Office hours: T 10-12
ameisner@goucher.edu (*best way to reach me)
The Social Life of Information
This course will examine the many ways that we receive information, from the social to the ‘academic’
As technologies have evolved, we have ever-increasing opportunities to be exposed to and influenced by new images, ideas, even worlds. The possibilities for research, thus, are seemingly infinite. Meanwhile, in academic writing we are asked to invent something uniquely our own out of this universe, navigating our own path, and reporting on it in a way that makes it come alive for our readers. Similarly, we must discern, in others’ work, what is uniquely their own, understanding that all of the information that we find is not merely “gathered,” but woven and shaped by someone else’s hands (Seely Brown 185).
Required Text
You must have a grammar and format reference book. If you do not have one from a previous class, I recommend Raimes, Pocket Keys for Writers.
Other readings for the class can be found online or on reserve (you can find necessary bibliographic information in the Bibliography for this syllabus), or as handouts in class.
Assignments/Grades: You will write three documented research essays (60%), plus shorter exploratory and research assignments, many of which should be posted to our blog (25%). Your grade will also include your overall effort, participation, and attendance (15%).
As part of a ‘community of text,’ you are required to contribute to our class blog on Blackboard, where much of your work will be published. You will also be expected to share drafts in class, and comment constructively on classmates’ work.
Acknowledgment: Also, as a ‘community of text’ we will, over the course of the semester, be examining the ways that students can best perform what is expected by the college regarding acknowledgment of ‘outside’ sources. Incorporating the ideas of others is an important part of academic writing, as is the obligation to acknowledge these ideas (or any other contributions). According to the rules of the college, failure to do this is considered plagiarism, and is considered a very serious academic offense. All papers, whether drafts or final copy, must properly document the sources for your information; they must indicate, through MLA-style citations and a Works Cited page, exactly where you found all of your information such that a fellow scholar could look further into the subject. We will discuss this issue at further length when we begin the research process so that inadvertent plagiarism (incorrectly documenting source material) can be avoided.
Notes: Even if you did not use outside sources in a paper, you may still need to write an addendum that indicates any debts owed to information or ideas received that helped you to conceive your paper. We will discuss this further in class.
In-text citations: Any time you use information that you got from someone/somewhere else, you must cite your source. You may cite an idea (that you summarize, or even mention in passing), a paraphrase (an elaboration of an idea, put into your own words), or a direct quote (word-for-word, in quotation marks). In MLA format all in-text citations occur in parentheses at the end of the sentence or thought, with no comma between the author's last name and the page or paragraph number.
Sustainability: I encourage you to use recycled paper (it’s okay with me if it has unrelated work on the backside!), and double-sided printing, and to practice recycling in every domain of your life. Feel free to suggest any other ways that we as a class and community can further practice a commitment to sustainable living.
Conferences/Writing help: Several times in the semester I will cancel classes in order to conference with you one-on-one. These are required. I am also available at other times, as is the writing center, which I encourage you to take advantage of (http://faculty.goucher.edu/writingcenter/).
Attendance/Missed information: More than two unexcused absences or a pattern of chronic lateness (more than two unexcused latenesses) will seriously affect your grade. If you do miss a class, it is your responsibility to get the notes from a fellow student.
Paper Policies: Late papers will be penalized a full grade (i.e., B+ to B) per day of lateness. No exceptions. Failure to turn in a full draft or to participate in workshop will penalize your final draft a full grade. Exploratory assignments that are turned in late will not be accepted. I do not accept papers via email unless you have my express permission ahead of time.
Paper Guidelines: All blog entries must conform to standard written English. All papers that are handed in, whether for peer editing or to me, must be typed, conform to MLA format, and include a Works Cited page, if external sources are used. All of your drafts must be in a two-pocket folder, which should contain all of your notes and, if relevant, previous drafts. All topics must be approved by me, and, once you have written a draft, may not be changed unless you have received my permission.
Track Changes: When you write second and final drafts of your essays, use the Track Changes function in Word to show me your revisions. If you do not use Word, or a program with a similar function, you may highlight your changes manually with a highlighter pen.
Proofreading: Final drafts' errors in spelling, even if caused in part by SpellCheck, can not only be distracting, they can convey a disrespect to your reader that you may not intend. Similarly, other proofreading errors--perhaps you cut and pasted and didn't notice that part of a word was left hanging there---obstruct your reader's understanding of your communication and, more importantly, show a lack of concern for your final product. These errors will be taken seriously in the computation of your grade.
Tuesday 1/27
Thurs 1/29 Read Brown and Duguid (handout). Critical reading, active reading. Essay 1 assigned.
Tues 2/3 Read Goodman, Baron. “Unplugged” assigned
Thurs 2/5 Read Crystal
Tues 2/10 End of “Unplugged”
Thurs 2/12
Tues 2/17 Essay 1 draft due
Thurs 2/19
2/24-26 No Class: Conferences.
Tues 3/3
Thurs 3/5 Essay 1 final draft due. Essay 2 assigned . Read Lethem.
Tues 3/10 Read Whitaker, “A Pedagogy…,” and Howard, “Sexuality, Textuality…”
Thurs 3/12 Read Whitaker, “A Comment…,” and Howard, “Rebecca Moore Howard…”
Week Ten
Tues 3/31 Interview assignment due
Thurs 4/2
Tues 4/7 Essay 2 final draft due. Essay 3 assigned.
Thurs 4/9
4/14-16 No Class: Conferences Essay 3 notes and outline due in conference
Tues 4/21
Thurs 4/23 Essay 3 draft due
Tues 5/5 Workshop/Presentations
Thurs 5/7 Essay 3 final draft due. Course wrap-up, final evaluations
Week Sixteen
Final exams
Have a great summer!!
Bibliography
Barlow, John. “The Economy of Ideas” Wired 2/03. <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.03/economy.ideas_pr.html>
Baron, Naomi. Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World. New York: Oxford, 2008.
Colbert, Stephen. “Wikiality” Comedy Central Website.
<http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/index.jhtml?ml_video=72347>
Crystal, David. txtng: the gr8 db8. New York: Oxford, 2008.
Giles, Jim. “Internet Encyclopaedias Go Head to Head” Nature. 14 Dec 2005.
<http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/full/438900a.html.>
Howard, Rebecca Moore. “Rebecca Mooore Howard Responds” College English, Vol. 63, No. 3. (Jan.,
2001), pp 373-375
Howard, Rebecca Moore. “Sexuality, Textuality: the Cultural Work of Plagiarism” College English, Vol.
62, No. 4. (Mar., 2000), pp 473-491
Lethem, Jonathan. “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism.” Harper’s Magazine. February 2007
Schiff, Stacy. “Know It All: Can Wikipedia Conquer Expertise?” New Yorker July 31 2006
<www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/060731fa_fact>
Seely Brown, John and Paul Duguid. The Social Life of Information. Boston: Harvard Business School
Press, 2002.
Stock, Brian. The Implications of Literacy: Written Language and Models of Interpretation in the
Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. Princeton NJ: Princeton U. Press, 1983.
Whitaker, Elaine. “A Comment on ‘Sexuality, Textuality: the Cultural Work of Plagiarism’” College
English, Vol. 63, No. 3. (Jan., 2001), pp 373-375
Whitaker, Elaine. “A Pedagogy to Address Plagiarism” College Composition and Communication Vol.
44 No. 4 (Dec., 1993) pp 509-514