ENGL 408C W23 Wiens

ENGL 408C: The Rhetoric of Digital Design: Theory & Practice

University of Waterloo, Faculty of Arts, English Language and Literature, Winter 2023

Tuesday/Thursday, SJ1 3016, 11:30-12:50

Instructor: Dr. Brianna I. Wiens (she/her)

Office: HH 255

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00-11:20am, and by appointment  

Email: biwiens@uwaterloo.ca

Course Description

As Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren Klein (2020) argue in Data Feminism, in today’s world, data is power. However, critical design thinking and feminist approaches to technology and culture can help that power be contextualized, challenged, and/or changed. As such, this course asks us to (1) reflect on examine how power operates within the world in order to (2) ask what we can learn from embodied design research, including our experiences, our schooling, and our identities, roles, and beliefs––all sources of data––that can inform how we work and design, or refuse to work and design, within the digital humanities. By exploring design theories, analyses, and rhetorics related to digital humanities, specifically in terms of how they reify or resist the status quo, we will reflect on, analyze, and interrogate some of the design processes through which we make meaning in the world, recognizing that meaning-making, knowledge production, and meaning and knowledge circulation are key components of design. As such, in keeping with the imperative to reflect and ask questions, this course will explore our responsibility to create multiple entry points into the design conversation, considering artistic, activist, and practical design methods, as well as engage critical design processes that address the kinds of problems that we are each individually and collectively concerned with in the world. In the first half of the semester, we will read, discuss, practice, and think heavily together. Topics covered will include wicked problems, critical design, critical fabulations, design justice, and culture jamming. In the second half of the semester, we will use these topics to research, prototype, and make, leaning on each other for peer feedback and support.

Course Goals

Together, we will speculate about approaches that might enrich our conversations about data, design, technology, and culture, including its uses, its possibilities, and its limits in order to imagine the most urgent next steps towards using data for the greater good. Ultimately, you will become familiar with the vocabularies and concepts of critical design practice from a digital humanities perspective; learn a range of critical, artistic, and feminist methodologies to apply to your own design projects; deepen your ability to conduct research, engage in creative practice, and prototype and iterate; and build confidence in researching and designing digital artifacts that speak to issues that you care about.

Territorial Acknowledgement

As a mixed-race settler scholar of Chinese-Malay and German-Brazilian descent, I acknowledge that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. While acknowledging territory allows us to recognize the enduring presence and actions of Indigenous communities, peoples, and lands, more work must follow: Beyond Acknowledgement.

Required Texts

All articles and book chapters will be available for you on Learn.

Grade Breakdown                                                                                                             

In-Class Design Activities                                    Jan. 27, Feb. 2, Feb. 9                                          15%

Co-Facilitation with written prompt                       Once per semester                                               15%

Ind. or Group Prototype and Presentation             March 13                                                              20% 

Ind. or Group Final Project and Presentation         March 31                                                               25%

Individual Design Reflections                               April 7                                                                   15%

Attendance and Participation                               Ongoing                                                                 10%

Assignments

In-Class Design Activities (3 x 5% = 15%)

On January 26, February 2, and February 9 we will have in-class activities (Activity #1: Culture Jamming, Activity #2: Digital Ethnography, Activity #3: Design a Social Networking App) that ask you, in small groups, to consider and apply the ideas we have been grappling with in the course up until these points. You will have the entirety of the class (80 minutes) to complete the activities and submit the required write-up to the Dropbox on Learn. These activities require you to be in class, so please do your best to be there. If there is a reason that you cannot attend, please let me know as soon as you can. These activities help to form the basis of the group final project and its prototyped iterations.  

Class Co-Facilitation with Written Prompt (15%)

To encourage seminar discussion and hone your facilitation skills, you will be required to individually write one discussion prompt on an assigned week and then co-facilitate, with me and a class peer, the discussion for that class. The paper should:

1. Offer an interpretation/argument of the main argument or idea;
2. Form one argument about one specific passage from the reading that you find especially significant, problematic, etc., and
3. Explain what is particularly relevant and generative for discussion. This should involve a thesis, citation of source(s), evidence, and conclusion.

