Course Description
Fall 2007
F 11:30am -2:20 pm
BRNG B275
Contact Information
Professor: Samantha Blackmon
Office: 302B Heavilon Hall
Phone: 494-3742
Email: blackmos@purdue.edu
Office Hours: 10:30-11:30 T & 2:30-3:30 F
Course Syllabus On-line at: http://www.digitalparlor.org/fa07/blackmon1
(Syllabus and Calendar are tentative and subject to change. Please check on-line syllabus for latest changes. Any hard copy may be obsolete, so be sure to bring it with you to each class to record all changes.)
Course Description:
This studio goes beyond the traditional seminar model by not only investigating contemporary theories of media and media making but by actively producing new media. Readings and discussion topics will bring up questions such as “What is the New Media?”; “Why blogs, wikis, and podcasting?”; “When did virtual worlds and video games become educational?” and many others.
WRITING DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS
Late assignments will not be accepted under any circumstances. Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period and if you do not complete all of the assignments you CAN NOT successfully complete the course.
Assignments for this course will include weekly response assignments (6@5=30), one response with presentation (10), a group project (10) and a studio project/portfolio with presentation (50).
GRADING SCALE
Your points will be translated into
percentages; your final grade will be calculated according to the
following percentage scale:
100-90 A
89-80 B
79-70 C
69-60 D
59-below F
BLOGGING
It is expected that you will write blog entries and respond to those of your colleagues at least once a week. Summaries of the books and/or essays do not constitute acceptable posts. Feel free to use your posts to discuss the subject at hand, draw connections to other things you have seen and read (both online and off), rage against an idea, or respond to someone else’s entry. These posts are considered an integral part of class participation. Posts made en masse at the end of the semester (or at any other time) will not be considered valid.
CLASS PARTICIPATION & ASSIGNMENTS
This is one of the most important components to the success of the course. All reading and outside assignments are to be completed prior to class. This means reading carefully and critically, bringing materials to class, and coming prepared to engage with the ideas and your class. Each student is required to prepare a 15-20 minute presentation based upon one of the texts. This presentation can be a response based solely upon what is covered in the course or course texts and specific areas of interest (i.e. video game theory and the representations of people of Middle Eastern descent in video games since 9/11) (see schedule for details).
ATTENDANCE
Attendance is welcomed, expected, and mandatory. To best utilize our time, come to class on time. You are considered absent if 1) you are more than 15 minutes late and/or 2) you are unprepared for class. You may miss one session without penalty. For every class after the first one, I will lower your final grade by five percent. After two absences you must attend a conference with me to discuss whether you should continue in this course. Three absences constitute automatic failure of the course.
CONFERENCES & CONTACT
I am open to discussing matters pertaining to the course, readings, and your writing; please feel free to contact me via email or phone as well as in person. I hope you will also take advantage of my office hours and email.
PLAGIARISM
Cheating: All written work
submitted for a grade in this course must be the product of your own
composition. Ideas generated due to reading and group discussion may
provide the inspiration for your work, but should not be the sole ideas
represented. With collaborative projects, of course, ideas should be
representative of the group’s work.
Plagiarism is the act of
presenting as your own work another individual’s ideas, words, data, or
research material. The concept applies equally to written, spoken, or
electronic texts, published or unpublished. All ideas and quotations
that you borrow from any source must be acknowledged: at a minimum, you
should give the name of your author, the title of the text cited, and
the page number(s) of the citation. The only exceptions to this
requirement would involve what is familiar and commonly held (e.g. the
fact that the earth is round). You should know that penalties for
plagiarism are severe and can entail suspension from the University.
Students are responsible for reading and understanding the University
policy on Cheating and Plagiarism set forth in Purdue University’s
Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students available at http://www.purdue.edu/odos/admin/bacinteg.htm.
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR
Insults, slurs, or attacks of any kind will not be allowed in my class. Any student who engages in this type of behavior in the classroom will be permanently removed from the class. In other words, forced to drop the course, in addition to other possible punishment given by Purdue University (See the Purdue University Student Code of Conduct (Available at http://www.purdue.edu/odos/administration/codeconduct.htm). In order to have an effective teaching and learning environment we must practice both respect and tolerance, without question.
THE WRITING LAB
The Writing Lab (Heavilon 226) is a superb resource. The staff is willing to help no matter what stage you're at in your paper, from brainstorming to putting on the final touches. Since writing a good paper entails having other people looking at it and giving you feedback, visits to the Writing Lab are highly recommended.