Calendar See Current Week

  1. Week One: Hello world

  2. Week Two: “My crime is that of curiosity”

    • 22 January

      1. Reading discussion
      2. Lo-fi digital writing tools

    • Assigned for 27 January

      1. H. C. Lawson-Tancred, "The Importance of Ancient Rhetoric" (pp. 1-8)
      2. Aristotle, Rhetoric, Ch. 1.1-1.3.

  3. Week Three: “(even madmen have some opinions)”

    • 27 January

      1. Reading discussion

    • Assigned for 29 January

      1. Aristotle, Rhetoric, Ch. 1.4-1.8
      2. Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy entry for Aristotle, sections 1, 2, 3, 13 and 14

  4. Week Four: “Some things indeed we do by skill”

    • 03 February

      1. Reading discussion
      2. Markdown: handling files, embedding images

    • Assigned for 05 February

      1. Aristotle, Rhetoric, 2.18-2.22; 3.13-3.15, 3.17

    • 05 February :: VIRTUAL CLASS

      1. Playlist Thursday: Dennis T, Luis A
      2. Reading discusssion

    • Assigned for 10 February

      1. Negroponte, Being Digital, Introduction + Ch. 1-3

  5. Week Five: “The digital lingua franca of bits”

    • 10 February

      1. First virtual class: post-mortem
      2. Aristotle
      3. Negroponte

    • Assigned for 12 February

      1. Negroponte, Being Digital, Ch. 4-6

    • 12 February :: VIRTUAL CLASS

      1. Playlist Thursday: Edward R, Xing C

    • Assigned for 17 February

      1. Negroponte, Being Digital, Ch. 7-10

  6. Week Six: “Where bits and people meet”

    • 17 February

      1. Reading discussion

    • Assigned for 19 February

      1. Negroponte, Being Digital, Ch. 11-12

    • 19 February :: VIRTUAL CLASS

      1. Playlist Thursday: Bria P, Julius D
      2. Digital Literacy Narrative due

    • Assigned for 24 February

      1. Negroponte, Being Digital, Ch. 13-16

  7. Week Seven: “I’d rather answer e-mail on Sunday and be in my pajamas longer on Monday”

    • 24 February

      1. Reading discussion

    • Assigned for 26 February

      1. Negroponte, Being Digital, Ch. 17-18 + Epilogue, After Words

  8. Week Eight: Digital Natives?

  9. Week Nine: Origins of the Web

    • 12 March

      1. Playlist Thursday: Lindani J

    • Assigned for 24 March

      1. Email draft blog/journal for instructor review by 13 March
      2. Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web, Foreword; Chapters 1-4

  10. Week Ten: Spring Break (no class)

  11. Week Eleven: “the human readability of HTML was an unexpected boon”

    • 24 March

      1. Reading discussion (Weaving the Web Ch. 1-4)
      2. Group work time

    • Assigned for 26 March

      1. Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web, Chapter 5
      2. Project 3 Proposal Memo (Group Authored; Due March 30)

    • 26 March :: VIRTUAL CLASS

      1. Playlist Thursday: Namsik K, Raymond W

    • Assigned for 31 March

      1. Email draft blog/journal for instructor review by 27 March
      2. Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web, Chaptesr 6-8

  12. Week Twelve: “This sort of problem was the crux of the job.”

    • 31 March

      1. Reading Discussion
      2. HTML & Markdown

    • Assigned for 02 April

      1. Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web, Chapter 9

    • 02 April :: VIRTUAL CLASS

      1. Playlist Thursday: Akalanka T, Enrique S

    • Assigned for 07 April

      1. Group-member evaluation memo (Due 03 April)
      2. Submit final Project 2 by 11:59pm 6 April; double-check project description and complete deliverables list
      3. Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web, Chapter 10-13

  13. Week Thirteen: “humans seem to be naturally built to interact with others”

    • 07 April

      1. Reading dicussion

    • Assigned for 09 April

      1. Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web, 14

    • 09 April :: NO CLASS (Group Conferences)

