Today we will go over the syllabus and highlight some important dates and assignments to come. Then, we\u2019ll get into what to expect in the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I haven’t already mentioned this, you have weekly discussion posts to do, and the first one is an introduction of yourself. You’ll be posting this on Canvas as your first Weekly Discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There’s no way we’re going to exhaust the discussion on any of the above topics tonight (or during the semester), but, time permitting, we’ll see how far into this we can get. I’d like to share with you some ideas (musings) on Database Culture<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re expecting to find \u201cdatabase culture\u201d in any of our readings, I assure you it isn\u2019t there. The structure of a computer database will help us think about *New Media* as delivering information and entertainment by assembling packets together in (usually) coherent ways. In a way, you could consider these “pre-packaged” referents<\/a><\/strong> that symbolize or point to ideas, events, concepts, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is one definition (and I\u2019m briefly explaining it), but what makes new media different from old media is that new media is assembled to produce the illusion of continuity<\/em> (there are other principles<\/a><\/strong>\u2013let\u2019s just focus on this one). Take film for example, the sequences and sound tracks and CGI are all elements that comprise a film. Digital technology lends itself very well to new media delivery, but digital technology isn\u2019t the defining aspect of new media. Again, this is debatable and, more importantly, an academic definition\u2013you won\u2019t get many people thinking about new media in this way. For a very detailed (yet dated) discussion of this, please check out Lev Manovich\u2019s The Language of New Media<\/em><\/a><\/strong> (MIT Press, 2001). It\u2019s a difficult read, but he goes through the history of media to explain \u201cnew media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about all the Search Engines<\/a><\/strong> you\u2019ve used. Our Information Age is dependent on, well, information. We consume sound bites, narratives, and ideas through our interactions with media. Below are some questions I\u2019d like us to begin to answer regarding database culture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019d think that with such a rich history, rhetoric would be introduced to students long before college. Well, it is, but not necessary as a pillar of Western Civilization. The term comes up when politicians or their critics denounce an opponent\u2019s speech as empty; therefore, \u201crhetoric\u201d is often associated popularly with \u201cempty speech,\u201d non-contributing verbiage, or fluff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the study of rhetoric is much more complicated. Just as each discipline has its own epistemology\u2013the study of knowledge, its foundations and validity\u2013each discipline\u2019s communication has a rhetoric. And rhetoric isn\u2019t limited simply to disciplines: Movements, Social Norms, Technology, Science, Religion, etc. have rhetorics. I often define such analyses into \u201crhetorics of\u2026\u201d as common factors surrounding the power or belief in a particular area.<\/strong> In other words, beliefs, attitudes, values, and practices are rhetorics of prevailing social ideology: One\u2019s acceptance of cultural \u201ctruth\u201d is based largely on one\u2019s immersion into the culture\u2019s myths and beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, what\u2019s the rhetoric* behind Hollywood movies that end in marriage and\/or babies? Well, getting married and having children is a major cultural practice, so that gets \u201cplayed out\u201d in films. Additionally, women are often consider babymakers in search of a man to donate the necessary ingredient, so female characters in Hollywood films have traditionally not been *complete* until they marry and have children or somehow fulfill a woman\u2019s socially constructed \u201cproper\u201d role according to prevailing attitudes. Because our culture (remember, this is a generalization) favors families as opposed to singles, the rhetoric of our entertainment\u2013the power behind acceptance or enjoyment of a film\u2013conforms to the cultural value of privileging families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *I might define rhetoric here as what happens to be governing the viability, believability, and motivation of the text, in this case, a film or film genre<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I have other course pages devoted to this listed below, so check them out for more information. Don’t worry about getting this all at once; we’ll be exploring American culture all semester, and you’ll be arguing for (or against) what seem to be essential American<\/em> qualities in your writing. Although it might seem that American culture in monolithic, it isn’t. However, we will often focus on the hegemonic aspects of American culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because this course is a theoretical exploration of how we can locate a society\u2019s values by \u201creading\u201d its texts, we ought to think about what those values are. This page asks you to think about American values<\/a><\/strong>–it’s from a different class, so don’t get too attached. The goal of this next exercise is to identify values that we might be able to \u201cread\u201d in technologies from American society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the US Census Bureau…<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2022 and 2024 Updates (read critically and closely)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Ubiquity of Rhetoric<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
American Culture<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
More Discussion on Our Semester’s Topics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Locating American Values<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Are You Normal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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