T Blog

In this course, we are examining the ways in which technology is reshaping the relationship between reader, writer, and text, and the role of women’s voices in the digital revolution. The semester-long research and writing project you challenge you to explore and respond to a chosen topic related to social computing as a means of empowerment for women and other marginalized groups. After your individual conference with me the week of March 6, you will not be able to change your topic.

Social computing includes but is not limited to: blogs (weblogs), bulletin boards and forums, chat rooms and text chat, e-learning and distance education, email and email lists, file-sharing, instant messaging, online collaboration tools, online auctions, recommender systems and online reputation economies, RSS, social bookmarking, online social network services, podcasting, tagging systems and “folksonomy,” virtual worlds (including massive multi-player online games and non-game worlds), Web 2.0, and wikis.

Empowerment in general means increasing the economic, political, social, or spiritual strength of individuals or communities, and often involves overcoming barriers, biases, or inequities. See the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy for feminist perspectives on power.

Here are four guiding questions that you need to think about when selecting the question you want to explore:
1) Is your question/issue/focus something that people can and do debate?
2) Is your question/issue/focus important? Why? To whom?
3) Is this question/issue/focus big enough—can you make it big enough to matter?
This is the big “So what?” of writing.
4) How does what you are saying contribute to the pre-existing conversation/debate about this issue?
You probably will not be able to answer these questions immediately, but keep them in mind when you select an area. Do not write about something that is self-evident and most people know about already.

Your final instructor draft will be a 15-20 page research essay which states and supports your complex, debatable claim (thesis statement) about some aspect of the topic–in what particular way you think a form of social computing empowers, fails to empower, or both empowers and disempowers women or another marginalized group. You’ll write multiple drafts over the course of the semester, refining your research question, defining your topic and your thesis statement, conducting library research, and incorporating feedback from your instructor, your peers, and tutors at the writing center as you revise your long writing project. Since good writing is about process as much as product, students must attach to their completed work all preliminary notes, drafts, peer reviews and instructor feedback—everything which led to the final draft.
Terms:
Popular magazines are targeted at the general population and often cover current news or popular interest. The authors are not necessarily scholars or experts in a specific field and the articles are not usually peer reviewed. (Popular magazines usually also have pictures.) Examples: Bitch, Ms., Wired.
Scholarly and professional journals present in-depth research in a specific field. The articles have usually been reviewed by other scholars in the field to meet certain standards for validity. Articles usually have abstracts and cite sources. (Scholarly and professional journals usually do not have pictures.) Examples: Frontiers, Women’s Studies, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communications.

And, as I’ve also told you in the syllabus:

Peer Review. In addition to writing drafts of the semester-long project, each student will be responsible for completing in-class peer reviews for their classmates. I will be looking at these reviews for thoughtful, honest, enthusiastic, and constructive dialogue between two writers.

When a peer draft is due, that means that you have to bring a first (or rough) draft of the essay to class to use in peer review; another student will read it but it will not be graded.
When an instructor draft is due, bring in a revised draft of the essay to give to your instructor. Attach your peer draft and any peer review or other feedback you’ve received.

For your semester-long project, always bring a printed copy to class and submit it online through Blackboard as a Word (.doc) or Rich Text (.rtf) file. Any sources you use should be documented in MLA style. You are responsible for consulting A Writer’s Reference to correctly cite any texts that you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or borrow ideas from in your writing and research drafts. Dictionary and encyclopedia articles are not acceptable sources for your writing and research project.

Assignments are due at the beginning of class. Drafts and other writing assignments will drop a letter grade for each day they are late. Computer crashes and lost or damaged files are not acceptable excuses for late assignments. Back up (save) your document every 5 to 10 minutes while working on the computer. Print out the day’s work before you log off or shut down the computer, or at the very least, email a copy of it to yourself.

Remember that the Writing Center has a trained staff of student tutors who can work on-on-one with you with all phases of the writing. To make an appointment, drop by the Center for Writing building on Blake Street or call 358-2412. You are required to attend one appointment at the Writing Center. (At your request the tutor will email me to confirm your attendance at the appointment.) You can also make additional appointments to meet with Writing Center staff whenever you like.

All students will be held strictly accountable for adhering to Keene State College’s policies regarding academic integrity (see your ITW 101 syllabus, the College Catalog, or the Student Handbook).

Please note that your work may be randomly selected for review for the purposes of assessing the effectiveness of the Integrative Studies Program. Your work will be reviewed only by faculty responsible for assessing the effectiveness of the Integrative Studies Program, and your confidentiality will be maintained.