On the days you have written a prompt, you will be asked to help co-facilitate the discussion for that week. We will schedule co-facilitation days during the first week of classes.

Group or Individual Design Prototype and Presentation (20%)

Bringing together the threads of our course to combine theoretical analysis, creative practice, critical reflection, team building, and public speaking, your group of 2-3 will (a) propose a design a set of prototypes that can be used to tackle some sort of wicked problem that matters to your group, and (b) you will present that set of prototypes to the class for feedback that will be incorporated into your final proposal that you submit to me. Think of this proposal like a pitch, offering the class (one of your audiences) the questions you’re seeking to answer, the plans for design, and the goals you hope to achieve with this prototype based on the topics and themes we have explored in the course. Your group may explore any issue that you would like, as long as it can in some way, somehow, be related to our course.

The written proposal should include:

1. A clear description of the wicked problem that you would like to explore, explaining how and why you see this as a wicked problem;
2. Some social and academic context for why this issue is significant and why your group is invested in it, drawing on current scholarship in the field (using 4-5 external sources);
3. Key questions that are driving the design of your prototype solution;
4. A discussion of your investment in this problem, referencing point 2’s discussion of the academic and social context;
5. A description of the proposed design artifact that responds to the wicked problem;
6. A timeline of your design and production process, offering as much detail as possible in terms of when things will happen, who will do what, and how; and
7. A discussion of your intended audience and the anticipated outcomes for this design artifact—i.e., what do you hope this prototype will do to address the problem at hand? What new ideals do you hope to set by putting this out into the world?

This written portion of the proposal should not exceed 12 pages (double spaced), including in-text citations and an appendix of mock-ups of your prototype (plus additional reference pages––you may choose whichever reference style you prefer, but be consistent throughout). It should have a clear title, thesis statement/main argument, and plan for roll out. The final version of this proposal is due on Monday, March 13 to the Dropbox on Learn; only one group member has to submit this to Learn, but please include all group members’ first and last names on the first page of the document and in the comments of the Dropbox on Learn. Presentations should be no longer than fifteen minutes, with ten minutes following the pitch for peer feedback and discussion, and will take place on Tuesday, March 7 and Tuesday, March 9 in class. Feedback from your peers should be incorporated, in some way, to the final proposal submitted on March 10.

Final Group or Individual Design Project and Presentation (25%)

Taking into consideration both my feedback and the feedback from your peers on your group’s proposal, your group will build on your prototype to:

1. Design and create a final artifact that offers some sort of response to the wicked problem that your group has outlined. This final artifact can take any form, from written text (a short story, an academic paper, a magazine op-ed, etc.) to audio-visual object, art, music, video, social media campaign, culture jam, public intervention, infographic campaign, video game, app, etc.
2. Prepare a short 3-4 page (double spaced) write-up to accompany the final product that discusses the rationale for the artifact that your group has designed. Think of this as a designer statement: if you were to explain this intervention to a public audience, what would you want them to know? What questions should this prompt them to ask? What next steps do you hope your audience takes?
3. Prepare a 20-25 minute presentation that: (a) shares the design artifact that your group has created; (b) brings us through the design process; (c) explains what you hope this design artifact will do to address the problem at hand and outlines what new ideals do you hope to set by putting this out into the world; and (d) opens space for a Q&A discussion.

A PDF or some sort of digital form (depending on your group’s final chosen artifact medium) is due to the Dropbox on Learn on March 31. Like the proposal, only one group member has to submit this to Learn, but please include all group members’ first and last names on the first page of the document and in the comments of the Dropbox on Learn.

Individual Design Reflections (15%)

Throughout the semester, you will have in-class time to reflect on the week’s content, documenting any ongoing questions, commentaries, processes, observations, challenges, insights, and reflections in relationship to our course readings, discussions, in-class design activities, and course assignments. Throughout the semester, you should be using both the in-class time and out of class time to document these thoughts, noting how you might revise and rework as you move forward in your own design activities. These reflections should include thoughts you have on the readings and how they apply to your own design experience as well as reflections on your own design method, process, ethos, mantra, and commitments. There should be more thorough reflections around each submitted assignment (in-class design activities; your co-facilitation experience; your group’s prototype and presentation and your thoughts on the feedback your group received; and your group’s final project and presentation and any thoughts around the discussion garnered around your wicked problem and the design artifact). Document these thoughts every week so that, by the end of term, you have a full and thorough document of your journey as you reflect on the digital design and implementation process and the insights gained from this creative and theoretical design experience.

