William T. FitzGerald
Spring 2007
English 394 - From Song to Cyberspace:
Exploring Technologies of Communication
Class: Armitage 101, TTh 9:30 - 10:50
Office: Armitage 420, Hours T 12:30 -
1:30, Th 1 - 2 and by appointment
Telephone: 856- 225 -2925 (O);
610-642-3823 (H) before 8 pm
Email: wfitz@camden.rutgers.edu
Class Website:
http://crab.rutgers.edu/~wfitz/songtocyberspace.html
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Overview
How did the invention of writing serve, as some have
claimed, to restructure the mind? How did the printing press
revolutionize Western culture? How have the electric media of radio,
film and television spawned the global village? How is the internet and
other digital media reconfiguring this 'global village'? Exploring
answers to such questions, this course considers the connections
between technology and communication. Before the internet, before
television, radio, and film, before print or writing itself, there was
human speech, the original medium of communication. Beginning in the
immediacy of oral culture, where the human body, employing voice and
hands, is itself the instrument, we will chart a history of
communication as a mediated activity, moving from orality to literacy
to today's multimodal, hypermediated environments. We will consider the
profound transformations brought about by technological innovation,
e.g., the alphabet, the book, the map, the computer, email, blogs, and
social networks such as myspace. Taking a multimedia approach, we will
explore dimensions of verbal (oral and aural) as well as visual modes
of representation. Provocative theoretical readings will provide
insights into historical and contemporary practices.
Required Texts
With one exception the following texts are available for purchase at
the Rutgers campus bookstore.
Bolter, Jay and Richard Grusin. Remediation: Understanding New Media.
MIT Press, 2000.
Eisenstein, Elizabeth. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern
Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.*
McCloud, Scott. Understanding
Comics. New York: Perennial Currents, 1994.
Ong, Walter. Orality
and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. London, Routledge,
2002.
* Not available at the Rutgers Campus bookstore; purchase through
Amazon.com
In addition to these assigned texts, we will read a wide range of
materials available as handouts, on e-reserve, and through online
sites.
Evaluation
Your grade will be determined by a combination
of course participation, in the form of active discussion, online
postings, short class presentations group work (20%), occasional
reading reflections and quizzes (10%), an in-class midterm (20%), a
take-home final essay (10%), and a major project in which you
investigate and represent a particular mode or technology of
communication (40%).
Participation
Attendance: As this class is primarily discussion based, not lecture
based, your regular attendance is vital, both for your personal success
and for the success of the class as a whole. Consequently, excessive
absence will weigh heavily upon the class participation component of
the course grade, even up to losing a full 10% of the course grade for
particularly
frequent absences or late arrivals. Missing more than six classes may
result in a full loss of course credit
nota
bene: For every absence, excused or
unexcused, legitimate or otherwise, submit a typed business letter
accounting for the date(s) and
circumstances of each
absence, delivered
in person prior to the absence (when foreknown) or immediately
upon returning to class.
This
written record of your gap
in
attendance should be placed into a business envelope with both my name
and
your name legibly
handwritten
or typed.
Late Papers: Papers and paper drafts are due in class and at the start
of class on their due dates. Late papers will lose a half letter grade
for every class date they are late. Papers turned in late will not be
eligible for revision
Communication: You will be expected to maintain and access an email
account in the event that we need to reach one another outside of
class. Thus, any email address you give me should be one you check with
some regularity. There is a course listserve I will use to send
occasional messages (including details of daily assignments) to
you. We also have a course website that will be updated
frequently throughout the semester.
Class Discussion and DraftWorkshops: Engaging conversation is critical
to the success of the course. You are thus encouraged to contribute to
class discussion through thoughtful comments and active listening as
much as possible, including in small group discussions. Of course, the
ability to participate in class discussion is dependent upon having
read the assigned texts. Equally crucial to our work together are
writing workshops in which we will read through drafts of papers. You
are expected to come to writing workshops with the
Quizzes: Expect occasional short quizzes, some announced, others
not, primarily on readings assigned for that day and critical terms
recently discussed or assigned or discussed
Academic Integrity
I place a high value on professional ethics and expect students to
conduct themselves with integrity in their classroom performance and in
their research and writing. Suspicion of cheating, plagiarism, the
false representation of the work of others as one's own, and helping
others to commit these acts will result in a formal procedure of
accusation which, should that accusation be substantiated, will
result in a failure of the course and the possibility of additional
sanctions. You are thus encouraged to clarify any misunderstandings you
may have about responsible methods of research and proper
documentation.
