Syllabus

Fall 2003, Tuesday/Thursday afternoons from 3:00 to 4:15 in Campus Center 42. Section 001, #26102. Course home page: http://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe/5220/

Dr. Craig Stroupe, 726-6249, Humanities 424
cstroupe@d.umn.edu; Office hours Tues and Thurs mornings, 11:20 - 12:20 or by appointment

Purpose | Expectations | Resources Needed | Grades

Purpose

What are documents? According to David M. Levy, whose book we will read this semester, documents are,

quite simply, talking things. They are bits of the material world--clay, stone, animal skin, plant fiber, sand--that we've imbued with the ability to speak.... [So,] we can say what a document is. Doing this, however, requires...going beyond word usage. It does require looking at the relevant technologies, but in such a way that we aren't fixated on them, that we don't fetishize them. Most of all, it requires immersing ourselves in the social roles these technologies play. (23)

In this class, then, we will work toward an enhanced ability to create and interpret documents by learning to synthesize the social and technological lives of these "talking things." Specifically, in this class you will gain practice and expertise in the following areas

1. applying principles of rhetoric, design, cultural theory and creative thinking to your work producing documents of various kinds;
2. discussing your work in critically informed ways;
3. writing critically and knowledgeably about issues and questions raised by the idea of document design in both print and digital cultures, especially the relation of verbal and visual languages;
4. conceiving and carrying out writing/design projects that engage potential audiences on a variety of levels, especially socially;
5. participating in and contributing to a community of writer/designers;
6. learning to develop successful working relationships with clients and support teams, which are especially necessary in the creation of documents for institutions, businesses, and civic organizations;
7. using a variety of software to create documents for both print and the screen.

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Expectations

The Projects

As described on the Assignments Page, the seven projects are sequenced to lead from smaller, focused, individual projects through larger, more socially engaged and collaborative works. The assignments vary in purpose:

• Projects 1, 2, 3, 5 are individual creative projects
• Projects 4 and 7 are analytical essays, which will give you an opportunity to reflect on the readings and on your experience creating documents
• Project 6 will ask you to find a local client (a campus organization, a business, a faculty member, a group) and designa document for that client's use.

There is a three-point-per-day penalty for late projects, including the annotated printout described below.

Due dates for all requirements are included in the online schedule, which will be updated throughout the semester.

Annotated Printouts

The directions for submitting the finished projects will depend on the whether they're print or electronic products. For all projects except the essays, however, you will turn in an "annotated" printout of the project on the due date (or the next class meeting). By "annotated" I mean that you should write some brief comments on the printout, pointing to and commenting on particular features that you want me to pay attention to or understand. Include items that you are especially pleased with, that show what you've learned in class, that you had trouble with, or that raise unanswered questions for you.

Other Writing and Design Work

In addition to the, writing design, and creation of the projects themselves, you will complete

• exercises to learn and practice technical skills in PageMaker, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver (done in class, though you have 24 hours after the class meeting if necessary to post the completed exercise for credit)
• analytical or speculative writings on the readings in our textbooks,
• plans and preliminary writings or designs for your projects,
• peer critiques,
• other writings.

Many of these writings will be kept in a journal, as numbered "journal entries," which you will turn in at the end of the semester and perhaps periodically during the semester.

Readings

On days when readings are assigned, please do the following:

• have the readings done by the beginning of class;
• before class, post a short paragraph to the discussion board describing what you consider the reading's "muddiest," most confusing, or problematic point;
• expect brief quizzes or guided reading responses at the beginning or end of class. There are no make-ups on these responses if you are absent, late or leave early.
  

Peer Technique Presentation

Once during the semester, you will lead a short, eight-minute demonstration in class of a technique that you've found using PageMaker, Dreamweaver, Photoshop or some other software available to the class. Much more on this demonstration can be found on the Peer Techniques Page.

Attendance

Since this class will function as a community of writer-designers, your regular attendance is absolutely necessary.

• Absences in excess of three (over 10% of the class meetings) will deduct 3 percent each from your overall grade.
• These three possible absences can be spent however you wish and so there are no "excused" or "unexcused" absences. Save your "free" absences for a rainy (or snowy) day.
• If you are absent, you are responsible for all material covered in class.
• In addition to your budget of allowed absences, you also have three instances of arriving late or leaving early (with or without an excuse). Instances in excess of three will decrease your overall grade by two percentage points each.

For some in-class activities like the quizzes or reading responses, there are no make-ups. If on some occasion during the semester you need to leave early, please arrange it with me in advance.

Participation

A larger goal of this course is to establish a community or network of writer-designers--with a wide variety of backgrounds, expertise, and interests--to enhance your learning and enjoyment during the next sixteen weeks. The class is designed to provide a number of avenues for this community building, including peer workshopping and critiquing, in-class production work, support groups, and various Internet-based communications and collaborations. Your sincere and regular contributions to maintaining this collaborative environment will count in your grade, and of course will greatly benefit your final products in the course. Because your work is the subject matter for this course, turning in all projects and writings on time is critical; work turned in late will be assessed a 3% penalty per day.

Incompletes

Incompletes for the semester will be given only in the following very limited circumstances:

• you must contact me to make the request;
• no more than one or two weeks of class, or one or two assignments, can have been missed;
• you must already be in good standing (not already behind, in other words);
• you must have a documented family or medical emergency, as required by university policy;
• you must arrange a time table with me for completing the missed work that is acceptable for both of us.

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Resources Needed

• David M. Levy's Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age, Arcade, 2001.
• Robin Williams' The Non-Designer's Design Book, Peachpit Press, 1994. (note new edition will be available starting the week of September 8).
• J. Tarin Towers' Dreamweaver MX for Windows and Macintosh. Peachpit Press, 2001
• a UMD e-mail account
• a 100 Mg Zip disk for saving and transporting your work
• occasional access to a digital camera, or several high-density, IBM-formatted floppy disks for use in a digital camera to be checked out from UMD
• access to a printer, or funds for printing
• a flat binder to organize and keep in-class writings (journal)

Grades

• Your work on the six projects (weighed variously according to the size and complexity of the project): 65% total
• The quality, insight and regularity of your exercises, written annotations, peer responses, peer technique demonstration, and other writings (including the journal entries): 25%
  
• Participation in class generally, including in-class activities and contributions, online discussions, attendance, quizzes and other reading responses, promptness: 10%

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