The format of these design reflections can take any format you would like, from a personal blog to a social media account with images/reels/, to a written journal with doodles, etc. The final product is due to me (either digitally or in person depending on the format you have decided on) by April 7.

Attendance and Participation (10%)

The classroom is what we, collectively, make of it. Within this discussion and practice-based course, you are expected to attend class and actively participate in conversation. Although we all enter the room with various backgrounds, everyone is expected to raise questions of interest or uncertainty on a weekly basis in the hopes that this engagement will help to stretch our perspectives as students, researchers, writers, and human beings. To be marked as present you will be required to arrive at the start of the class and participate in discussion by speaking. This is an easy 10% of your final grade to achieve and helps you to remain engaged and connected throughout the term.

Each class period, use the following questions to help guide you through readings.  

For individual texts:

• What is the project? (Identify the genre, scope, aspirations, assumptions, style, politics)
• What is the argument? (Summarize the claims, supporting reasons, evidence—be ready to do so in a way that you could explain to a non-expert)
• What is useful in it? (Imagine the applications or uses of it—to what kinds of projects, in what ways, and to you specifically)
• What are its limitations? (Conceptual, empirical, rhetorical, political, ethical, aesthetic—what criticisms can we make of it?)
• How does it compare to other works (Put it into conversation with other texts and authors you’re familiar with and that we have read, drawing out comparisons and contrasts).

For the week’s readings as a whole:

• What are the key issues and concepts that cut across all the works? (If you were to boil down the week’s readings to their basic essence, what would you say? How would you complete this sentence: This week’s readings focus on…)
• What ideas particularly interest you this week? (Come in with a question or topic for discussion to help set our agenda—we’ll put these questions on the board and discuss together)

For peer feedback, consider:

• What further questions do you see coming out of the research/context your peers have shared?
• What points of interest jump out to you and seem worthy of further consideration?
• What are possible agreements and disagreements that you have about their wicked problem and the analyses they are presenting?
• What other components of the prototype might the group be missing? What is being considered that might be given even further emphasis by the group?

Course Schedule

General Course Policies

Accessibility: For students in need of accommodations, the AccessAbility Services office, located in Needles Hall, room 1132 (ext. 1401), collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations, please register with the AS office at the beginning of each academic term.

The university has recently implemented VIF.uwaterloo.ca, which provides a central portal for students to upload Verification of Illness documentation. In case of illness, please upload a completed VIF form through the Arts Accommodations and Illness page. Once your absence is over, we can, together, decide on the most appropriate way to account for any assignments missed during that period. 

Being other oriented: Thinking about our ethical engagements and building social awareness naturally requires thinking about other human beings. This class will encourage us to be “other oriented” and to communicate with care, respect, and concern for others. In short, we must be respectful of other students, the instructor, and ourselves in this course, in online written comments and video conversations. Failure to do so will result in not only a poor feedback grade, but also possible disciplinary action. You are expected to treat fellow students and your instructor with respect and conduct yourself ethically in class and during group work. This is not to say that you should be nervous or afraid to speak out during our classroom discussions; rather, it is imperative to that we are inclusive and keep discussions and assignments free from sexism, racism, discrimination, insults, and personal attacks.

A dialogical approach: This course works best when everyone is engaged in the discussion. I encourage you to ask questions, share experiences, and seek out help on assignments, preparation, and online activities. I also acknowledge that online learning can be very difficult, especially for a class like interpersonal communication, which warrants some sort of communication. However, I also want to underscore that your learning is your responsibility. I want to help you learn, but I cannot do that unless you advocate for your own education in this class and in the university more broadly. On this note, please check your UW email and Learn announcements regularly, as this will be how I communicate course updates to you.

