Unit 4 Assignment and Calendar

“[Benjamin’s] panoramic purview came about by collecting statements, analyses and responses from many perspectives” (Leslie).

Walter Benjamin was cultural and literary theorist—and radical intellectual–in the early 1900s. He worked as a translator and social scientist, but was also taken by the notion of history as constructed by context and “constellations” of ideas.

In the 1920s, Benjamin began his Arcades Project, where he set about understanding the cultural, architectural, and economic phenomenon of Paris’s arcades or glass-ceilinged outdoor malls.

For our purposes in unit 4, we’ll be modeling our work on Benjamin’s in two ways. First, we will use his method of research, which has been called montage or bricolage, and is essentially the act of collecting (and collecting and collecting) observations and texts that surround a particular topic or discussion and allowing the collection’s meaning to emerge from juxtaposition. Second, we’ll use the allegory of the arcades as methodology or guiding theory for how we interpret our research. That is, the arcades often connected seemingly disparate shops and buildings. In using the arcades-as-methodology, we’ll force ourselves not only to consider a variety of sources, authorities, and texts in our research; we’ll also take the time to consider the ways in which seemingly diverse ideas might converge to illicit new perspective.

For this unit, we’ll work in small groups (3-4 members). The first task will be to collect and observe texts using a multi-authored tumblelog. The collection must incorporate a vast diversity of perspectives. The group will then construct a dialogue about emerging ideas from the collection to produce a 5-page reflection on the possible implications of the collection. Finally, the group will be responsible to present their findings to the class, incorporating some sort of visual or extra-textual medium.

We’ll assemble groups in class. Once groups are assembled, the group will be responsible for deciding on a topic from the following list for their research (multiple groups may choose the same topic). I’ve offered up some URLs as starting points:

• “reality” media and video blogs: justin.tv, zefrank.com/theshow, lonelygirl15

• distributed knowledge and alternative epistemologies: intag, webepistemology.org

• digital inequalities/digital divide: Liberating Voices!

• “virtual” hate crimes: Reclaim the Media

• digital literacy/ “new” literacies: Cory Doctorow , Information Literacy Weblog

Schedule of interstitial assignments and activities:

Group Contract: Outlines scheduled meeting times; strategies for division of tasks and brief summary of group members’ strengths, interests, and possible contributions; explicit expectations of each group member; speculation concerning the final presentation. Each member should sign the document. Due on Wednesday 4/11.

Tumblelog: Each group will maintain a (b)log which warehouses observations and links to texts. The tumblelog becomes the montage. A tumblelog is different than a weblog in that the posts are more brief and often the posts appear random. The distinction is semantic; however, the generic description of a tumblelog is more accurate in reflecting the kind of work I’d like to see. Posts should be focused and brief, but also contain full bibliographic information and links. Think annotation from unit 1. URL due to me by email Monday 4/9. Number of posts should exceed 20.

Informal group progress reports: On Monday 4/16 and Wed 4/18 I will meet with groups individually for briefings. Groups should be prepared to discuss questions, concerns, and how the shape of their project is emerging or changing.

Reflection: A 5-page, collaboratively-written reflection that considers the possible implications of what the montage-work reveals about the multiplicity of the group’s topic. It should be one streamlined document, and include citations and a Works Cited page. Due on the day of the group’s scheduled presentation.

Presentation: Each group should construct a 15 minute presentation that includes at least one adjunct medium. The presentation should reveal the groups’ findings concerning their topic, but members should avoid simply reading from the reflection. Presentations will be scheduled for the last 2 class meetings 4/25 and 4/30. Groups will draw numbers to determine presentation order.

Presentation response forms: each group member must attend all presentations and complete a response form.

The last 4 weeks of class look like this:

Wed 4/3: Introduction to unit four. Assemble groups; overview of topics; group discussion to determine topic, preliminary meeting plan. Homework: Meet and construct the group contract. Begin collecting texts.

Mon 4/9: Set up group Tumblelogs and begin collecting texts and sources. Homework: continue collecting and observing. Write two annotations (4-5 sentences each) and bring them to class on Wednesday.

Wed 4/11: Scrutinizing paragraphs. Bring Ballenger and Harbrace (handbook) to class.
Homework: continue to collect. Tumblelogs should have 6-8 entries at this point; stop and read what your group has found, making sure to follow links when offered. Make a list of ideas (think the data table/patterns from unit 3) that emerge from reviewing the log as a whole. Bring the list to class on Friday.

Mon 4/16: Meet with groups to go over one another’s lists. Begin preliminary work on the reflection. Homework: continue to collect. Meet to prepare for the progress meeting on Monday.

Wed 4/18: Progress briefings; open.

Mon 4/23: Progress briefings; open.

4/25-4/30: Presentations.