Faculty and Staff

“The dilemmas of the practical world are fundamentally resistant to policies that neglect the human question.” Gregory Ulmer, Internet Invention

The course title - "Digital Rhetoric and the Modern Dialectic" - can mean many things. We could imagine a class focused on coding and how ideological biases make their way into software. We could also imagine a class focused on how people use social media to persuade others. Other possibilities include studies of popular culture, science, religion, and other institutions and their use of digital tools to achieve their ends. This class takes a different approach; rather than focus our studies solely on rhetoric and dialectic already in use, we will be inventing new rhetorical and dialectical practices for digital media. Since each era needs to reinvent these things as it adapts to new media, why not give that challenge to ourselves?

The basic textbook we will be using for our class is Gregory Ulmer's Internet Invention. It is not an easy book! We will be learning about a vast number of things along the way to achieving our main goal, which is to create a "widesite." Ulmer defines a widesite as a personalized emblem that allows us to make sense of the world in our own way. It is a tool and a method that allows us to gain the "truth" for ourselves and share that truth with others.

In this course, we will address "emergent problems," which are problems that arise in our current historical moment and pose immediate danger (emergency). Emergence is "a property which a complex system has, but which the individual members do not have" (Issam Sinjab). These include problems affecting the environment (the 6th extinction, depletion of natural resources, climate change), human society (authoritarianism, propaganda, cults), public health (pollution, guns, addiction, vaccine hesitancy), civil rights (degradation of voting rights, reproduction rights, immigrant rights), and the economy (growing inequality, market volatility, externalities). These are also "wicked problems," which means they are resistant to resolution because of "incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems with other problems" (AC4D). What can we do? Or, should we accept that it is already too late? Should we mock those who are concerned (as Alfred Jarry did)? In this class you will work to address a wicked problem using our theories as methods.

“The dilemmas of the practical world are fundamentally resistant to policies that neglect the human question.” Gregory Ulmer, Internet Invention

What is theory? A theory is an account of what things are, why they are the way they are, and how and why they work. A "thing" can be a physical thing, like a person or book, or an abstract concept, like the proletariat or being or love.

From Wikipedia:

The English word theory was derived from a technical term in philosophy in Ancient Greek. As an everyday word, θεωρία, meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", but in more technical contexts it came to refer to contemplative or speculative understandings of natural things such as those of natural philosophers, as opposed to more practical ways of knowing things, like that of skilled orators or artisans.  The word has been in use in English since at least the late 16th century. Modern uses of the word "theory" are derived from the original definition, but have taken on new shades of meaning, still based on the idea that a theory is a thoughtful and rational explanation of the general nature of things.

In this course, we will explore the question of how and why literary and other texts work as they do, but also will explore and practice thinking. Intended as a survey of critical theory, this course is about how to think about and through literature.

The discourses of theory in the 20th century and into the 21st include formalist, psychological, Marxist, feminist, semiotic, structuralist, post-structuralist, gender and queer, and cultural studies areas such as new historicism, postcolonialism, multiculturalism, and ecocriticism. We will examine works of literature using each theoretical discourse as a lens through which to view and understands them. Additionally, we will take time in the middle of the semester to gain a better understanding of interpretation itself.

“The dilemmas of the practical world are fundamentally resistant to policies that neglect the human question.” Gregory Ulmer, Internet Invention

This course studies the interactions humans and language engage in to make meaning. It examines the ways we organize texts into particular forms (narrative, metaphor, argument, pattern, and procedure) and the inferences (prototype, template, procedural) and logics (deductive, inductive, abductive, conductive) we use to make sense of them. We will study examples of these forms, inferences, and logics and also the critical and theoretical fields such as narratology, rhetoric, semiotics, structuralism, and ludology that help us understand them.

“The dilemmas of the practical world are fundamentally resistant to policies that neglect the human question.” Gregory Ulmer, Internet Invention

This course studies the interactions humans and language engage in to make meaning. It examines the ways we organize texts into particular forms (narrative, metaphor, argument, pattern, and procedure) and the inferences (prototype, template, procedural) and logics (deductive, inductive, abductive, conductive) we use to make sense of them. We will study examples of these forms, inferences, and logics and also the critical and theoretical fields such as narratology, rhetoric, semiotics, structuralism, and ludology that help us understand them.