Submission of assignments: All assignments must be submitted at the beginning of class on the due date as indicated in this syllabus. Late submissions will receive a 10% mark down for each day late. In the event of medical emergencies or other special circumstances, please contact me as soon as possible to make special arrangements and/or provide documentation. Documentation does not guarantee a release from the late penalty. All assignments should be typed, double-spaced, and as free as possible from spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. Assignments must be uploaded to Learn before the due date.

Research and documentation: Publications in the fields of English, Communication Studies, and Media Studies variously stipulate APA, MLA, and the Chicago Manual of Style as required research formats. In this class, you may choose any of the above listed citation styles, but please be consistent with your choice of citation style.

A note about grades: In terms of marking, I evaluate your work to see how it meets the expectations for that assignment, as outlined here in our syllabus. As such, I do not start with a score of 100 and deduct points from that 100. Rather, you earn points based on the expectations of the assignment. In this course, your work is evaluated based on the following: critical thinking, depth, organization, cohesiveness (the “flow” of your paper), creativity, and understanding of concepts. It is possible that your assignment may be strong in one of these areas, and not as strong in other areas. An “A” is awarded only when work is exceptional in every area. A goal here for us is to identity which areas are not as strong and to work together to improve those areas. Below you will find a brief explanation of each letter/percentage grade:

A (80-100%): The assignment is exceptional in all areas noted above (critical thinking, depth, organization, cohesiveness, creativity, and understanding of concepts) and in all areas specified in the assignment instructions. An “A” means that the assignment is excellent and that you have totally mastered the material.

B (70-79%): The assignment skillfully addresses all areas noted above and all areas specified in the assignment instructions, and a few areas may, indeed, be exceptional. A “B” means that all of the required work was done, and that it was done well. 

C (60-69%): The assignment addresses all areas noted above and all areas specified in the assignment instructions. A “C” means that the assignment met the expectations and that you did all of the required work at a level that was competent. 

D (50-59%): The assignment offers less than moderate attention to the areas noted above and the areas specified in the assignment instructions.

F (0-49%): The assignment fails to offer attention to any of the areas noted above and areas specified in syllabus.

If there are every any questions about grades, either before or after an assignment, or other course-related concerns, I encourage you to meet with me.

University Policies on Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity: To maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility.

All students at the University of Waterloo are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policies of this institution. What this means is that I expect that the work you submit is your own.  Cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, lying, fabrication, bribery, and/or threatening behaviours are not tolerated. Any written assignment that uses other sources without giving credit (e.g., referencing), or that is plagiarized in part or in its entirety from another source, including other student’s work, will receive a zero.

A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for their actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline.

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of their university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4.

Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than regarding a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline if a ground for an appeal can be established. Read Policy 72 - Student Appeals.

Student Resources

On Campus

GLOW Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity

Indigenous Student Centre

UW-BASE (Black Association for Student Expression)

International and Canadian Student Network

Student Success Office

Student Counseling Services

The Women’s Centre    

Writing Centre

Off Campus

SHORE Centre (Sexual Health, Options, Resources, Education)

SASC (Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region)

Healing of the Seven Generations  

Mental Health Support

On Campus

• Counselling Services:  counselling.services@uwaterloo.ca / 519-888-4567 ext. 32655
• MATES:  one-to-one peer support program offered by WUSA and Counselling Services
• Health Services: located across the creek from the Student Life Centre

Off Campus, 24/7

• First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line: Immediate help for all Indigenous peoples across Canada. Phone: 1-855-242-3310 or online chat at hopeforwellness.ca. Service available in Cree, Ojibway, Inuktitut, English, and French.

• Good2Talk: Free confidential help line for post-secondary students. Phone: 1-866-925-5454
• Grand River Hospital: Emergency care for mental health crisis. Phone: 519-749-433 ext. 6880
• Here 24/7: Mental Health and Crisis Service Team. Phone: 1-844-437-3247
• OK2BME: set of support services for queer teens in Waterloo. Phone: 519-884-0000 extension 213

Find a more comprehensive list of off campus mental wellness supports here.