Syllabus

Space: 335 State Hall / Time: Thursdays, 6-9 PM / Instructor: Dr. Jeff Pruchnic / Office: 9308, 5057 Woodward (Maccabees Bldg.) / Office Hours: Wednesdays 9-10:30 AM; Thursdays 2:00-3:30 / Phone: 313-577-3060 (office); 814-574-0252 (mobile)

Course Description:
Writing Machines is designed to introduce students to the increased focus within English Studies on the rhetorics, politics, and aesthetics of new media and information technologies. Topics covered will include the relationship between episteme and tekhne in the Western philosophical tradition, the impact of technology on contemporary critical and cultural theory, and, most generally, the kind of work on and with new media and its associated vectors that takes place within English Studies. Although this is a Rhetoric/Composition course, we will spend equal time engaging work within philosophy, film and television studies, economics, and literary studies. Our list of texts includes works by Adam Banks, Jonathan Bellar, Richard Dienst, Deleuze, Derrida, Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Alexander Galloway, N. Katherine Hayles, Jeffrey T. Nealon, Bernard Stiegler, Stuart Selber, and Paulo Virno. Our tentative schedule of readings can be downloaded here. Whenever possible, these authors will join us via tele- or videoconference for short periods during class meetings to personally field students’ questions and comments about their work. In addition to a research paper, course deliverables include weekly responses, brief presentations on works related to our readings, and the design of a professional web presence for use during the job search process (no previous web design experience required).

Requirements

• Seminar Paper (50%): The major requirement for this course is a 20-30 page seminar paper of “publishable” quality. Although you will have fairly free reign in choosing your topic, all papers must be focused on rhetoric and/or new media and have some connection to the ideas we will be discussing in this course. I am more than happy to help you develop your topic and approach throughout the semester; however, unlike your health insurance carrier, I assume you have pre-existing conditions: a research itinerary or interests that can be molded into a project for this course. Your final project is due via e-mail before midnight December 15.
• Keyword Entries (10%): Participants in this seminar will be joining other seminars in contributing to a wiki database (wsurhetoric.pbwiki.com – password: “aristotle”) of entries on topics relating to the theory and teaching of rhetoric and composition studies. If you are unfamiliar with composing using a wiki, peep the video embedded below.
  
  You will choose two “keywords” to work on for this course; selections include any term/concept (digital divide, multitude, doxa), or theorist (Bernard Stiegler, Isocrates, Martin Heidegger) that has a significant relation to, or intersection with, the interests of contemporary rhetoric/composition. In some cases the relation to rhetoric and/or composition may be obvious (doxa, Isocrates); in others, you might want to add a subsection entitled “Relevance to Composition Studies” or “X in rhetoric/composition,” etc. (digital divide, dialectic). In most cases, entries should be between 600-1000 words. Citations should be provided using wikipedia’s citation practices. In thinking through the audience for this problem, think of someone like yourself – the entry should be useful to a graduate student who is interested in, but unfamiliar with, the topic under review. Keyword entries are due before midnight December 10. Create your entry directly on the wiki and then provide the link in a comment to the “Keywords” post on class blog.
• Professional Website (10%): In addition to the more traditional deliverables for this course (responses, presentations, seminar papers), you will also be assigned to create a professional web presence for yourself. You can define the exact purpose of this presence, but it must be geared towards aiding your professional development and/or your eventual entry into the job market. No previous web design experience is required. In addition the project itself, you will provide me with a short description of the project (and its value to your professional/career plans); descriptions should be between a half and a full single-spaced page. Web projects are due before midnight December 10. Provide the link and your description as a comment to the “Web Projects” post on our course blog.
• Weekly Responses (20%): Each week you will compose a response to the material under review and we will begin each class by reading and discussing these responses. Each response should end with a provocative statement and/or a question that can be used as a jumping-off point for class discussion. As we progress further in the course, these responses may also intersect with your work on the seminar paper. Soft copies of these responses will also be due to the course blog with 48 hours after our course meeting.
• Book Presentation (10%): Two or more books have been selected for each class meeting from the third week onward (listed in the smaller font on our tentative schedule). You will select one of these texts (or one of your own choosing that I have approved) to present to the class in a 10-15 minute discussion of how it intersects or impacts our course trajectory and why it might be useful to other members of the course

Our full syllabus can be downloaded here.

Attendance
All participants are expected to attend every session of this course. You are also encouraged to make use of office hours either by appearing in my office in person or chatting online via the “virtual classroom” option on Blackboard.

Academic Dishonesty
According to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences policy on plagiarism, instructors are required to report all instances of academic dishonesty and the responsibility to notify the student of alleged violations and the action being taken. Both the student and the instructor are entitled to due process in all such cases. Acts of dishonest may lead to failure in a given course, suspension, or exclusion

The above is plagiarized from the Wayne State Policy on Academic Dishonesty; for more about the definition of plagiarism, consult your local library.