Accommodation
If you have a documented disability that requires accommodation, please
speak with me as soon as possible so that together we can make
appropriate arrangements.
Schedule
of Classes
This schedule is subject to change;
links will become activated as needed
Week One
1/16 -- Introductions and Course Overview
1/18 -- Plato
on writing (summary of Phaedrus); Orality
and Literacy, Ch. 1, Ong; Exercise
#1
Week Two: ORAL CULTURE
1/23 -- Orality and Literacy,
Chs. 2 and 3 (to p. 57), Ong; National Handwriting Day
Resources: Millman Parry Collection;
Key Terms: griot, bard, shaman, storytelling, flyting, the dozens, slam
poetry, urban legend,
spoken word movement, nursery rhymes,
1/25 -- Orality and Literacy,
Ch. 3; In-class Writing Exercise
Supplementary perspectives on orality vs. literacy: Willis,
Mizrach,
Summaries/excerpts of Ong's Orality and Literacy : Bingham, 'Monkeymagic',
Garcia
Week Three: ORIGINS OF WRITING
1/30 -- Origins of Writing and Writing Systems:
Read widely in these sites:
How
Writing Came About by Denise
Schmandt-Besserat (excerpt);
see also "Signs of
Life" in Archaeology Odyssey
(2002)
Stone
Age Writing? : here
and here
AncientScripts.com:
Systems - Origins (cuneiform) - Types (linear B and here,
alphabet) - Timeline - Links - Articles
Omniglot.com: What is Writing?
- Abjads - Alphabets
- Syllabaries - Logographs (Egyptian &
Chinese)
A History of Writing; History of
Writing - Wikipedia; Writing:
Evolution of Scripts; The Write Stuff
(whyfiles.org); Mesoamerican
Writing
Individual reports on cuneiform, abjads,
syllabaries, alphabets, logographs, writing in mesoamerica, runes
2/1 -- Orality and
Literacy, Ch. 4; See also the following sites: Textism: The Evolution of
Writing; The
Beauty of Arabic Script (and here);
Language
in Japan; Libraries
in the Ancient World (and here)
Week Four: MANUSCRIPT CULTURE
2/6 -- Orality and Literacy,
Ch. 5; Medieval
Writing
(explore widely this rich resource); The Book of Kells (and making
it)
Highlights and interesting examples: paleography
samples; online exhibition: Bibles
Before 1000;
Additional resources: Images of writing in antiquity and middle ages: Pompeii
1
and 2;
12th century
France
"History
of Visual Communication: The Alphabet" (a fantastic site!)
2/8 -- Orality and Literacy,
Chs. 6 (read) and 7 (skim)
Continue exploring Medieval
Writing (see especially the history
of scripts and script
index)
Additional resources: Library of Congress (LOC) exhibit on "The Saint John's Bible"
"History
of Visual Communication: The Art of the Book" (fantastic site!)
Exercise: handwrite at least one passage from
Interpreting
Ancient Scripts (click on the exercise), due Tuesday 2/13
Week Five: PRINT CULTURE
2/13 -- Printing Revolution in
Early Modern Europe (background), Chapters 1 and 2,
Eisenstein
Also: Printing in Renaissance Italy (here,
here,
and here);
Oral to Early Print Culture
Additional resources: Gutenberg
Bible; LOC exhibit on the Vatican
Library
2/15 -- Printing Revolution in Early
Modern Europe Chapter 3, Eisenstein; see also History
of Printing; an introduction
to type;
Quiz #3
Additional
resources: Cornell Library Exhibit
"Paper, Leather, Clay, Stone: The Written Word Materialized"
"History
of Visual Communication: The Printing Press" (a fantastic site!)
Week Six: PRINT CULTURE (cont.)