PR: Grade of “C” (2.0) or better required in ENC 1102. E

xplores the development of digital rhetorics appearing in online environments through close reading and analysis of formative rhetorical texts, fiction, and internet materials.

“The dilemmas of the practical world are fundamentally resistant to policies that neglect the human question.” Gregory Ulmer, Internet Invention

What is theory? A theory is an account of what things are, why they are the way they are, and how and why they work. A "thing" can be a physical thing, like a person or book, or an abstract concept, like the proletariat or being or love.

From Wikipedia:

The English word theory was derived from a technical term in philosophy in Ancient Greek. As an everyday word, θεωρία, meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", but in more technical contexts it came to refer to contemplative or speculative understandings of natural things such as those of natural philosophers, as opposed to more practical ways of knowing things, like that of skilled orators or artisans.  The word has been in use in English since at least the late 16th century. Modern uses of the word "theory" are derived from the original definition, but have taken on new shades of meaning, still based on the idea that a theory is a thoughtful and rational explanation of the general nature of things.

In this course, we will explore the question of how and why literary and other texts work as they do, but also will explore and practice thinking. Intended as a survey of critical theory, this course is about how to think about and through literature.

The discourses of theory in the 20th century and into the 21st include formalist, psychological, Marxist, feminist, semiotic, structuralist, post-structuralist, gender and queer, and cultural studies areas such as new historicism, postcolonialism, multiculturalism, and ecocriticism. We will examine works of literature using each theoretical discourse as a lens through which to view and understands them. Additionally, we will take time in the middle of the semester to gain a better understanding of interpretation itself.

This course introduces you to the authors, forms, and major themes that vitalize English Renaissance poetry and prose. Our readings will mainly be focused on themes designed to provide us with ingress into the poetry and prose, culture and historical vitality of the period—‘truth’, ‘love’, ‘gender ‘revolution and class’, ‘engendering the city’. We will be reading cross-sections from works by many authors (Thomas More, Thomas Wyatt, Edmund Spenser, Robert Burton, George Herbert, William Shakespeare, and John Milton) to explore these themes from as many angles as possible. We will explore the similarities, the lines of consensus, of shared languages and beliefs, between the different writers, but we will also be keen to observe and analyze differences. Several segments of the course focus on the re-construction and re-presentation of the human body - including a critical investigation of anatomy as a visual concept (the Icarian/cartographic gaze), and how early cartographic practice reveals a striking iconic correlation between maps and the (female) body (Robert Burton). Specific seminars will also explore how the acts of creating/writing are themselves devices for fashioning the body and identity (Wyatt), positioning the self within a social and religious order as well as defining the otherness of gender (Shakespeare).

We will read plays and a narrative poems from Shakespeare’s career as chief dramatist for The Lord Chamberlain’s Men and, later, The King’s Men. Our class discussions will involve close analysis of Shakespeare’s language, his culture, and the various moral, political, and aesthetic issues raised in the plays and poetry. We will favour a thematic over chronological order of reading so that we can build on our progressive examination of king and kinship, gender, love, friendship and reciprocal obligation; also, in relation to these issues, we’ll examine domestic and political tyranny—and of course, revenge and moral redemption. This subject is also at the junction of Literature and Cinema as well as other art forms such as paintings of the Renaissance period. The course has as its aim to offer an innovative interdisciplinary analysis of Shakespeare as well as an overview of current philosophical approaches. Finally, the course argues for the critical importance of thinking Shakespeare now. We will therefore consider what Shakespeare has to offer now and in the future and how We will therefore consider what Shakespeare has to offer now and in the future, and how Shakespeare’s texts can arm students “with audacity” so as to make logical, compelling arguments, in speech and in writing. Plays will be supplemented by readings in Shakespearean criticism and in contemporary theory.

“The dilemmas of the practical world are fundamentally resistant to policies that neglect the human question.” Gregory Ulmer, Internet Invention

This class will examine the use of language to persuade, and the capacity of persuasion to harm and to benefit ourselves and others. Persuasive language can be used to convince people, either through facts and logic, or by misrepresentation and twisted logic. At worst, this capacity can lead us into fiascos; during the housing bubble that preceded the 2008 financial collapse, so many people were fooled about the security of subprime loans that they brought on a global economic meltdown. More recently, tens of millions of Americans voted a con man with a horrifying agenda into the presidency. His followers repeatedly failed to heed warnings about the president's criminal and unethical behaviors and instead participated in his crimes while attacking his critics and perceived enemies, with the president’s incitement and often with lethal force. Why makes persuasive forms of writing (and speech) so powerful?

