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Course Description

In "Writing in an Electronic World," you and your classmates will test the proposition that the World Wide Web provides an excellent forum for public discourse, a place where participatory democratic practices challenge the lulling effects of mass media, where action in writing (including and especially yours) triumphs over the passive consumption of information. The Web's most important function, argue the proponents of radical democracy, is its provision of a place where we "commoners"--everyday persons of different political persuasions--reason together (in writing) in order to define and advance the common good. Over the course of the semester you will examine this proposition critically, noting both the potential of Internet writing and its limitations as a forum for public discourse. You'll "train" for Internet writing by studying prose techniques as follows: "closed-form," evidence-driven writing; "open form" or experience-driven writing; response-garnering, interactive writing. We'll talk about how community values and invoked authority influence a reader's perception of what "good" writing is, and you'll examine carefully your own resistance to and uneasiness with the value systems and writing practices of communities you are unfamiliar with. Because September 11 has made clear to all of us our woeful lack of familiarity with the conditions giving rise to acts of global or local terrorism, our semester's work will focus on written conversations about terrorism, Afghanistan, Islam, and the myriad of issues these broad topics give rise to. We'll make every effort to access community discourses outside of mainstream America and diverging from American perspectives. Readings will be both Web retrievable and on reserve. By the end of the semester you will have located several Web sites that provide rich reading and examples of excellence in public reasoning, you will have developed a taste for writing in communities whose values and assumptions differ from yours, and you'll have located places to publish your writing.

Texts and Resources

Packet of readings on reserve - Zimmerman Library
Links to required readings
Links to Web publications and forums
Course Listserv