CMST242 (Communication, Culture, Consciousness) Assignments Page
Discussion/Participation (20%)--In the past, this has been one of my most successful (and favorite) classes due to the discussions (and resulting insights) raised throughout the seminar. While I speak (and mini-lecture) from time to time on background information or difficult points, the course is centered around the idea that each of you will become theorists of media technology. As a result, I will expect you to speak freely in and out of class. No small percentage of your education should result from such discussions. I ask for two commitments from each of you: 1. You must read all assigned texts thoroughly and 2. you must come to class prepared to intelligently discuss the readings. Anything less and you have cheated the entire community. I do not want "talking" for the sake of talking but instead want intelligent, thoughtful analysis and debate. Because I know that some of you think best outside of class, and because I have always found it to be a useful tool, I will include in your discussion evaluation contributions to our newsgroup. The newsgroup will be a great place to post ideas you have, questions about readings, general observations, and so forth. You are required to read the newsgroup daily as it will be one place where I will post assignment changes and respond to questions. If an assignment is posted on the newsgroup, you are responsible for it, whether or not I mention it in class. Outside of the weekly posting assignments, which I will discuss below, you will have no other required postings. Your weekly postings will not count as part of your discussion grade, although all other posts will.
You can ask me for an evaluation of your discussion/participation grade at any point of the semester; in fact, I encourage you to do so as often as you would like. However, you should not wait until the last week of class and ask what you can do to move your participation grade from upward. By that point in the semester, your grade is pretty well set. I will provide an evaluation of your participation at the midpoint of the semester by providing a grade on your critical essay.
While I do not have an attendance policy in rigid terms (e.g., "every missed class after 3 results in 5 points off the final grade"), I do take roll and factor it into your discussion/participation grade.
Call (322-2988) or email me with questions.
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Weekly Responses (10%)
Each week of class, you will be responsible for posting a response to one of our readings or viewings (or to a classmate's comments) on the class newsgroup. By the end of the semester, you will have posted a total of 12 required posts. In the post, you will simply provide your reactions/thoughts about a reading, viewing, or conversation. The post should be taken seriously as an attempt to help the class approach the text we are discussing in class. While there is no minimum or maximum length to these posts, I will be sure to let you know if I don't think you are putting enough effort into your responses.
--For these required posts, as opposed to your optional postings on the newsgroup, you should put the words "Weekly Response" on the top of the essay so that I can record it properly in my record book.
--Your post must be up by Sunday 12 PM to count for the previous week. I will not "count" any posts that are put up the following week for previous weeks. Be forewarned that sometimes Prometheus "crashes," so it is best to post early in the week. If Prometheus happens to be down from 10-12 on Sunday evening, and you can't post until 12:01 AM Monday, that post will count for the following week.
--You have a total of 12 weeks of class during which we will be posting, starting on Jan. 15. Hence, by the end of the semester, you will have to have 12 acceptable posts (one per week) in order to earn this 10% of your grade. I will also try to warn you if I notice that you are falling behind by indicating on your midterm essay how many posts I have recorded.
Call (322-2988) or email me with questions.
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Short Paper (10%)
Topic--The link between media and knowledge
Specifics:
Description: By the time you write this paper, we will have read McLuhan and Ong. Relying on these basic readings, your own speculations, and any other relevant sources, write a brief essay in which you discuss whatever implications are most interesting/pressing to you concerning the link between a culture's dominant media and consciousness. Topic areas could include, but are not limited to, gender, race, class, education, nationalism, religion, education, politics. Feel free to discuss potential topics with me before wiring your paper. Remember, this is an exploratory paper; I do not expect a fully developed argument at this point in the semester.
I will evaluate this paper more on style than on content. In addition to getting you to think about the topic area, I am wanting to detect any grammar, style concerns early on in the semester and provide you with a chance to get used to my style of evaluating papers.
Call (322-2988) or email me with questions.
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Critical Essay (20%)
Specifics:
Description: Simply put, in this paper, I would like you to take seriously the arguments made by one of the theorists or critics we have read during the semester (or other appropriate theorist if you talk with me first). While you do not have to disagree with the position of the theorist you choose, your paper should be an extension of their position--either in opposition to their position or building upon it. Regardless of what you do, you must provide examples that are "practical" rather than theoretical. For example, you could criticize Horkheimer and Adorno's totalizing view of mass media or Benjamin's notion of authenticity. In either case, your paper would do the following (although not necessarily in this order): 1. delineate the position held by the theorist; 2. provide your problem with/addition to that position; 3. provide examples of why your explanation/theory is more effective (i.e., discuss the "human" element of theory). I will be very interested in seeing that the examples are convincing.
Please begin as early as possible, and get in touch with me as often as necessary. Call (322-2988) or email me with questions.
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Projective Essay (20%)
Specifics:
Description: For your final paper, I would like you to address some question concerning what can be loosely called the "postmodern condition"--a condition suggested by some of our authors, critiqued by some, praised by some, and worked with by others. Your paper should be an attempt to theorize about our continually changing cultural condition by projecting what changes in consciousness will occur as a result of changes in communication media. What I'm looking for in this paper is not simple minded science fiction (e.g., I would not want to read a thesis that read, "In the future, we will all be connected by transmitters . . ." ) but am instead interested in how changes in media might affect/influence changes in identity. As our unit on the 'borg illustrated, not only do changes in media change consciousness but changes in the way we discuss consciousness also affect how these changes are shaped. Hence, just as Haraway described and discussed a "genderless" world as a result in shifts to borg consciousness, you will describe the political potential in changes in media.
As soon as you have an idea of what you want to write about, let me know. I may have useful sources or ideas for you. Further, while I don't expect our interpretations of any given reading to be exactly the same, we should be in the same general galaxy. Please see me about your interpretations of some of our readings if you feel unsure. If you had specific troubles with your other papers (at least according to my comments), please drop by to discuss these issues with me before writing this final one. Finally, in the past, a few students have asked to provide "alternative assignments" for this final paper (including fiction writing, video making, and web page construction). While I am reluctant to follow this path, I will if you convince me before hand that you have a good idea in mind and the training and skill to pull it off.
Call (322-2988) or email me with questions.
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Exam (20%)
You will have an exam on Nov. 8. On Nov. 1, I will post 10 questions on the class newsgroup. You will then have one week to prepare responses to each of these 10 questions. On Nov. 8, you will come to class with a blue book for the exam. I will then roll a 10 sided die 4 times. Of the four numbers rolled, you will respond to three questions within the 50 minute block of time. I will only grade three responses, so do not answer more than three questions.
Hints:
--feel free to work in groups and break up the questions to be
worked on amongst a group.
--if a group of at least 6 of you asks me to meet with you for a
study session in the week before the exam, I will be happy to
meet with you.
--use unique examples in responding to questions (i.e., examples
not employed in class discussions/lectures).