Women's Studies 488B/Katie King/Spring 2004 UMD/class meets Th 3:15-5:45pm
@ JMZ 1205
Katie’s office hours Tues 2-4pm & some TTh. mornings by apt.
2101F Woods Hall; 301.405.7294 (voice mail) email: katking@umd.edu
Katie's home page: http://www.womensstudies.umd.edu/wmstfac/kking/
WebCT class space: go to http://www.courses.umd.edu/ and log in using your directory
ID and password
Women
in
the
Web:
Ways
of
Writing
in
HistoricalPerspective
What if writing had been invented to help escaped slaves? (Do you know what it was invented for? Where? When? What counts as writing?) What if printing were still used by people in "corresponding societies" for purposes of revolution? (And what quite different sets of political purposes does mass publication enable today?) What role did the fax machine play in the Tiananmen Square democracy movement? (Or carbon paper in the former Soviet Union?) How is the internet used today to subvert political, religious and sexual censorship? (Where? For Whom?)
How obvious is a boundary between the Oral and the Written? Is it only one boundary? In what places and times is such a boundary useful to draw? Who needs it? For what purposes? This course is about the stories we tell about such boundaries. It is about how unstable these boundaries, these notions--the Oral, the Written--can be. In this course we will examine stories, tell stories, write stories, interpret stories, change stories. Such stories are about the movements of power: sex, race, class...gender, sexuality, nationality...religion, revolution, representation. Whether we like it or not, we are inside these stories. So, how do we seize the stories for ourselves?
The first half of the course will focus on feminist analysis of the internet and the world wide web. We will learn how to use each as well as consider the political meanings of feminist engagements with these writing processes. How are they being used for feminist activism today, for whom, where and why? The second half of the course will think about ways of writing in historical terms. There I will share my current research projects, one on Quaker women's writing on women's public speech in the 17th c. and the other on women's writing on the world wide web as part of media fan communities. In each case I'm concerned with how women write about what we think of as sexual issues, in contexts in which the meanings of sexuality are very different. You will create your own research project too, conceiving of it in relation to one or more of the research areas of the course: Women in Cyberspace, Literacies & Oralities, Media Fandoms, or Women & Historical Writing Technologies. We will share methods, issues and meanings of changes in ways of writing.
Required Texts (also on reserve at McKeldin Library)
These are required READINGS. You do have to read them. You do not have to BUY them. I will put them on reserve at McKeldin. Borrow and share with each other. However, do not wait til the last minute (the night before) to discover one is not available on reserve, etc. Be sure you have secured access LONG before we are going to read it in class.
I have ordered all from Vertigo Books because I want to support the bookstore and help it to survive in College Park! It is on the corner between HW 1 and Knox Rd, across the street from the Cornerstone restaurant: 7346 Baltimore Avenue. The telephone number there is: 301.779.9300. But you need to note that Vertigo is a small independent bookstore and thus cannot issue refunds or accept returns in the same manner as the campus Barnes & Noble. Their small staff and limited resources simply will not allow them to do so. Supporting them, however, works to counter the large economic consolidations of the publishing industry. They do not buy back books or make refunds. Returns will receive store credit. Any returns must be made within 15 days of purchase. Returned books must be in saleable condition with proof of purchase.
You will also be reading parts TBA of each of two book manuscripts I have been working on. They are online.
Other Useful Texts for your perusal and research projects: (many are available at McKeldin, I put some on reserve)
Computer Resources Required:
You will need to be on email and to access WebCT, checking each regularly for announcements, assignments, even readings (you can get a WAM account for email at the Computer Center--CSS 1400--and use computer labs on campus).
Summary of Assignments
Since this class meets only once a week, the assumption is that you will spend MORE time than usual reading, writing and preparing for class. Ordinarily you should budget 3 hrs of prep time for each hr of class time, so think approximately 9 hrs prep time each week. (Some of which goes into graded assignments. The more you work on these consistently each week too the better you'll be able to budget your time conveniently.)
(1) Consolidating computer resources for class: check WAM accounts, locate computer labs most convenient for your use if necessary, and/or set up your computer at home for mail and WebCT, check reflector for first messages. Log in to WebCT, check announcements, and complete instructions. Evaluate web sites indicated in WebCT. Find class support partner.
DUE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Hand in note of completion to Katie in class, listing everything you've done.
(2) Brief (1-2 pg. typed) reflection papers assigned during the semester to bring into the next class. If you miss class you'll need to check with another student to see if one has been assigned that day. These are a bit like pop quizzes, and they show you are thinking about and keeping up with the readings.
The first reflection paper is assigned with a due date: "Reflections on computer experiences." Say what you know how to do, what you've had troubles with and why, what's fun, what isn't fun, what you refuse to do and why, what you love and why, what equipment you have access to, what you wish you could do. Hand in a hard copy to Katie in class, and POST A COPY IN DISCUSSIONS AREA ON WEB CT.
DUE 12 February (1-2 pg typed, drafted at least twice and be prepared to show drafts if asked.)
(3) Creative paper on alternative writing technologies (may serve as intro to final paper). To be edited by your partner. Hand in a hard copy to Katie in class, and post a copy in proper place on WebCT.
DUE 26 February (3-5 pg. typed, drafted at least twice and be prepared to show drafts if asked.)
(4) Class report on form semester project will take (may create partner project or keep pairs for mutual support). Should include discussion of pivotal web sites.
DUE 18 March (5 min. oral report in class; with 1-2pg handout for each class member, and later posted to WebCT space)
(5) Class report on progress on semester project. Should include discussion of web sites.
