Dear Students,
I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday, 3/10. This blog post should clarify what’s going on and get us caught up. Let me start with some basic announcements and then your blog post assignment due on the 10th is the last point below.
1. Language and Techonology Narratives: We discussed the Language and Techonology Narratives in class when we met last. We were missing a couple of people from that class session, but by now, everyone will be on the same page. Here is the assignment. You can also find it readily available on the Assignment page from the top menu. According to the syllabus it is due 3/19, which is a Thursday. I’m going to be at a conference that part of the week, so I will likely give you through Sunday to submit it. Check it out and start thinking about it. I’d like you to bring a working draft to class on the 17th.
2. Issue Presentations begin on the 17th. I don’t have my list with me at the moment, but if you are scheduled to go on the 17th, then let’s talk on Tuesday, the 10th. The assignment is on the syllabus and here.
3. Readings: Concerning the readings, we are going to stay on track according to the syllabus. Although we did not meet this past week, you should have completed the readings from the Gutenberg Galaxy. In fact, for your blog post, for next class, I will ask you to write about GG. The new readings are handouts. Raymond Williams “The Technology and Society‘ and an excerpt from McLuhan’s “The Medium is the Message” are required. Please read these and be prepared to discusson Tuesday. Please either have them printed out in class 3/10 or have them on a tablet (no phones). There is also another reading by Mark Federman called “What is the Meaning of the Medium is the Message” that is recommended but not required. These are all in the dropbox as well.
4. Blog Post for 3/10. We’re going to count this post as #5 and #6, so make sure that you complete it in its entirety. It’s going to require five paragraphs:
- Pick one of the entries from Gutenberg Galaxy that we read and tell us what it was about.
- Repeat for another, different entry from Gutenberg Galaxy.
- Repeat for Williams.
- Repeat for Mcluhan’s Medium is the Message entry.
- In this paragraph tell us how the four different readings connect to each other.
Bonus!
Optional: Throw Federman into the mix.
