Books and Bookmarks
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| Aarseth, Espen | Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature |
| Bök, Christian | Eunoia |
| Goldsmith, Kenneth | Fidget |
| Hayles, N. Katherine | Electronic Literature |
| --Electronic Literature Collection | http://collection.eliterature.org/1/ |
| --Hayles & Mott | Electronic Literature website |
| Miller, Paul D. (aka DJ Spooky) | Rhythm Science |
| Ong, Walter J. | Orality and Literacy |
| Wark, McKenzie | A Hacker Manifesto |
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| Recommended: |
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| Bell, Loader, Pleace, & Schuler | Cyberculture: The Key Concepts |
Expectations
Attendance / Participation:
Because this class involves hands-on immersion in digital environments, a wide range of class participation is essential to its success. Solid preparation, regular attendance, and in-class engagement with digital writings are crucial to your experience. You must consistently do the assigned reading and viewing, post responses before class, periodically add materials to the class Wiki, dip a toe in Second Life, and, above all, come to class ready to engage with the texts.
Please review the College's policy on attendance, available here; in this class, more than three unexcused absences will sink your grade.
Collaborative work:
- in-class presentations: To insure engagement with the challenges of the digital, students will be responsible for opening our discussions of essays and poems with two-person in-class presentations. During the semester, all class members will be required to initiate two class sessions. Since the purpose of the presentations is to guide engagement with the day's texts, presenters should focus closely on those texts and not digress into unfamiliar material or wander off-topic. The presentation's focus can be expository (explaining a poem, program, website, or digital context), critical (evaluating the texts on the basis of factual or ideological issues), and/or quizzical (formulating questions to be addressed in the discussion). So that the work can be judiciously divided and the remarks blended coherently, the two students participating in each presentation must consult with one another in advance. Each co-operative presentation must take no longer than 12 minutes, but the structure is up to the presenters, who can speak serially, engage in dialogue, or otherwise divide responsibility for leading us into the questions generated by the material. Hands-on (keyboard) presentations are encouraged.
- digital culture project: The purpose of this collective (ad)venture is to explore the many--and amazing--aspects of emergent cyber-culture. Each team will develop jointly authored pages for a team Wiki, share its discoveries in class discussions, and present at least one formal end-of-term session to sum up its discoveries.
- sign-up: At the beginning of Week 5, I'll ask for a commitment to one of six research teams: second life, gaming, procedural poetics, visual and/or sound poetics, cyberfiction, & hactivism.
- mission: Each team will work together to conduct an in-depth study of its area of new media poetics by participating in its culture, reading about its histories and theories, playing its games or pranks or poems, and developing a set of team wiki pages.
- wiki-tude: The wiki-pages for the groups are set up at our class site. Each team will use their pages differently, but one part of the team wiki should contain an annotated bibliography of at least ten (10) essential sources on the topic. Other pages might contain instructions for joining the culture, descriptions of ventures into it, examples of creative hacks, and/or other forays into the digital world.
- evaluation: as with all Wiki pages, individual contributions will be evident throughout the semester, but I'll also ask each person to describe his or her role in creating the team's knowledge base. The grade for this aspect of the course will reflect both joint and individual contributions.
Individual work:
- Final project: developed in negotiation with me, your final project will emerge from a combination of passions you bring to class and ideas you develop through collaborative work, class reading, and on-going discussions. The project can take any number of forms--creative, critical, performative, or a mix thereof--but all projects will go through three stages, each to be posted on the class wiki:
- prospectus: a 3-page statement of intent, including a description of the project, prospective bibliography, and an overview of the topic's challenges and opportunities.
- annotated bibliography: this collection of ten annotated sources should provide detailed summaries of materials essential to your paper. It can include annotations you've contributed to the class wiki.
- a final research paper (12-15 pages): The final paper should develop, clearly and cogently, an original argument addressing one or another aspect of the general topic of the course, taking your analysis of digital materials beyond class discussion through the use of external resources. Feel free to shape the approach to fit the topic: it can be, that is, critical, sociological, visual- or sound-oriented, philosophical, or experimental. The paper or website or poetic production will be due 5:00 pm December 10th in my inbox, in my mailbox in the Zimansky Room (EPB 310), and/or on wiki.
assignment | date due |
| prospectus | October 8 |
| bibliography | November 12 |
| final paper | December 10 |
- Posts: Part of your preparation for class, these are short engagements with assigned texts to be posted on our ICON page. They can consist of initial thoughts, discoveries, questions, experiments, and prompts for class discussion: all are welcome.
- Quizzes: Each section will feature an array of terms to be defined on our wiki pages. The last 20 minutes of each course section will involve an in-class quiz on these terms.
Grading
activity | % of grade |
| participation & posts | 25% |
| research paper | 25% |
| Wiki & team contributions | 25% |
| in-class presentations | 15% |
| in-class quizzes | 10% |
Policies
Policy on Academic Fraud
Plagiarism and any other activities that result in a student presenting work that is not his or her own constitute academic fraud. Academic fraud is reported to the departmental DEO and then to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Services in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences who deals with academic fraud according to the following could develop, clearly and cogently, an original argument addressing one or another a official guidelines.
Procedures for student complaints
Students have the right to make suggestions or complaints. Complaints should first be discussed with the instructor, then, if unresolved, with the Director of Undergraduate Studies and, if still unresolved, then with the departmental DEO. All complaints must be made within six months of the incident. The CLAS policy on student compaints is detailed here.
Accommodation for students with disabilities
A student seeking academic accommodations first must register with Student Disability Services and then meet with a SDS counselor who determines eligibility for services. A student approved for accommodations should meet privately with the course instructor to arrange particular accommodations. The CLAS policy on accommodations for students with disabilities is available here.
Understanding Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment subverts the mission of the University and threatens the well-being of students, faculty, and staff. Please see the CLAS website for definitions, assistance, and the full policy.
Reacting Safely to Severe Weather
The University of Iowa Operations Manual section 16.14 outlines appropriate responses to a tornado, flood, blizzard, ice-storm, or similar crisis. If a tornado or other severe weather is indicated by the UI outdoor warning system, members of the class should seek shelter in rooms and corridors in the innermost part of a building at the lowest level, staying clear of windows, corridors with windows, or large free-standing expanses such as auditoriums and cafeterias. The class will resume, if possible, after the UI outdoor warning system announces that the severe weather threat has ended.
The Writing Center
An important--and very useful--campus resource is the Writing Center, run by the Rhetoric Program and open to all students. Check out its website, hotlinked here, and don't hesitate to use its services.
