LCC 1101: Composition 1
Section A3: 9-10, Skiles 371; Section J2: 10-11, Skiles 371; Section G5: 12-1, Skiles 368
Identity, Citizenship, and Experience in the Age of Digital Reproduction

Contact Information:
Professor: Dr. Chuck Tryon
Office: Skiles 315
Office Phone: 894-1024
Office Hours: W 2-4:30
E-mail: charles.tryon@lcc.gatech.ecu

English 1101: General Overview
The goal of English 1101 is to improve students' communication skills through a focus on the discipline of cultural studies. Students learn how to think critically and write effectively as they develop a greater understanding of audience and the social contexts that inform communication. Because most social contexts involve both spoken and written communication, students in English 1101 can expect to learn how develop their written work through oral presentations. Additionally students learn how to improve their writing through their engagement with a variety of educational technologies. Working within collaborative learning environments, both conventional and electronic, students learn how to communicate effectively while exploring the dynamic rhetorics of their own and others' social interactions.

Course Description:
This particular section of English 1101 examines the ways in which identity, citizenship, and experience are constructed and reconfigured within what can perhaps best be described, paraphrasing Walter Benjamin, "the age of digital reproduction." Like the modernist transformations of experience that Benjamin associated with the invention and dissemination of technologies such as the cinema, the telephone, the telegraph, and the assembly line, contemporary technologies, such as the computer and the Internet, have changed earlier definitions of identity, citizenship, and experience. It will be the goal of this course to analyze cultural texts that attempt to redefine these terms within the age of digital reproduction.

This class emphasizes analytical skills and thus will give you opportunities to engage in critical analysis in and out of the classroom. In order to facilitate this kind of learning, the course will combine lectures, discussions, film and television viewing and, of course, writing. By the end of the semester, you should expect to have developed your own approaches to analyzing cultural representations, texts, and artifacts, drawing on the methods introduced throughout the class.

To facilitate these discussions, we will consider these issues through texts included in Ways of Reading, the "electronic reader," and through Philip K. Dick's speculative fiction, Martian Time-Slip, as well as required film and television screenings. We will begin with a consideration of how the notion of "citizenship" has been transformed during the "age of digital reproduction," in which representations of physical space (including the national boundaries that help to define a "citizen") are redefined through the amorphous category of cyberspace. This notion of citizenship will be supplemented by a discussion of the role of the institution of education in producing "citizens." In order to clarify this notion of citizenship, we will discuss how new digital technologies have changed the ways in which identity is constructed. Two of the films we will see for this section will be Strange Days and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Finally, these questions of identity and citizenship will be brought into synthesis through the broader, more temporal, category of "experience." The readings will be supplemented with films (such as Blade Runner, Dark City, and/or others). In the last few weeks of class, while you are focusing on your collaborative projects, we will read Dick's Martian Time-Slip and look at the way it considers and synthesizes all the other issues covered in the previous sections.

Please note that some of the material included in this section of English 1101 will be quite challenging intellectually. You may also confront material that makes you uncomfortable or that challenges your beliefs. All assignments in this course are mandatory; therefore, if you are easily offended by this type of material, this section of English 1101 may not be for you.

Texts
David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky, eds. Ways of Reading. (GT Bookstore)
Philp K. Dick. Martian Time-Slip. (GT Bookstore)
The New Century Handbook (online or had copy)

Other supplementary readings will be available online and on electronic reserve in the GT library. You will receive information about accessing them in class.

Course requirements
Provide a brief description of different types of assignments, list the major components of a course grade, and calculate their value as percentages of the entire grade for the semester. You may assign different weights to different assignments, but you must let students know what you expect from them at the beginning of the semester.

I will calculate all letter grades according to the following scale:

A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69; F = 1-59

Failure to complete an assignment will result in a "0." All papers in English 1101 must be completed by the beginning of class on the day they are due. Papers that are turned in late will lowered one letter grade for every day they are late. All papers must conform to the Form and Content Guidelines which I will hand out during the first week of class (and will post online with the syllabus). Because your papers should be devoid of all grammatical errors, I will also provide you with a checklist of basic grammar concerns.

