Rhetoric 233

Course Description

Our lives at this university are deeply enmeshed in different technologies, and not just the high-tech electronic ones. Sure there are computers and iPods and TVs, but there are also cars and buses, blackboards, pencils and paper, bicycles, and who knows what going on north of Green Street (well, I know there’s a virtual reality CAVE, but everything else is a mystery).

Over the course of the semester, we’ll explore the connections between technology and our lives. Each of you will select a different technology or group that uses technology to study and your research will determine the course of our explorations (more on that below). In class, we might ask how technology affects our lives as students and/or learners. We might look at technology that’s usually invisible to us and notice what happens when we stop taking it for granted. And we’ll probably examine topics unforeseeable to me as I write this.

The primary methods of investigation we’ll be working with are observation and interviews. Typically, these methods (what many people label as fieldworking) are used in service of “ethnography,” which our textbook defines as “the study of people in other cultures and the resultant written text from that study” (50). But, since this isn’t an anthropology course, we won’t be writing a full-blown ethnography. So, you may be asking yourself, what are we doing messing around with fieldworking in a Rhetoric class then?

Course Goals

In the timetable, Rhet 233 is described as giving “further practice in exposition, with an emphasis on organization, paragraphing, and sentence structure.” Usually this is done through reading essays and other written material and responding to it in writing, sometimes in order to imitate an author’s style and other times to analyze the ideas. We’ll be reading a couple of essays here, but we’ll also be “reading” the world around us as well and trying to make sense of it in writing. Quoting again from the timetable: “Rhetoric 133 is designed for the student whose career will require competence in writing clear, precise prose as an adjunct to another professional activity.” It’s my thinking that an ability to interpret the world around you and convey those interpretations in “clear, precise prose” will prove valuable not just in “another professional activity” but also in and of itself.

To be more specific about the research topics, I’d like you to select a specific technology to study, something that you can watch people use (like iPods for instance), which could take you all over campus (or town) and lead to interactions with many different types of people. Or, you can select a specific group or community that is particularly tied to a technology (like a bicycle club) which will take you to wherever this group congregates. You’ll need to be able to do many hours of observation and first-hand research, so it’s important to choose a group or technology to which you’ll have frequent access (the annual Doom LAN party wouldn’t work, for example). There are some other considerations to keep in mind when choosing your project, so we’ll talk at length about different topics in class.

The project will consist of three essays, revised and combined into a larger “report” encompassing all of your research and analysis from the semester. You’ll create a research portfolio at the end of the course showcasing the research and writing you’ve done and writing up a reflection on the research process itself.

Required Texts

Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater, Fieldworking, 2nd Edition
writing guide of your choice (Rules for Writers is widely available)

You’ll also need to print out other readings available on the course website.

Requirements

3 shorter papers (3-5 pages each)
1 longer “report” (10-12 pages)
1 research portfolio with reflective essay and short publication
frequent, informal writing projects
frequent and active class and workshop participation

Grading

Research Portfolio: 80%

Class Participation:10%

Workshop Participation: 10%

Although you’ll be turning in four essays and receiving comments back from me, I won’t be putting letter grades on this work. Because the process of fieldworking and the writing associated with this form of research is likely to be a new one, the portfolio grading system allows you to build on your experience over the course of the semester. At midterm, you’ll turn in your writing folder and I’ll tell you where I think you stand in grade terms, and you’ll turn your portfolio in again at the end of the course. In general, you should know how you are doing from my comments on your written work, and you should take the opportunity to respond to these comments when writing your next paper. If you don’t understand my comments, or are concerned about your progress in the course, please make an appointment to see me by grabbing me after class, sending me an email, or showing up during office hours. At the end of the course, I’ll assign a grade to your portfolio based on my review of the work you have selected to put in it (although some items will be required for the portfolio, like the final paper).

Fieldwork

As noted above, you will need to choose a technology or group to study this semester, and your research will consist mainly of observations of that technology or group. That means that you will need to spend a significant amount of time observing. Generally, the more energy you can devote to studying your field site, the more successful your research will be in the long run.

Peer Conferences

For two of your papers, you are required to attend a conference with me and four of your peers. When the draft is due, you'll make enough copies for everyone in the group of five writers, and then we will meet later in the week—outside of class time—to discuss the papers in the group. You will be responsible for reading each of the other papers and commenting on them to the best of your ability. This meeting will vastly improve your writing and revision skills, and it will teach you the importance of considering your audience. For the other papers, you will meet in class with other students in conferences about your drafts.