    • Assigned for 14 April

      1. Project 3 work

  14. Week Fourteen: Project Work Week I

    • 14 April

      1. Group work time

    • Assigned for 16 April

      1. Group-member evaluation memo (Due 17 April)

    • 16 April

      1. Group work time

    • Assigned for 21 April

      1. Project 3 work

  15. Week Fifteen: Project Work Week II

    • 21 April

      1. Group work time

    • Assigned for 23 April

      1. Project 3 work

    • 23 April :: NO CLASS (Group Conferences)

    • Assigned for 28 April

      1. Work on final project; prepare project presentations

  16. Week Sixteen: Project 3 Presentations

    • 28 April

      1. Group Presentations

    • 30 April

      1. Group Presentations

    • Assigned for Finals Week

      1. Complete and submit final project by 11:59pm on 05 May

  17. Finals Week: Project Due 11:59pm on 05 May

Projects

  1. Project 1: Digital Literacy Narrative

    This project asks you to create some kind of digital story about how you became literate in using digital communication technologies. Included in the story somehow should be a second story of your experience teaching yourself the rudiments of some new digital communication practice that you will use to create and share your project. While the primary media you will write in should be text, you may enhance that with any other type of media you choose (image, audio, video).

    You will first send a proposal email to the instructor with the new digital communication technology you intend to learn for creating your project, along with a rough idea of how you will construct your story. Keep in mind that common word processors (Word, Mac Pages, Google Docs) are not allowed in this class (but you most likely know how to use those anyway).

    Then, as you draft your narrative, you will turn in two in-progress drafts; the drafts should be shared as Dropbox share links that you email to the instructor. Those are due on 30 January and 6 February (both Fridays). If you opt to learn something that is Web-available, you can send the link to the project wherever it's hosted, rather than a Dropbox share link.

    Project update (2/10) The deadline for the project has been extended to Thursday, February 19. In that extra 10 days, you will take your existing project and remix/reboot/reenvision it using any app of your choice on a phone or tablet device (this app could be free, but it should be something new to you). Also, the app should allow you to save/export your work for sharing with someone who does not also have the app installed.

    Deliverables & Deadlines

    1. Proposal email to instructor (by Friday, 23 January)
    2. Draft No. 1 in an email with a Dropbox link (due Friday, 30 January)
    3. Draft No. 2 in an email with a Dropbox link (due Friday, 6 February)
    4. Final Draft in an email with a Dropbox link (due Thursday, 19 February)
    5. Remixed/rebooted/reenvisioned Final Draft (also due Thursday, 19 February)

  2. Project 2: Reflective Digital Presence

    During the months of February and March and into early April, you will blog or privately journal weekly about your activities being digitally present (e.g., through social media like Twitter, social reading sites like Reddit). Additionally, you will join a new community or service and begin to establish a presence there as well.

    The primary deliverable for this project is your blog/journal. You may write about anything you like regarding your digital presence: for example, the different rhetorical identities you notice yourself projecting on, say, Facebook versus Yik Yak; or perhaps a major local, national, or world news event and how it unfolds on Twitter. As we begin reading Negroponte, and supporting articles about digital being & presence, you should compare your own experiences to the predictions, observations, and arguments in the materials we read for class.

