English 597: Writing with New Media (PhD and MA students new to the field)
The goal of Writing with New Media is to introduce graduate students to the scholarship, tools, resources, and experiences important to begin composing with new media. Given that the important role new media plays in 21st century literacies, thus extensive use of the National Conversation on Writing just seems to make sense.
The course integrated NCoW in three ways: (1) by making NCoW materials part of the “reading” list, (2) by inviting these students working with new media to make use of NCoW contributions in their own new media productions (all NCoW contributions are licensed through Creative Commons so contributors have control over how their contributions will be used), and (3) by requiring students to contribute to NCoW in any way they wished. As many students would be collecting far more original video footage, audio, and images than they could possibly use in their own work, they were encouraged to contribute their this raw material to NCoW as well. Paying it forward, so future composers would have access to these items for possible integration into their own new media compositions.
Instructor and Contributor: Shannon Carter, Associate Professor of English
Assignment/syllabus: http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/scarter/597/597_SP09-syllabus.pdf
Course blog: http://writingwithnewmedia.blogspot.com/
Invitation to Celebration of Writing with New Media: http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/scarter/CLiC/clic-events.htm
Program from event: http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/scarter/CLiC/comic.html |
I Hate Writing
Contributor: Sylwester Zabielski
Access: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvIYAcUGJDU
Abstract: The I HATE WRITING project was inspired by a blog (http://ihatewriting.net/) that discusses different issues connected with negative attitudes towards writing. Also inspired by Bowden and Vandenberg’s video Who is a Writer? What Writers Tell Us, especially those portions of the video in which writers spoke about when they actually hate writing. The author of this short decided to feature the I HATE WRITING phenomenon because those who struggle with writing due to their extreme dislike are often omitted in academic multimedia projects. In the past, scholars tended to deliberate on writing as a passion, a cognitive skill coming from within, or as a positive aspect of life in academia. Few have discussed the other side of the problem. Therefore, I HATE WRITING incorporates people from different environments – English teachers, students, attorneys, ESL speakers, and professors studying and interacting with those the filmmaker terms I-HATE-WRITERS, to convey the real message, revealing not only the problem but also possible solutions proposed by its participants.
The remix of iconic music, strong images from a British CCTV camera (the office clerk losing his mind at the beginning of the movie) and convincing academic arguments, was used to find the lingua franca of today’s multimodal generation. Final Cut Express, iMovie, Picasa, Xtranormal Text to Movie, and Audacity combine video and animation with slides, borrowed (with permission) from the South Central Writing Center Conference presentation of T.R. Johnson, Associate Professor of English at Tulane University; additional footage was obtained at the 2009 San Francisco CCCC.
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Video, Blog, Assignment for First-Year Writers
“The Found Project”
Contributor: JP Sloop
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqB7n4VMauE
Blog: http://tamucfound.blogspot.com/
Drawing inspiration from Pete Vandenberg and Darsie Bowden’s video Who is a Writer? and Foundmagazine.com, I created the “Found” project. The project is based on the premise that we are all writers and that one of the inhibitors for people seeing themselves as writers is the lack of space in which to present their writing. Using a portion of hte bulletin boards on each floor of the Hall of Languages, I provided a space for writers to display their work. I kept a photo journal documenting the success of the project and used the photos to create a video and a blog. I have turned the footage into a short video looking at who and what is being written about when a space is provided.
He has also developed an assignment that might involve students in future incarnations of this fabulously interesting “found” project. Take a look at http://tamucfound.blogspot.com |
Fan Vid and Blog
“Girls Having Fun: Creating My First Fan Vid”
Contributor: Robin Reid, Professor of English (Texas A&M-Commerce)
Access (blog and vids): http://tamariskandterebinth.blogspot.com/2009/05/girls-having-fun-creating-my-first-fan.html
Extensive blog entry featuring the final draft of her first fan vid and articulating contributor’s position as both facfic writer and scholar, providing information on fandom and the long history of vidding among fans--a history that dates back to at least the 1970s. Vidding is a major modality in media fandom, so it is within this context that the contributor also describes her experiences with this--her first fan vid.
The blog is entitled Girls Having Fun, in honor of the Cyndi Lauper song which was my first inspiration (but which doesn’t seem to make its way into my final draft). The post includes (1) the final draft of the video, (2) why I selected “fan vid” as my project for this course, (3) background information on the genre of fan vis, (4) background information on fandom, (5) background on the source texts and characters I use in my vid, (6) drafts of my work at different states, with information on my process of revising. |
Video Poetry
Series title: American Faces (trilogy)
Contributor: Wade Thompson
"Grandfather's Twelve Gauge"
"Bowles' Gas Station"
"The Butcher"
With the advent of new media introduced into the classroom, the definition of composition itself is now at academia’s door. As a composition instructor, PhD student, and poet, I have tried to approach new media with an open mind though remain beholden to more traditional forms of writing. The current project is fashioned between two mediums--the old and the new--film and audio, with the heart of the project being my own poetry. These “poetry montages,” as I call them, are a trilogy which I call “American Faces.
Each piece can stand alone, yet collectively they show a part of American culture which has often been lost in the shuffle of time, mainly that of the working class. To tell their stories, to show that the ordinary is indeed extraordinary and worthy of our consideration is what I hope to accomplish.
The three pieces are as follows: “Grandpa’s Twelve Gauge,” “Bowles’ Gas Station,” and “The Butcher.” Hopefully this trilogy will enlighten people of the untold stories of a culture that is usually never seen or heard due to the deafness of our saturated ears. |
Instructional Video
Title: “A Parrot’s Life”
Contributor: Mindy Nobles
Access: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGGyEaiXRPc (also take a look at her trailer for this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2ubFQWuHps . . . amusing and very much worth a look)
New and Old World parrots have become increasingly popular pets over the last decade. Parrots make intelligent, gregarious companions when raised and managed appropriately. However, parrots are not domesticated creatures like dogs and cats. Keeping a parrot requires specialized knowledge and practices due to their wild nature. As a result, many parrots live in poor, even abusive conditions.
This video surveys the companion parrot’s nature and best practices for ownership.
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