ENGL 108D F22 Meaning

University of Waterloo Department of English ENGL 108D – Digital Lives Fall 2022, Online

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised and given to Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River

Instructor Information

Instructor: Lindsay Meaning

Email: lmeaning@uwaterloo.ca

Digital Office Hours: Fridays 10am-12pm on Discord, or by appointment.

Course Delivery

This course will be delivered fully online through LEARN, as well as the course server in Discord. The assigned weekly readings will be available in the content modules on the LEARN course site, and the relevant recorded lectures will be posted to LEARN by the Monday of each week. Our class discussions regarding the course material will take place on the class Discord server, which will also host my office hours, a space for chatting with your fellow students, and channels to coordinate group work.

You can join the Discord server using this link: https://discord.gg/WvVW2ytMXu

Course Description

In this course, you will explore the impact that digital technologies and media have on our lives and our communities. How do we represent ourselves and interact with others online, and what do we mean by “digital lives”? How do the technical affordances of online spaces shape the way we use them? What is the divide between the “virtual” and the “real”? Who owns the data we share on the internet, and what do they do with it? This course will address these issues and others, while helping you to develop your skills in academic writing, reading, research, and thinking.

This is a reading intensive course, in which you will be exposed to a variety of different academic and journalistic perspectives on new media, digital spaces, and technology. You will practice drawing connections between these different perspectives, as well as expand upon them with your own ideas and experiences. You will learn how to develop essay topics, how to construct powerful arguments, and how to support those arguments with research and evidence. You will also practice thinking and writing reflectively about your experiences, as well as work with other students to produce a creative digital project.

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes

By the end of this class, you will be able to:

• Understand theoretical, critical, and popular discourses concerning new media and digital lives.
• Analyze and interpret practices of self-presentation and the socio-cultural implications of participatory cultures in digital spaces.
• Conduct academic research to plan, outline, compose and revise a scholarly research essay.
• Apply course concepts to your own digital life, engage critically with digital culture and artefacts, and practice reflective writing about your experiences.
• Collaborate with other students in the production of a digital artifact and critical analysis

Required Texts

There is no required textbook for this class. All readings will be linked to in the syllabus and/or posted on LEARN.

Course Requirements and Assessment

Every assignment that you submit to the dropbox should be carefully revised and polished. Assignments should be written in Times New Roman, 12 point font, MLA 8th Edition format with 1 inch margin.

Please submit assignments in .docx or .pdf format, except for creative projects which can be submitted in the format most appropriate.

Assignments

Reading Responses (4 x @5% each) - 20% (Week 2 – Week 12)

1-2 pages each

Over the course of the semester, you will complete four reading responses that engage with the course material by responding to, expanding upon, and/or connecting the ideas presented in the weekly readings. You will be able to choose which weeks to submit a reading response according to your interests and schedule; reading responses should be submitted no later than the Friday of your chosen week

Research Essay:

Research Essay – 20% (Due: November 11)

5-6 Pages

As your major individual assignement for this course, you will complete a scholarly essay which showcases your ability to conduct effective research and analysis on the practices, objects, or artifacts of digital lives. For this essay, you will develop, research, and pose an answer to a question about digital lives, drawing on a minimum of 4 appropriately documented academic sources. The topic you choose to write about can belong to any of the themes we’ve discussed throughout the course, or any other intersection of the digital with our lives and communities.

Essay Proposal – 5% (Due: October 7)

1 page

You will prepare and submit a formal proposal for your research essay. This proposal will include a statement of the topic you’ve decided to explore, a working draft of your thesis statement, and a rough outline of the major arguments you intend to present.

Annotated Bibliography – 10% (Due: October 21 )

2 pages

In preparation for your research essay, you will write an annotated bibliography in which you present four academic sources that you plan to use in the creation of your project. For each source, you will briefly summarize its main argument and state how the source will be useful in constructing your own argument.

Critical Media Group Project:

Digital Artifact – 15% (Due: November 25 )

You will work with your assigned group to create some kind of digital artifact: a small game, a podcast, a let’s play video, a video essay, a collection of digitally manipulated images, a story crafted through the interaction of different social media accounts, etc. You can be as creative as you’d like in coming up with a project idea, and you should make sure to draw on the various skills and talents of your group members in creating your submission.

Your digital artifact will investigate one of the themes, issues, or topics that we have discussed throughout the course, and should present some kind of implicit argument about that topic. The digital artifact should be at least 5 minutes long if it is in video or audio format, or should require roughly the same amount of time to explore if it is in another form.

Artifact Analysis – 10% (Due: November 25 )

2-3 Pages

Along with your digital artifact, your group will submit a critical analysis that describes the creative intent of your project, as well as what your project argues about the theme, issue, or topic that you have chosen.

Project Process – 5% (Proposal Due: September 30 (2.5%); Check-In Due: Oct. 28 (2.5%) )

1 page per process document

As you work on your critical media project, your group will submit two process documents. The first document will be a proposal for your project, where you present the topic you have chosen, the form your project will take, and the statement or argument that your digital artifact will make. Your second process document will be a check-in, where you outline the progress your

group has made, any changes that you’ve made to your project since its proposal, and any

obstacles you’ve faced as a group along with how you have overcome them, or how you plan to.

Unplugging Diary & Final Reflection - 10% (Due: December 6)

3-4 Pages

Your final assignment will take the form of a personal record and reflection. You will be asked to “unplug” (to the best of your ability) from your digital life for a period of at least 24 hours. You will keep a diary of this experience, recording your experiences and the success (or lack thereof) of your unplugging attempt. You will then write a reflection on the experience, exploring your own digital life in relation to some of the topics we’ve discussed during the course.

Participation & Engagement (5%)

Your participation and engagement grade will be based on the quality and quantity of your contributions to the weekly class discussions in the Discord server. These contributions included responses to the questions I pose, on your engagement with the other students in the course, and on your general comments on the course material. A detailed rubric for participation and engagement will be provided.

Course Outline

Late Work

Late submissions will be penalized 2% per day late, including weekends. Extensions may be given on an individual basis and may require documentation; please contact me as far in advance as possible if you require an extension.

Institutional-required statements for undergraduate course outlines approved by Senate Undergraduate Council, April 14, 2009

Academic Integrity

In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. See the Office of Academic Integrity webpage for more information.

Discipline

A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. Check the Office of Academic Integrity for more information. 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. For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Grievance

A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt, please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Appeals

A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72 - Student Appeals.

Note for Students with Disabilities

The AccessAbility Services office, located on the first floor of the Needles Hall extension (NH 1401), collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AS office at the beginning of each academic term.

Mental Health Support

All of us need a support system. The faculty and staff in Arts encourage students to seek out mental health supports if they are needed.

On Campus

• Counselling Services: counselling.services@uwaterloo.ca / 519-888-4567 xt 32655