    Requirements

    • You must be present on two different services/networks (e.g., Twitter and Pintrest)
    • You must join for the first time at least one new network
    • Your blog/private journal should contain between 2 and 5 entries per week
    • You DO NOT have to share your accounts usernames or URLs with the instructor
    • BUT, you should include samples (which can be anonymized by changing the names/usernames of anyone you mention) in your blog/journal from what you’ve posted on the sites you’re present on

    Deliverables & Deadlines

    1. Proposal email to instructor (by Monday, 2 February) outlining:
      1. The social sites/networks that you will be present on
      2. The new site/network that you will join
      3. The format (blog or private journal) that you will keep for the project, and either the blog URL or Dropbox share link to the private journal that you'll keep
    2. In-progress blog/journal reviews for instructor feedback on the following Fridays: 13 Feb, 27 Feb, 13 Mar and 27 Mar
    3. Final blog/journal submission on 6 April, 11:59pm

  3. Project 3: Collaborative Learning, Collaborative Writing

    For this project, you will work in small teams to develop your own abilities to write and collaborate digitally on a project that teaches IIT faculty members how to assign and support students pursuing alternatives to "the paper" for course projects.

    Specifically, you will create an oral presentation for a faculty audience in which you pitch an electronic assignment in lieu of a traditional paper. Given that your audience is IIT faculty, your assignment should be workable across different kinds of classes (and your presentation and handout should suggest possible alternatives/modifications accordingly).

    Requirements

    • Collaborate in a team with two or three other students
    • Coordinate all collaboration electronically, using a free service (e.g., Google Drive, Basecamp) of your group’s choosing.
    • Develop an assignment that could work well across different courses, with minor modifications
    • Example of the completed assignment should be for a specific course (but not for Hacking Humanities)

    In-Progress Deliverables

    1. Proposal memo (group-authored; due March 30)
    2. Video-chat group conference with Prof Stolley, weeks of April 9 and 23 (schedule TBD)
    3. Bi-weekly written evaluations of group members (emailed privately to instructor April 3 and April 17)

    Final Deliverables & Deadlines (Due 11:59pm May 5 unless otherwise noted)

    1. A 15-slide slide deck that supports a...
    2. ...15-minute oral presentation, aimed at a faculty audience (Due April 28 or 30)
    3. A two-page handout detailing the electronic assignment you develop
    4. An example of the completed assignment
    5. A written evaluation of your group members (emailed privately to instructor)
    6. The archive of your collaborative activity (e.g., a Basecamp site you give the instructor access to)

  4. Project 4: Playlist Thursdays

    You will be assigned a random Thursday over the course of the semester to present a 10- to 15-track Spotify playlist. The tracks in your playlist should be both autobiographical somehow in that it says something about you, but should also be connected to the course materials that week in some way. For each track, you will offer a max 140-character story explaining why you included the track in your playlist.

    Requirements

    • A 10- to 15-track playlist created with only the music available on Spotify
    • A 140-character story for each track

    Deliverables & Deadlines

    1. A publicly-posted track listing (e.g., a GitHub Gist) and URL pointing to the Spotify playlist, due at the start of class the Thursday you are assigned
    2. A short presentation (oral or virtual, depending on the Thursday) of your playlist

Policies

Instructor Information

Course Description

This course explores hacking and the hacker mindset through a humanities lens and applied to problems of digital rhetoric & writing. At the core of hacking is language, symbols. Rhetoric as well as logic. Humanities as well as computer engineering. This course avoids an arts vs. sciences stance, and urges students to investigate the unique blend of humanities and technology that can be realized in individuals and groups alike.

Course Goals

  1. Understand both ancient and contemporary problems and ways of knowing in the humanities
  2. Develop simple but sophisticated approaches to communicating ideas and connecting with others digitally
  3. Appreciate the role of ethics in informing both curiosity and experimentation within humanities and technology
  4. Apply course concepts and adjust/extend course projects to fit your own academic and professional interests

Required Books

  1. Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric. Translated by H. C. Lawson-Tancred. London: Penguin Books.
  2. Berners-Lee, T. with M. Fischetti. Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web. New York: HarperBusiness/HarperCollins.
  3. Negroponte, N. Being Digital. New York: Vintage Books/Random House.

