Syllabus

Fall 2002, Monday evenings from 6:00 to 8:30 in Campus Center 42. #25386, section 1. Course home page: http://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe/comp5220

Dr. Craig Stroupe, 726-6249, Humanities 424
cstroupe@d.umn.edu; Office hours Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 11:15 - 12:15 or by appointment

Purpose | Expectations | Resources Needed | Grades

Purpose

What exactly is a "document"? We should start by asking what isn't a document.

Anywhere you see writing or visual representation at work in our lives--from the famous novel on the shelf, to the shopping list in your pocket, to the image of the Aerial Lift Bridge cut into a steel light post on the Lake Walk--you're looking at a document. One way to get a handle of the idea of documents, in all their variety, is to see them as operating in a disputed zone between two very different systems: writing space and pictorial space. In his book The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing, Jay David Bolter points out the vastness of this difference:

"The picture pretends to be a reflection of the visible world. At least from the Renaissance to the 19th century, artist and their viewers assumed that a picture should reflect the space of nature, and the picture's elements should appear as they appear in nature. In a verbal text space is wholly conventional, and learning to read means learning the conventions of the space. Pictorial space and textual space are therefore apparent opposites: the one claims to reflect a world outside of it, and the other is arbitrary and self-contained"(53).

The purpose of this class is to introduce you to the creative possibilities of the competition (and collaboration) between the verbal and visual worlds, between the inner world of voice and the outer world of vision. But that's only part of the story. You will practice creating documents that bring the energies of this visual/verbal tension and invention to some of the significant struggles in our lives: to express individual and group identities, to claim possession of space and time, to move people to action, to establish viable communities, to preserve the past, and to imagine a future.

The emphasis of this course will be on this kind of creative and cultural problem solving, rather than on the mechanics of producing PageMaker files or Web sites (though I don't assume you have any prior knowledge of the software we'll use, and will provide you with introductions and resources to master to these basic skills). The goals of this course are to enable you to gain practice and expertise in the following areas:

applying principles of rhetoric, design, cultural theory and creative thinking to your work producing documents of various kinds;
discussing your work in critically informed ways;
writing critically and knowledgeably about issues and questions raised by the idea of document design in both print and digital cultures;
conceiving and carrying out writing/design projects that engage potential audiences on a variety of levels, especially socially;
participating in and contributing to a community of writer/designers;
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;
using a variety of software to create documents for both print and the Internet.

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Expectations

The Projects

The six assignments are sequenced to progress from smaller, focused, individual projects through larger, more socially engaged and collaborative works. On the schedule, these projects are designed by numbers (1-6) One of the assignments will ask you to find a local client (a campus organization, a business, a faculty member, a group) and design a document for that client's use. For each of these projects, you will also write and turn in a two-page self commentary. The last assignment will be an analytical paper. There is a three-point penalty per day for late projects (including the commentaries).

Other Writing and Design Work

In addition to the design and creation of the projects themselves and writing the self commentaries, you will be assigned

analytical or speculative writings on the readings in our textbooks,
plans and preliminary writings, designs or exercises for your projects,
peer critiques, and
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. Other exercises and products will be designated by letters (A-Z) so we won't confuse them with the seven main projects. On days when readings are assigned, you can expect brief quizzes or to write and turn in "pop" responses at the beginning or end of class. There are no make-ups on these responses if you are absent, late or leave early.

Attendance

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

Absences in excess of two (over 14% 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 two instances of arriving late or leaving early (with or without an excuse). Instances in excess of two will decrease your overall grade by a percentage point 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 fourteen 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.

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Resources Needed

Ted Alsapch's PageMaker 7 For Windows and Macintosh, Peachpit Press, 2002
J. Tarin Towers' Dreamweaver 4 for Windows and Macintosh. Peachpit Press, 2001
David M. Levy's Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age, Arcade, 2001.
Elaine Weinmann and Peter Lourekas, Photoshop 7 for Windows and Macintosh, Peachpit Press, 2002
Robin Williams' The Non-Designer's Design Book, Peachpit Press, 1994.
a UMD e-mail account
a 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): 60% total
The quality and insight of your written self commentaries, exercises, and other writings (including the lettered assignments and journal entries): 30%
Participation in class generally, including in-class activities and contributions, online discussions and exercises, attendance, promptness: 10%

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