2/20 -- Printing Revolution in Early
Modern Europe, Chapters 4 and 5, Eisenstein
LOC exhibit on woodcut printing, "Heavenly Craft";
wikipedia articles on history of printing press
and typography,
Additional resources: LOC exhibit on Japanese
woodblock printing, "The
Floating World"
"History
of Visual Communication: Masters of Type" (a fantastic site!)
2/22 -- Printing Revolution in Early
Modern Europe, Chapter 6, Eisenstein; Quiz #4
LOC
exhibit "An
American
Timecapsule" on broadsides
and printing
ephemera;
Additional Resources: LOC exhibit "America Singing"
on Nineteenth
Century Songsheets; Historic American
Sheet Music
"History
of Visual Communication: Breaking the Grid" (a fantastic site!)
Week Seven: PRINT CULTURE
(cont.)
2/27 -- Printing Revolution in Early
Modern Europe, Chapter 7, Eisenstein; Review typography at
"The
Evolution of Type"
LOC exhibit "Maps in Our
Lives"; see also Guttierez 1562 map of
America;
Additional Resources: "History
of Visual Communication: The Modernists" (a fantastic site!)
3/1 -- Printing
Revolution in Early
Modern Europe, Chapter 8, Eisenstein; Technological
Determinism; ; FINAL PROJECT
(assigned)
"The
Emergence
of Advertising in America, 1850-1920," including on scrapbooks,
cookbooks,
ephemera,
and broadsides;
Additional resources: MOMA exhibit:
"What is a Print?"
Week Eight: VISUAL CULTURE
3/6 -- Understanding Comics,
McCloud; see also "Visual
Culture"; Quiz #5
3/8 -- Understanding Comics,
McCloud; LOC online
exhibit on "Cartoon
America"; FINAL PROJECT (proposal
due)
See also links on comics and graphic arts
Week of March 12 - 16: SPRING
BREAK
Week Nine: DEFINING NEW MEDIA
3/20 -- Introduction to New Media; NOTE: MIDTERM
EXAM (TAKE-HOME)
DISTRIBUTED, DUE 3/27
3/22 -- CLASS CANCELLED--Read Bolter and Grusin, work on midterm
Week Ten
3/27 -- Remediation, Bolter
and Grusin, Preface & Chapters 1, 2 and 3 (through p. 84); MIDTERM
EXAM DUE
3/29 -- Remediation, Bolter
and Grusin; Quiz #6
Jean Baudrillard, "Simulacra
and Simulations"
Week Eleven
4/3 -- Remediation, Bolter
and Grusin; Progress
Report (assigned)
Language
and the Internet
4/5 -- Remediation (finish);
More on hypermedia and cyberculture; Quiz #7
Benjamin, "Work
of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
Week Twelve
4/10--Hypermedia
and Cyberculture; PROGRESS REPORT DUE
Readings:
explore widely within George Landow's website, "Hypertext and
Hypermedia: An Overview"; see also hypertext timeline;
Eco, "The
Future of the Book," Tufte, "Powerpoint
is Evil"; see also "The
Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation"
4/12--Hypermedia and Cyberculture
Readings:
Chandler, "Personal
Homepages," Blanchard, "Blogs
as Virtual Communities," Ritter, "Blogs
are NOT Virtual Communities"
Carvin, "Are
Online Social Networks a Fad?"; Jackson "The Body"; see also hypertext fiction
page
Week Thirteen
4/17 -- Final project presentations I
4/19 -- Final project presentations II
Week Fourteen
4/24 -- Final project presentations III; conferences in Armitage
420; final essay drafts due
4/26 -- Final project presentations IV; last day of classes;
conferences in Armitage 420
Week Fifteen
5/1 -- Reading day (conferences in Armitage 420)
5/3 -- Final projects due in Armitage 420
no
later than noon
RESOURCES
Media History
Project
On the Inca khipu, a 'writing' technology
(2) (3)
Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP)
Wikipedia on the book,
cartography,
codex, cursive, moveable type,
paper, papyrus, print culture,
printing, script,
scroll, typography
(2), typesetting,
writing,
History of Visual Communication - Index