Required Materials & Technology

  • A mobile or tablet device that has a web browser and the ability to install apps
  • A Markdown-based writing program (e.g., Byword or iAWriter on iOS)
  • As many social accounts as you can stand to register, from Twitter to Reddit
  • A Basecamp/Campfire account (invites coming)
  • A Dropbox account (to be used to submit work as well as share materials, etc.)
  • A Spotify account

Recommended Technology

  • A Linux installation on personal computer (if not running Mac)

Forbidden Technology

  • Any traditional word processor (Word, Pages, Google Docs) and the files they output (e.g., RTF, .docx, etc. etc.)

Grading

  • Project 1: 20pts
  • Project 2: 20pts
  • Project 3: 20pts
  • Project 4: 10pts
  • Participation: 30pts
  • TOTAL: 100pts

A = 90+ pts; B = 80-89pts; C = 70-79pts; D = 60-69pts; E =< 59pts

Grading Criteria

  • A - Student has turned in all required project deliverables, the work is exceptional in quality, and reflects the student’s dedication to adjusting the project to his or her own interests.
  • B - Student has turned in all required project deliverables and submitted work that is acceptable as undergraduate level.
  • C - Student has turned in all required project deliverables, but the work is barely undergraduate level.
  • D - Student has turned in all required project deliverables, but the work is not undergraduate level.
  • E - Student has not turned in all required project deliverables.

Late Work

I do not accept late work. All work must be submitted before the date and time specified in each project description.

Attendance and Participation

Your attendance and active participation are required both for your own success in the class, and for the success of the class as a whole. However, if you absolutely must miss, please contact me ahead of time via email. Students missing more than two consecutive class meetings will automatically fail the course.

Regarding active participation: I do not give reading quizzes, but I assign a lot of reading. And I expect you to come prepared to discuss that reading.

Academic Integrity

As with any course at IIT, you are expected to uphold the Code of Academic Honesty as described in the IIT Student Handbook. All work for this course must be your own original effort, including print and digital page design and computer code. Summarizations and quotations of text, as well as any use of open-source code libraries and images not of your own making, should be clearly cited as legally and ethically warranted and rhetorically appropriate. Access, storage, dissemination, and other use of data from third-party sources must conform to the source’s terms of service, licensing, and other relevant legal and ethical restrictions.

If you are at all uncertain as to whether you are submitting work that in whole or in part may violate the Code of Academic Honesty, please contact me immediately and before the work is due. The consequences of academic dishonesty are severe. Any student who violates the Code of Academic Honesty will be subject to expulsion from this course with a failing grade, and I will report the student to the Chair of the Department of Humanities, who may take additional disciplinary action, including reporting violations to the relevant offices of Undergraduate or Graduate Academic Affairs.

Technology Policy

Technology is an essential part of learning and day-to-day living. It is therefore essential to this class. You are just as responsible for learning to command various technologies as for any other course content. Difficulty with technology is not an acceptable excuse for being unprepared for class.

If you are having trouble with technology or any other material covered in this course, it is your professional responsibility to do research beyond the resources and guidance provided in class and find materials that work for you. I also encourage all students to meet with me during my office hours or at another arranged time outside of class or to contact me via email or GChat, or our Campfire room, well in advance of project deadlines.

Note that coming to class with broken or malfunctioning work is far better than showing up with nothing but an excuse like “I just didn’t get it.” For most of the semester, it is expected that you’ll show up with broken work. When you’re learning, effort is more important than perfection. Just be sure to put in the effort early, and not the night before a project is due.

Accessibility and Special Needs Statement

Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with documented disabilities. In order to receive accommodations, students must obtain a letter of accommodation from the Center for Disability Resources. The Center for Disability Resources (CDR) is located in IIT Tower, 3424 S. State Street - 1C3-2. Contact the Center by telephone at 312-567-5744 or via email at disabilities@iit.edu

Students who have any difficulty (either permanent or temporary) that might affect their ability to perform in class should contact me privately, either in person or via email, at the start of the semester or as a documented difficulty arises. Methods, materials, or deadlines will be adapted as necessary to ensure equitable participation for all students.