Course Policies:

Attendance : Since this is a small, discussion-style course, your regular attendance is imperative. Miss more than two weeks worth of class (i.e., four classes), and your final course grade will suffer by 1/3. Every unexcused absence after that will decrease your final course grade by another 1/3. Even casual absences (and tardiness) will affect your grade in the form of participation points, in-class assignments, and a diminishing likelihood that you will understand (and therefore do your best with) the formal assignments. You may excuse absences by speaking with me in advance or presenting a letter from the Emergency Dean. You can expect to hear from me if your lack of participation or attendance is becoming a problem.

Plagiarism , according to UIUC’s Rule 33 on Academic Integrity, is “representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own work in any academic endeavor.” Don’t do it. Sometimes students cross the line unwittingly, so we will spend some time learning how to distinguish the legitimate use of sources from plagiarism. Outright cheating (such as purchasing a paper) will be dealt with according to the penalties described in Rule 33.

Late Work : All essay assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date determined. Late essays during the semester will adversely affect your portfolio grade, lowering it by 1/3 for each calendar date an essay is late. If you know in advance that you will not be able to turn in an essay on time, speak with me to work out a solution. To account for emergencies, you have the option to turn in one essay up to two days late without penalty or notice. In-class work, peer conferences, and participation cannot be made up.

An essay draft is an honest attempt at fulfilling an assignment and—at a minimum—satisfies the page requirements for that assignment. Short, hurried, or overly “rough” drafts make it difficult for your instructor and peers to help you improve your writing. Late or inadequate drafts will negatively affect a final draft’s grade.

Civility and inclusiveness of speech will be observed in this course. While you should feel free to express your ideas, slurs and epithets based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, religious practice, physical ability, etc. will not be tolerated.

All formal essays (and their components) must be completed in order to pass this course.

Course Schedule

(subject to change, always check website for most up-to-date schedule)

FW=Fieldworking OL=Online reading, link on course website

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTIONS

Th Aug 26 Welcome; syllabus and course policies

Introduction to computer classroom

In class writing assignment

WEEK 2: WHAT IS FIELDWORKING? / CHOOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC

Tu Aug 31 FW Chap. 1

Th Sept 2 Examples of written fieldwork: Silberman (OL); Schofield Clark(OL)

WEEK 3: FIELD NOTES / CONFERENCES

Tu Sept 7 Draft of positioning paper due; FW Chap. 2

Th Sept 9 No class / attend conference with research group

WEEK 4: FIELD NOTES II / ETHICS OF RESEARCH

Tu Sept 14 Positioning paper due; bring in field notes

Th Sept 16 FW 105-128; Geertz “Thick Description” (OL)

WEEK 5: ARTIFACTS AND ARCHIVES

Tu Sept 21 Finish FW Chap. 3; review Geertz, bring in artifact related to your topic

Th Sept 23 FW Chap. 4; Landow (OL); bring in notes on history of topic Ethics discussion

WEEK 6: MAPPING SPACE / READING PLACE

Tu Sept 28 FW Chap 5 / Geertz "Balinese" / Research assignment given, library discussion

Th Sept 30 Bring in map

WEEK 7: ANALYZING SPACE AND ARTIFACTS

Sun Oct 3 / Drafts due to research group and Derek by email

Tu Oct 5 Conferences in class (bring printouts of each paper)

Th Oct 7 Artifact paper due, more library discussion

WEEK 8: LIBRARY RESEARCH

Tu Oct 12 Baron (OL)

Th Oct 14 Rehn (OL)

WEEK 9: INSIDER LANGUAGE

Tu Oct 19 Geertz “Balinese” (OL) FW Chap. 6

Th Oct 21 Collage assignment due

WEEK 10: WRITING RESEARCH

Sun Oct 24 / Draft due to research group and Derek

Tu Oct 26 Conferences in class

Th Oct 28 Library research paper due

WEEK 11: INTERVIEWING

Tu Nov 2 Rheingold (OL); FW Chap. 7

Th Nov 4 Interviewing homework due FW Ch 8

WEEK 12: WRITING IT UP

Tu Nov 9 FW Chap. 8 / Presentations / Interviewing homework due

Th Nov 11 Frankenstein Draft due in class

WEEK 13: WRITING IT UP II

Sun Nov 14 / Draft due to research group and Derek

Tu Nov 16 No class – conferences

Th Nov 18 No class – conferences

Fri Nov 19 Final paper due in Derek’s mailbox by 11:00 AM

THANKSGIVING

WEEK 14: REFLECTION

Tu Nov 30 Bolter and Grusin (OL)

Th Dec 2

WEEK 15: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Tu Dec 7

Th Dec 9 Research Portfolio due