you are working, your method(s) of inquiry, and/or how you hope to communicate your research findings to your audience.

Grade Summary and Revision Policy
Assignment % of Final Grade
1. Reading Responses 20%
2. Digital Literacy Reflection 20%
3. Case Study/Documentary 40%
4. Research/Pedagogy Proposal 20%

Resources Conferences. Please contact us if you have questions or problems that we do not address during our class meetings. You do not need an appointment to see us during our regularly scheduled office hours—just stop by room 324 Denney Hall (the DMP Office) or call us at 292-2275 (Ulman) or 688-5960 (Selfe). If our office hours are inconvenient for you, call or see us after class to set up an appointment for another time—we are both on campus Monday through Thursday and many Fridays. Please don't wait until a problem becomes urgent before coming to see us; we can't always schedule an appointment immediately.

Online Communication. E-mail is perhaps the most convenient way to ask a short informational question about the course that you forget to ask in class, submit a draft for us to review and respond to, or notify us of an unavoidable absence and inquire about missed work. If you are faced with a real emergency, though, keep in mind that e-mail is usually delivered in a matter of minutes but can sometimes take hours to be delivered when campus e-mail traffic is especially high. Moreover, while we check e-mail every day, we may not get your message for up to 24 hours.

Carmen help desk. The Office of Technology Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR) supports Carmen, OSU's new course management system. If you have not used Carmen before, I suggest that you take a tour and read Getting Started with Carmen (Student Guide). Links to further information can be found on the TELR Web site.

The Digital Union. The staff of OSU's Digital Union (DU), 370 Science and Engineering Library, can help with media production questions and check out equipment such as digital audio recorders, digital still cameras, and digital video recorders. You can also do post-production editing at media workstations in the DU, either on a drop-in basis or by reservation. For more information, visit the DU Web site.

Digital Media Project (DMP). The staff of the English Department's Digital Media Project (DMP), headquartered in 324 Denney Hall, can help with media production questions and check out equipment such as digital audio recorders, digital still cameras, and digital video recorders. You can also do post-production editing at media workstations in the DMP, either on a drop-in basis or by reservation. For more information, visit the DMP Web site.

Accessibility. Ohio State's Office for Disability Services (150 Pomerene Hall, 614-292-3307) coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. However, any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should feel free to contact me privately to discuss your specific needs.

Course Procedures and Policies (The Fine Print)
"Back up your files early, back up often, back up here, back up there"
The following list of procedures will help you plan, conduct, and complete your work in this course. Please read the policies carefully and ask us any questions you may have about them. Keep in mind that these policies constitute a "contract" that we all must respect if our work together is to go smoothly.

The following list of procedures will help you plan, conduct, and complete your work in this course. Please read the policies carefully and ask us any questions you may have about them.

Attendance and scheduling. We will devote much of our class time to discussion and in-class "studio" work focused on learning new technologies as we work with materials you have prepared outside of class, so your attendance is essential to the success of the course for everyone involved. Absences should be limited to true emergencies, and you should contact us as soon as possible to catch up. While working in digital media can present all sorts of time management challenges, keep in mind that reflection and theory-building are our top priority during the seminar, not slick production values. For our most important work to go smoothly, all assignments must be submitted on time.

Copyright and intellectual property. Working in digital poses all sorts of new questions regarding copyright and intellectual property, and we will discuss these issues as we go. If you have any questions about copyright or IP issues, please don't hesitate to ask. You might find it instructive to review "Virtual Legality," by former Associate Legal Counsel Steve McDonald, which discusses how to steer clear of copyright infringement, libel, obscenity, invasion of privacy, and computer fraud (whew!). But something about fair use, too.

Cybersecurity. In order to protect your privacy, We ask that you follow a few simple procedures when communicating with us online. First, please do not submit e-mail, attachments, or contributions to Carmen that contain any of the following information, even inadvertently: your social security number, driver's license number or state identification card number, or any financial account number or credit or debit card number with security codes or passwords (I know you are unlikely to do so, but the reminder is worthwhile). Second, while it is fine to use email to ask routine questions about the course, please submit any drafts and assignments via Carmen's dropbox, discussion forum, wiki, and other features. That practice will help keep your work — and our evaluations of your work — private. We will convey grades to you electronically only through Carmen.

Format and backup copies of assignments. Because of the unique nature of the assignments in this course, we will discuss the format of your work as we go along. Our only general instruction is that you always keep at least two electronic copies, on different disks or drives (and ideally in different locations), of any work you submit. Backup your work early and often, here and there. In particular, make sure to keep a backup of any work that you store on any file server or hard drive associated with our classroom.