{"id":10578,"date":"2024-01-10T17:57:04","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T22:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/?page_id=10578"},"modified":"2024-01-16T12:25:33","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T17:25:33","slug":"rhetoftechjanuary16","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/rhetorictechnologyspring2024\/rhetoftechjanuary16\/","title":{"rendered":"January 16th: Isaac Asimov\u2019s \u201cCult of Ignorance\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Announcements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Student Showcase<\/strong>: Media Literacy Matters: Current Landscape, Student Actions, and Future Directions\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Submission Deadline<\/strong>: 5:00 PM EST on Friday, February 9, 2024<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Conference Date<\/strong>: March 21, 2024<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSdw4cVHoGUhSKF186JdpmSGUhJnO1S1kQyUxivDAE5Q8SJl9Q\/viewform?pli=1\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSdw4cVHoGUhSKF186JdpmSGUhJnO1S1kQyUxivDAE5Q8SJl9Q\/viewform?pli=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Submission Form<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Introduction Plan<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we&#8217;re going to get more acquainted with the course materials and requirements. I&#8217;m hoping to use this webpage and Canvas&nbsp;for all class needs&#8211;notes, exams, course policies, readings not in the books, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2024\/01\/ENGL4275-WRDS4011_RhetTechSpring2024syl.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Go over the course syllabus<\/a><\/strong> (if needed)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/genderdigital\/cultignorance\/\">Isaac Asimov&#8217;s &#8220;A Cult of Ignorance&#8221;<\/a><\/strong>&#8211;page devoted to the article<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thirty Years of English Computer Labs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/rhetorictechnologyspring2024\/rhettechassignments2024\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/rhetorictechnologyspring2024\/rhettechassignments2024\/\">Technology and yourself, a reflective essay<\/a><\/strong> (Due 2\/06; 2\/22)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Red Hot Chili Peppers.<\/strong> \u201cCalifornication.\u201d&nbsp;{<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YlUKcNNmywk\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Video<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/Red-hot-chili-peppers-californication-lyrics\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Lyrics<\/strong><\/a>}<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Weekly Discussion Posts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll have 14 Weekly Discussion Posts this semester, and they&#8217;ll be due Fridays at 11:00pm. Set a reminder now for the rest of the semester, so you don&#8217;t miss any. There will be no make ups for these posts. The first post is due this week&#8211;<strong>Friday, January, 19, 11:00pm.<\/strong> It&#8217;s an introduction of yourself and worth 5 points. The remaining 13 posts will be worth 15 points each and will usually be about the materials from that week. {There&#8217;s no post the week of Spring Break.}<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Things We Most Likely Can&#8217;t Disagree About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We carry on our lives without truly understanding the forces at work\u2014social, scientific, and technological. When we use mobile phones, computers, cars, etc., we don&#8217;t have to understand the science or engineering behind how they work. Of course, some of us do but only if one is in a technical discipline or just really curious and has the time to &#8220;dissect&#8221; the black boxes of various technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We don&#8217;t understand the science and engineering behind many of the technologies we use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reflection on 30 years of English in Computer Labs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Twenty years ago, webpages were the thing students did to demonstrate they had mastery of communication in digital environments. A webpage is still a great tool to showcase your work, but, specifically reflecting on our course topics can be done other ways. Let&#8217;s consider ways to think about yor final assignment, <strong>The Technology Project<\/strong>. Most of you are so-called &#8220;digital natives,&#8221; having been immersed in a world where the internet was constantly available since the time you were born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>American Culture<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I have other course pages devoted to this listed below, so check them out for more information. Don&#8217;t worry about getting this all at once; we&#8217;ll be exploring American culture all semester, and you&#8217;ll be arguing for (or against) what seem to be essential <em>American<\/em> qualities in your writing. Although it might seem that American culture in monolithic, it isn&#8217;t. However, we will often focus on the hegemonic aspects of American culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Places to review the think more about American culture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/genderdigital\/americanculture\/\"><strong>American Culture, an Introduction<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Introduction to Cultural Studies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our discussions are a beginning and not a closing of discussion; it&#8217;s <em>a<\/em> beginning (notice I didn&#8217;t write <em>the<\/em> beginning). Let&#8217;s turn our attention to what this has to do with humanities research. <strong>The major, nearly universal assumption Americans have about technology is that it will advance.<\/strong> I know that sounds simple, but it&#8217;s a prevailing assumption we share. It doesn&#8217;t mean we all think technology will make our lives better, but how often have you said (or heard) &#8220;one day they&#8217;ll create a pill to cure that,&#8221; or &#8220;someday there will be a new technology to do that work&#8221;? We assume technology will advance; that is a shared cultural assumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How might the following American values be reflected in technologies we use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Capitalism (think efficiency and, well, making money)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Freedom<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Equality<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consumerism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I have information about Marxism below because it&#8217;s important for cultural studies. Again, it&#8217;s for information and not to start a Marxist revolution.&nbsp;We will not go into every aspect I have online, but there&#8217;s more information if you&#8217;re interested. Let&#8217;s at least have workable definitions for there two theories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/videogamesspring2022\/videogamesjanuary27\/vgpostmodernism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Postmodernism<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/videogamesspring2022\/videogamesjanuary27\/vgmarxism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marxism<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Celebrating Ignorance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s discuss how these texts reflect anti-intellectualism and trite, nationalistic <strong><span style=\"color: red\">ideology<\/span><\/strong>. In addition to the links below, if you have time, you can read <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.uncc.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/06\/Kaepernick-AmericanContradiction_excerpt.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">a short piece about &#8220;American Contradiction&#8221;<\/a> from a rather interesting book (opens as a PDF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?reload=9&amp;v=e4ujS1er1r0\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Zac Brown Band celebrates ignorance<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azlyrics.com\/lyrics\/alanjackson\/wherewereyouwhentheworldstoppedturning.html\" target=\"_blank\">Alan Jackson really celebrating ignorance<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Are You Normal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the US Census Bureau&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/library\/visualizations\/2017\/comm\/cb17-51_educational_attainment.html\" target=\"_blank\">One-third of the US population has a bachelor&#8217;s degree (or higher)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/library\/stories\/2019\/02\/number-of-people-with-masters-and-phd-degrees-double-since-2000.html\" target=\"_blank\">In 2018, &#8220;13.1% of U.S. adults have an advanced degree&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2018, it looks like 2.6% have doctoral degrees (same link)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Future Stuff<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If we have time left, we&#8217;ll jump onto <strong>Thursday&#8217;s (1\/18) discussion<\/strong>. Remember, I never let students out early. Seventy-five minutes isn&#8217;t too long&#8230;and rhetoric of technology goes by so quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure you get the books and get onto <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/canvas.charlotte.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">Canvas<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;to post a little bit about yourself. If you didn&#8217;t get around to today&#8217;s readings, please do so before Thursday. We&#8217;re starting off with short&nbsp;readings and can easily catch up if we need to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Announcements Introduction Plan Today we&#8217;re going to get more acquainted with the course materials and requirements. I&#8217;m hoping to use this webpage and Canvas&nbsp;for all class needs&#8211;notes, exams, course policies, readings not in the books, etc. Weekly Discussion Posts You&#8217;ll have 14 Weekly Discussion Posts this semester, and they&#8217;ll be due Fridays at 11:00pm. Set [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":598,"featured_media":0,"parent":10556,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10578","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2HAOx-2KC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/598"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10578"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10609,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10578\/revisions\/10609"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}