The course investigates persuasive writing as it relates to three areas of inquiry:

1.       The human capacity for being persuaded.

2.       The ability of con artists and propagandists to fool people.

3.       The ways in which people might protect themselves from being fooled.

We seek to understand how humans are prone to self-deception, ignorance, credulity, propaganda, prejudice, groupthink, and mass hysteria, so that we will have a greater chance to counteract the reasoning errors that lead to these outcomes. This learning process involves gaining critical self-awareness, and my bet is that we will discover that each of us holds beliefs, including our most cherished core beliefs, that are likely false and may also be dangerous (note: if you can't tolerate having your core beliefs challenged, you should not take this class!).

Learning how not to be fooled is a large part of critical thinking, which is central to a humanities education. This course teaches critical thinking in new and exciting ways by including lessons about how to stop our automatic reactions and about acquiring life management skills that will help us avoid getting fooled. We will examine this theme in relation to several areas of study:

1.       Modes of persuasion, ranging from dialogue to war

2.       Propaganda and public relations

3.       Science and pseudo-science

4.       Mental illness and health

5.       Technology and culture

The course draws upon materials from many knowledge areas—philosophy, cognitive science, economics, rhetoric, sociology, politics, and communications theory—to investigate our capacity to be fooled. The result will be an accessible, yet challenging and engaging course.

“The dilemmas of the practical world are fundamentally resistant to policies that neglect the human question.” Gregory Ulmer, Internet Invention

What is theory? A theory is an account of what things are, why they are the way they are, and how and why they work. A "thing" can be a physical thing, like a person or book, or an abstract concept, like the proletariat or being or love.

From Wikipedia:

The English word theory was derived from a technical term in philosophy in Ancient Greek. As an everyday word, θεωρία, meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", but in more technical contexts it came to refer to contemplative or speculative understandings of natural things such as those of natural philosophers, as opposed to more practical ways of knowing things, like that of skilled orators or artisans.  The word has been in use in English since at least the late 16th century. Modern uses of the word "theory" are derived from the original definition, but have taken on new shades of meaning, still based on the idea that a theory is a thoughtful and rational explanation of the general nature of things.

In this course, we will explore the question of how and why literary and other texts work as they do, but also will explore and practice thinking. Intended as a survey of critical theory, this course is about how to think about and through literature.

The discourses of theory in the 20th century and into the 21st include formalist, psychological, Marxist, feminist, semiotic, structuralist, post-structuralist, gender and queer, and cultural studies areas such as new historicism, postcolonialism, multiculturalism, and ecocriticism. We will examine works of literature using each theoretical discourse as a lens through which to view and understands them. Additionally, we will take time in the middle of the semester to gain a better understanding of interpretation itself.

“The dilemmas of the practical world are fundamentally resistant to policies that neglect the human question.” Gregory Ulmer, Internet Invention

What is theory? A theory is an account of what things are, why they are the way they are, and how and why they work. A "thing" can be a physical thing, like a person or book, or an abstract concept, like the proletariat or being or love.

From Wikipedia:

The English word theory was derived from a technical term in philosophy in Ancient Greek. As an everyday word, θεωρία, meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", but in more technical contexts it came to refer to contemplative or speculative understandings of natural things such as those of natural philosophers, as opposed to more practical ways of knowing things, like that of skilled orators or artisans.  The word has been in use in English since at least the late 16th century. Modern uses of the word "theory" are derived from the original definition, but have taken on new shades of meaning, still based on the idea that a theory is a thoughtful and rational explanation of the general nature of things.

In this course, we will explore the question of how and why literary and other texts work as they do, but also will explore and practice thinking. Intended as a survey of critical theory, this course is about how to think about and through literature.

The discourses of theory in the 20th century and into the 21st include formalist, psychological, Marxist, feminist, semiotic, structuralist, post-structuralist, gender and queer, and cultural studies areas such as new historicism, postcolonialism, multiculturalism, and ecocriticism. We will examine works of literature using each theoretical discourse as a lens through which to view and understands them. Additionally, we will take time in the middle of the semester to gain a better understanding of interpretation itself.