Course Description
This course is designed to introduce students to key concepts in new media and the digital humanities by exploring ways in which technology has altered the form and study of literature. In recent years new media including computers, the Internet, social networks, and video games have all acted as provocative disruptions to more traditional ideas about the scope and significance of the humanities. While some luddites worry that technology endangers the arts, digital humanists welcome new media’s ability to enrich and expand the field. Students will study and actively participate in the digital humanities by engaging with the intersection of new media and literary studies. By critiquing fundamental points in this discourse students will begin to address the following questions: What are the historical and cultural repercussions of new media on the ways in which we read and write? In what ways does reading texts on a monitor differ from reading out of a codex? How has the Internet created new opportunities, both thematic and formal, for literary expression? What will be the role of libraries in our increasingly digital world? In what ways can new media subvert the status quo to act as a means of activism? Should literature be a solitary experience, as Jonathan Franzen suggests, or is it instead, as Neil Gaiman counters, an opportunity for social engagement and collaboration? How has interactive media changed the role of audiences from consumers and spectators to authors, players, and creators? How does the narrative of video games parallel and diverge from that of novels? Students enrolled in this course will be evaluated on their successful engagement with course themes through the completion of written assignments as well as multimodal and digital projects.
Course Goals
The mission of Georgia Tech’s Writing and Communication Program is to help students, faculty, and staff across the institute learn strategies for communicating effectively. The immediate purpose of English 1102 is to help you become more successful as a student at Georgia Tech. The long-range purpose is to help you become a more successful communicator in your personal interactions, in your community, and in your professional life. English 1102 addresses rhetorical principles and multimodal composition while it introduces research as well as cultural studies and literary/discourse analysis. Students will develop competence and confidence in all communication modalities (Written, Oral, Visual, Electronic, and Nonverbal).