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Course policy statement

Mon, 2007-08-27 20:04 — Travis Brown

This policy statement is available as a Word file that also includes the Spring 2008 course schedule.

Office hours

    Held in Parlin 408
  • Monday 2:00-3:20
  • Thursday 3:30-4:00
  • Friday 9:00-9:50

Organization

The semester will be divided into the following five-week units:

  • Unit 1: How do reputation systems work?

    In this unit we’ll begin looking at some social networks and web forums that employ formal reputation systems, and we’ll read a science-fiction novel that proposes a future society founded on such a system. We’ll also go over some of the basic priniciples of rhetorical theory, including kinds of rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos).

  • Unit 2: Who do you trust online?

    In this unit we’ll focus on issues of trust and credibility online, and look at ways that reputation systems can be gamed (manipulated for fraudulent or destructive ends). We’ll also discuss argument types and visual rhetoric.

  • Unit 3: Reputation offline

    In this unit we’ll look at pre-Internet systems that are to some degree analogous with online reputation systems. We’ll also spend time discussing your individual Paper 3 projects, and in the last two weeks every student will give a presentation about his or her project.

We’ll spend a lot of time discussing specific sites and technologies (Slashdot, Wikipedia, Facebook, MySpace, Google, etc.), but our goal in this class is not to learn about current technologies—which may be obsolete in a year or two, and will almost certainly be obsolete in a decade. Instead we want to work toward an understanding of the rhetorical principles that underpin these technologies, and the rhetorical strategies that they facilitate.

Texts

We will read the following two books. Both are available at the UT Co-op, and you must purchase the first (Everything is an Argument). Cory Doctorow has released Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom under a Creative Commons license, and it is freely available online for download in number of formats, so you are not required to purchase a physical copy. You must, however, bring the text to class on the days we are discussing it, and buying a copy at the Co-op is probably cheaper than printing the entire novel.

  • Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz, Everything’s an Argument (ISBN:0312447493)

  • Cory Doctorow, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (ISBN:076530953X)

We will also be reading selected essays and book chapters (listed on the syllabus), most of which will be short and freely available online. I will distribute photocopies of the selected readings that are longer or are not online. There is no course packet to buy, but you will need to keep track of the additional readings—I suggest purchasing a three-ring binder to organize them.

You must bring the assigned texts to every class—it’s hard to discuss a text in any detail if you don’t have it in front of you. If you repeatedly come to class without the appropriate texts, you may be asked to leave and counted absent.

Other reading

After the first several weeks, the assigned reading load will be relatively light. The topic of this course is written discourse on the Internet, however, and you will be expected to spend some time every week reading online discussions at sites like Slashdot or Metafilter, in addition to the assigned readings and to your paper research.

This doesn’t mean that you have to read every Slashdot discussion or every Metafilter post, or that you have to follow these particular sites at all—if you’re more into politics than technology, for example, you might track Daily Kos and Little Green Footballs instead.

You will be expected to spend a few minutes every day (or every other day) watching for interesting discussions on your chosen sites, and every week we’ll spend some time talking about your observations in class.

Class website

We will use this Drupal site for three kinds of work during the semester:

  • Posting short assignments

  • In-class writing exercises

  • Open forum posts and discussions (for links to interesting and relevant materials you find online)

Writing assignment overview

There will be two kinds of writing assignment in this course. You will write two drafts each of three 4-6 page papers, which will be formatted as academic essays (in MLA format) and delivered to me on paper. There will also be four short assignments, which you will post to the class website. These must provide proper attribution and links to sources, but do not need to be accompanied by MLA works cited pages, etc.

The two kinds of assignments will also be evaluated according to different criteria. The papers should be written in a more formal, academic tone, and you should pay close attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting, etc. The short assignments may be much less formal, and while you shouldn’t be careless about sentence-level issues, my focus in grading will be on the content, not the grammar.

Assignment grades

The papers count for 60% of your course grade. You will turn in a first draft (1.1, 2.1, 3.1) of each paper, which I will return to you with comments. You will then revise the paper and turn in a second draft (1.2, 2.2, 3.2):

  • Paper 1.1: Advisory (due February 6)

  • Paper 1.2: 12% (due February 15)

  • Paper 2.1: 12% (due March 21)

  • Paper 2.2: 12% (due March 28)

  • Paper 3.1: 12% (due April 11)

  • Paper 3.2: 12% (due April 28)

Each of the four short assignments counts for 5% of your course grade.

  • Profile of a social network: 5% (due January 28)

  • History of a Wikipedia entry: 5% (due February 20)

  • YouTube rhetorical analysis: 5% (due March 3)

  • Storefront rhetoric map: 5% (due April 16)

In the last two weeks of class, every student will give an 8-10 minute presentation about his or her Paper 3 project, for 10% of the course grade. The remaining 10% of the course grade is for online participation, which covers in-class writing exercises and participation in the open forum. There is no final exam.

  • Papers: 60%

  • Short assignments: 20%

  • Oral presentation: 10%

  • Online participation: 10%

Class grade totals

I may round borderline grades up at the end of the semester: for example, if a student finishes the class with an 88.5 average but has actively (and frequently) contributed to our classroom and forum discussions, given engaged feedback on the peer reviews, etc., that student would receive an A in the class. I will never under any circumstances round a borderline grade down (e.g. 90.1 to B).

Peer reviews

We will have an in-class peer review on the class day before the first draft of each paper is due. You must bring a rough draft of your paper to class on that day to be reviewed by one of your fellow students. All papers must be peer reviewed in order to receive a C or above. If you miss a peer review or come to class on a peer review day without a draft, you will be counted absent, and will have to schedule a make-up peer review outside of class to get a C or above on the paper.

Late work

Everyone gets one free one-day extension on one assignment. After you’ve used this free extension, any assignment turned in late will be penalized by 5% per day late.

Tardiness

If you are repeatedly late to class, I may discuss the situation with you individually, and subsequent late arrivals will be treated as absences or partial absences, according to the degree of lateness, any extenuating circumstances, etc.

Food, drink, cell phones, etc.

Please avoid bringing food to class unless absolutely necessary. Drinks are fine, but must stay at the central table (away from the computers). Be sure to silence your cell phone before class starts.