Students will work on a variety of formal and informal, individual and collaborative writing assignments during the semester. Although you will be required to demonstrate your competency in writing a conventional critical essay, you will also participate in chat sessions, communicate in online discussion forums, and work with classmates on oral presentations and collaborative hypertext/media writing projects. Given the intensive nature of the theoretical content, the high level of critical reading and writing I expect from you, and the collaborative nature of the course, you must demonstrate a firm commitment to my course. In turn, I will be available during office hours for student conferences, and I will be happy to assist you with writing assignments and to and provide evaluations of your work in various stages of completion. If you would like to schedule an appointment with me, please email me in advance, and I will make time to see you.

COURSE POLICIES:

Software/Computing Resources and Requirements
We will meet regularly this quarter in a multimedia computer lab, and we will make use frequent use of Internet applications in the lab and from remote locations (i.e. your home or dorm room). I assume all students enrolled this quarter will meet the technology requirements for incoming freshmen at GT. You must have access to your own computer with Internet capabilities to complete the work in this class. We will use e-mail applications, Web browsers, and 3 online conferencing applications (Web Crossing, CoWeb, and TechLINC) as a means of communicating both in- and out-of-class. These tools will enable you to meet with classmates in text and graphical "chat" rooms (TechLINC), to engage in electronic "bulletin board" discussions (Web Crossing), and to participate in collaborative hypertext discussions (CoWeb) to complete coursework. You will receive detailed instructions within the first few weeks about how to download and access these applications, if necessary, on your personal computer. Previous knowledge of Internet research, e-mail, and conferencing software is not a prerequisite for this course, but those students who have had exposure to at least some of these technologies may have an advantage over those who are completely new to the Internet and/or to electronic forms of communication. If you have doubts about your abilities, consult with me ASAP.

Attendance
English 1101 at Georgia Tech is a "workshop" course, in which many activities must be completed in class. Your attendance is crucial to your success in this course; therefore, attendance is required. If you miss more than six classes, I reserve the right to fail you for the course. Since I record attendance at the beginning of class, it is your responsibility-if you come late-to make sure that I do not record you as absent. Please note that attendance is a basic requirement and does not substitute for class participation.

Students with Disabilities
Any student who feels that he/she may need an accommodation for any sort of disability, please make an appointment to see the instructor during office hours. Students with disabilities should also contact Access Disabled Assistance Program for Tech Students (ADAPTS) to discuss reasonable accommodations. For an appointment with a counselor call (404) 894-2564 (voice) / (404) 894-1664 (voice/TDD) or visit Suite 210 in the Smithgall Student Services Building. For more information visit the following website: http://www.adapts.gatech.edu/.

Academic Honesty
All work you turn in for this class must be your own work, with all outside reference sources properly cited and acknowledged. All written assignments for this course will be turned in through "Turn It In" (http://www.turnitin.com). The "Student Conduct Code of the Rules and Regulations" (Georgia Institute of Technology General Catalog, Section XIX) states, "Academic misconduct is an act that does or could improperly distort student grades or other student academic records" and offers the following descriptive list:

• Possessing, using, or exchanging improperly acquired written or verbal information in the preparation of any essay, laboratory report, examination, or other assignment included in an academic course;
  

• Substitution for, or unauthorized collaboration with, a student in the commission of academic requirements;

• Submission of material that is wholly or substantially identical to that created or published by another person or persons, without adequate credit notations indicating authorship (plagiarism);

• False claims of performance or work that has been submitted by the claimant;

• Alteration or insertion of any academic grade or rating so as to obtain unearned academic credit;

• Forgery, alteration, or misuse of any institute document relating to the academic status of the student.

The Code continues, "While these acts constitute assured instances of academic misconduct, other acts of academic misconduct may be defined by the professor." Consult the Honor Code online at http://www.honor.gatech.edu/ or in the General Catalog to remember your primary commitment to academic honesty. Students who engage in academic dishonesty may receive a 0.0 on the assignment or fail the course. In addition, the instance will be reported to the Dean of Students who may take further action.

Class Schedule