Unit 1 Schedule:
Week 1, Jan 12: Course Introduction. Writer/Designer.
Week 2, Jan 19: Writer/designer. To read: Gagich; Fortune. Watch Fundamentals of Design: https://youtu.be/YqQx75OPRa0 (watch all videos in this series: typography, colour, layPhiliout...)
Week 3, Jan 26: Multimodal rhetoric. To read: Carroll, 2010. To watch: https://mode.ioe.ac.uk/2012/02/16/video-resource-key-concepts-in-multimodality/
Week 4, Feb 2: Engagement & Remix. To read: Edwards; Ridolfo & DeVoss, 2016. To watch: https://youtu.be/nJPERZDfyWc
Unit 2 Schedule:
Week 5, Feb 9: What is "digital culture"? How do we study it? To read: Murray, 2020. To watch: https://youtu.be/wZSRxfHMr5s
Week 6, Feb 16: Digital Environments & Coded Infrastructures. To read: Noble, 2018. To watch: https://youtu.be/Ok5sKLXqynQ; https://youtu.be/SMd2VxgUalk; https://youtu.be/ZnBF2GeAKbo
Feb 23: READING WEEK NO CLASS
Week 7, March 2: Digital Environment & Behaviour. To read: Massanari, 2017; Sparby, 2017; Sano-Franchini, 2018.
Week 8, March 9: Digital Writing Power & Agency. To read: Best & Tozer, 2013; Burwell, 2014.
Unit 3 Schedule:
Week 9, March 16: Social media is a garbage fire. To read: Phillips. To watch: https://youtu.be/ij_xXZAhJPs; https://youtu.be/wZSRxfHMr5s
Week 10, March 23: "Truth". To read: Hannan. To watch: https://youtu.be/frjITitjisY
Week 11, March 27: Surveillance Capitalism. To watch: https://youtu.be/fJ0josfRzp4
Week 12, April 4: Our Digital Carbon Footprints. To watch: https://youtu.be/eOPetDY-nss
Format: In-person, on-campus.
Many professors and students are feeling burnt out and uneasy. I will attempt to be as flexible as possible this term to accommodate your pandemic-related needs. I've set up a pandemic-friendly lateness policy and I am not grading for attendance/class participation.
I ask that students respect the limitations of my workload. I am unable to teach this course in multiple formats simultaneously with an in-person seminar as well as asynchronous discussion fora and lecture videos. This is simply an unsustainable amount of work -- imagine having to produce each course assignment as an essay, a video, and a slide presentation?! As an on-campus course, lecture material will primarily be delivered in-person, on-campus during scheduled course time.
Please let me know if you'd like to discuss other ways that the course design can be more accommodating for pandemic-context learning. I am happy to have a conversation and search for equitable solutions.
Late Withdrawal: Please note that the last date to drop this course without receiving a grade is March 18. Dropping the course between March 19 and April 10 will result in a "W" on your transcript. Find all of this information here.
Assignment Deadlines:
Unit 1 Digital Writing Project February 18th, 11:59pm
Unit 2 Digital Writing Project March 18, 11:59pm
Unit 3 Digital Writing Project April 8th, 11:59pm
Grading Scheme: York has one, It's here. I tend to communicate grades in percentages.
Evaluation Scheme: Your course performance will be evaluated based on your performance in the following assignments. Additional or "make-up" assignments will not be provided.
Unit 1 Digital Writing Project
Unit 2 Digital Writing Project
Unit 3 Digital Writing Project
Assignments are weighted equally, and your final grade will be calculated as an average of the 3.
For example, let's say you achieve 70% in Unit 1, 85% in Unit 2, and 65% in Unit 3, your final grade will be calculated as follows: 70+85+65=220 220/3=73%
Lateness: No penalty, BUT late assignments will NOT be accepted unless late submission is arranged with me in advance of the assignment deadline. I'm not interested in why you are unable to make the deadline (your private live is none of my business), but rather how you will ensure that you complete the assignment and on what timeline. It is reasonable to ask for modest extensions of <5 days.
Assignment Submission: Students will provide their work for each unit on the editable Google Sites linked to from the unit materials pages. Design your page as you like. Make it your own! Add subpages if necessary. Name your pages with your first name to make your work findable.