DUE 15 April (10 min. oral report in class; several pages written to handout in class, and posted to WebCT space)
(6) Finished semester major paper with learning analysis appendix (may be collaborative or partners edit each other's work). May be connected to a student designed web site.
DUE 13 May (approx. 15-20 pg. paper, drafted at least twice, be prepared to show drafts if asked.)
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reflection papers and consolidating computer resources all together count for 25% of grade.
creative paper, 25% grade
both class reports together, 25% grade
final project, 25% grade
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Initial Reading and Project Assignments
January 29--Introduction to Women in the Web
Today we will look at all the textbooks for our course. How are they what you expected? How are they not? What surprises about choosing any of them for this class? What surprises do you encounter reading in them? If something surprises you, perhaps an assumption you didn't know you had was violated. In this class we do the hard but fascinating work of figuring out our violated assumptions. Be curious about yourself! Listing violated assumptions is one way to analyze the common sense knowledges we've believed without questioning. What associations do we have with women, computers, writing, feminism and activism?
lab: We'll log onto WebCT and explore our class space, first to see what folks did there last time, and then to decide how we want to structure it ourselves this time around. We'll introduce ourselves and consider what resources we each are to the class.
February 5--Hidden Circuits and Lost Worlds
In this class we will be exploring both current and past writing technologies. Why? What happens when we think of them together as well as chronologically? What concerns about the present do we bring to the past? What does the past teach us about our present?
lab: more WebCT exploration and writings about the World Wide Web. Continue your violated assumptions list and post them to discussions in WebCT.
HANDED OUT AND POSTED AT KATIE'S OFFICE DOOR: Gary Urton, "Memory, Writing, and Record Keeping in the Inka Empire," from Signs of the Inka Khipu: binary coding in the Andean knotted-string records. (1-36)
**NOTE: Free Peer Training Classes in Navigating WebCT are offered February 9th at 6 PM in room 3330 of the Computer and Space Sciences building.
February 12--Binary Coding in SpaceTime and OtherWise: possible worlds
Berry, "Intro" in Mobile Cultures. Handed out in class: Ohmann's list of possible worlds.
We will continue more explorations of violated assumptions and start wondering about possible worlds, past, present and future. How do we enter into these stories and realities?
BEGIN THINKING AND WRITING ABOUT "WHAT IF?" STORIES (next assignment)
lab: brainstorm What If? stories in discussions area; list more violated assumptions
DUE: first reflection paper on Computer Experiences / 1-2 pg. (be prepared to show two drafts at least) in class & POSTED.
February 19--"Something Happened Inside Her Head"
Where do writing technologies come from? What sort of "things" are they? When are they "things" and when are they something more? What is this something more? What makes it possible to know about this?
lab: learning to "read" HTML, web addresses, page source & using Netscape Composer
February 26--Technologies in Histories and in Practices
How do the Barretts use Star Trek to get us to think about histories? What happens to selves and identities in everyday practices of technologies?
lab: Opening up for WebPlay; more Netscape Composer, intro to other authoring systems
DUE: Creative paper on alternative writing technologies / 3-5 pgs. (be prepared to show two drafts at least) in class & POSTED
March 4--KATIE AT COLBY COLLEGE--STAR TREK AND HIGHLANDER DAY
Watch Star Trek & Highlander wherever you can find it on TV--especially 'SPIKE TV' on cable; read King, "Star Trek Media Art" in WebCT; if possible rent the video of Star Trek: The Search for Spock; Katie has videos of HL and ST to share--ask to borrow-- have a video party!
March 11--Flexible Knowledges: globalizations and humanisms
How do we put the internet and television together as global technologies embodying globalization? What is at stake and for whom? How do you connect these readings to the work of the Barretts?
lab: meta-tags, the politics of google, publishing online
March 18--Handwriting: Revealing Pasts, Presents & Pastpresents
lab: English handwriting online: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/
DUE: Report on form of semester project/ may be collaborative / 5 min oral, handouts & POST
March 25--SPRING BREAK--NO CLASS
April 1--KATIE AT VANDERBILT--GETTING INTO YOUR RESEARCH DAY
How is your project taking off? What do you need to do next? Are you working with someone else, if so how will you coordinate your efforts? Where are your resources located? What role will the web play, if any?
April 8--Beep-Click-Link: how politics differ concerning the Net
What do you notice is different about the political approaches in these various books? Now that you've been doing your own research and reading, how do you map these approaches and where you find yourself on this map?
lab: Afro-futures and other kinds of NetArt
April 15--Whose New Media? How new? Where?
What determined which chapters you chose? What do you learn about your own net politics from your choices? Which parts of this book speak most to your own issues and interests? Which parts enlarge them?
DUE: Report on semester project/ may be collaborative / 10 min oral, written example & POST
April 22--"Where do you want to go today?"
What do Eglash and Bleecker add to the kind of analysis Nakamura begins? Where do these approaches take you? Where do you plan to take them?
April 29--PRESENTATIONS I (the bravest ones)
We will begin class presentations today. Obviously you are not finished with your projects, but this is the time you have to tell the whole class about them and get everyone excited to look at what you finally will post in WebCT. If there is time, Katie will present on what she did at Colby and Vanderbilt.
May 6--LAST CLASS!--PRESENTATIONS II (keeping up the hard work!)
Today we will finish all our class presentations, pointing out to others in the class why they will want to know more about your work, and why you've chosen it. We will notice the learning community we have created and think about the possible worlds we have examined.
May 13--HAND EVERYTHING IN DAY
DUE: Major Paper with Learning Analysis appendix / may be collaborative/ 15-20 pgs. (be prepared to show two drafts at least) bring to Katie's office by 3pm & POSTED