113A  Calendar 

Fall 2021

Week 1

August 31, Tuesday:  Introduction of class members and syllabus/course.

Read Top Six Digital Transformation Trends In Media And Entertainment (Online) from Forbes Magazine.

Watch these Ted Talks: 

 

 

Homework:

 

September 2, Thursday:

September 7, Tuesday: Group discussion on the article: “Smarter than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better”. Each group will take up an issue from the reading and present in the class.

In-class writing: Compare and Contrast Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Clive Thompson’s “Smarter than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better,” and Two Ted Talks: Do all of three make the same argument? Where do they agree and disagree? Is there any difference in the point of view or tone or argument/s? If they agree, why do you think they do, and if not, why not?

Next, we will generate a list of potential research topics in the class.

Some potential Essay Topics:

Education and Digital Media

Google and Attention Span

Upsides and downsides of Unlimited data storage

Increasing military technology and world peace

Nanobot drones and future of warfare

Fashion and Digital Media

Copyright and Digital Media

Race, Gender, and Digital Media

Digital Media and Advocacy

Privacy and Surveillance

Finally, we will return to the assignment sheet and review the expectations for the essay.

Homework:

Write a letter to a friend this time describing your response to Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Post your letter to Canvas by Wednesday Midnight, September 8.

Read and write a precise summary (500 Words due to Canvas by midnight Wednesday, September 8) of Kevin Kelly’s “Better than Human: Why Robots will—and Must—Take our Jobs”  

September 9, Thursday:

Group Discussion on Kevin Kelly’s “Better than Human: Why Robots will—and Must—Take our Jobs”

Discussion Questions on the Reading:

1. Kevin Kelly argues that machines will eventually take over many of the jobs that we now perform. This scenario may seem dire, yet he doesn’t appear at all worried. To the contrary, in fact. Why not? Find statements in the article that explain his attitude.

2. Though he acknowledges that some of his ideas are “hard to believe,” Kelly does not begin by saying explicitly what other ideas or assumptions he’s responding to. How does he begin, and how does that beginning set the stage for his argument?

3. Nicholas Carr is less optimistic than Kelly about the future impact of technology. Who do you find more persuasive, and why?

4. How do you respond to human relationship with robots, summed up into four categories in a chart in the article? Do you agree or disagree to his categories and why?

5. How do you respond to Kelly’s “Seven Stages of Robot Replacement”? Can you think of any real life examples where some jobs went through those stages? Explain.

Homework: Further research the topics/ideas we discussed in the class. Also, explore other possible topics on emerging technologies and media. You should be able to decide and pick a topic by next week.

Week 3

September 14, Tuesday:

Workshop on finding, contextualizing and evaluating sources for Progression 1 essay: We will take a tour through the library databases to see which ones might best serve our unit inquiry.

Homework:

1. Start drafting the essay—at least three paragraphs—for the beginning, middle or end of the essay. While doing that keep in mind that your writing goal in this progression involves deeply engaging with the arguments of the shared texts, and developing a position(s) of your own.

 

September 16, Thursday:

1. 1 min idea sharing on your essay topics
2. Analyzing the beginning and conclusion of two sample essays (download from Canvas)

Homework:

Read chapter 26, “Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing” (pp. 541-554) from Everyone’s An Author.

Now by using three shared texts and at least one secondary source, compose the first draft for Progression 1 essay. Make sure you keep in mind techniques of “quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing” as you compose the essay.

Week 4

 

  Week 5

September 28, Tuesday:

 

September 30, Thursday:

 

Week 6

October 5, Tuesday:

October 7, Thursday: 

 

Week 7

October 12, Tuesday: 

 

October 14, Thursday: 

 

Week 8

October 19, Tuesday:

October 21, Thursday:

Come to regular zoom class

Unit 3 begins–

Screening of a video clips related to American Dream: 

Review the assignment sheet for argument essay. Discuss Paul Krugman’s “Confronting Inequality.”

Rhetorical Reading of Paul Krugman (Group Activity)

Homework: Read and summarize in 300-500 words Tim Roemer’s “America Remains the World’s Beacon of Success”; Shayan Zadeh’s “Bring on More Immigrant Entrepreneurs” (PDF in Canvas) ; and Gary S. Becker and Kevin M. Murphy’s “The Upside of Income Inequality”. Look for instances of claims being made and supported—analytical claims, argumentative claims, explanatory claims. Summary due to Canvas Assignment link by Sunday, Oct. 24).

Week 9

October 26, Tuesday:

October 28, Thursday: 

 

Week 10

November 2, Tuesday:

 

November 4, Thursday:

 

Week 11

November 9, Tuesday:

No Class–Data Collection: Conduct Interviews, Visit your Sites or Conduct Surveys to gather first-hand data sources for your essay.

Homework: Based on data collected and sources found, draft first 4 pages of your essay. 

 

November 18, Thursday

 

Week 13

November 23, Thursday

 

November 25, Thursday

No Class–Thanksgiving

Homework: Revise your draft based on my feedback.

December  2, Thursday

Portfolio Workshop.

Homework: Read Chapter 37, “Assembling a Portfolio” from Everyone’s An Author (pp. 809-817), and use ideas to organize your portfolio.

Week 15

December 7, Tuesday

Put together portfolio. Write Course reflection.  Finalize your Argument Essay

December 9, Thursday

Course Evals. Final Q&A

Your Portfolio is due in Canvas on Monday, December 13. Your Argument Essay is also due to Canvas on December 13.

Your final portfolio should contain electronic copies of your three polished essays (Review Essay final draft, Rhetorical Analysis Essay final draft, and Argument Essay final draft) and a 2 double-spaced reflection on the entire semester–what you learned and how, what readings stood out, and what assignments and writing and research activities benefitted you the most. Upload those pieces through Canvas link.    

 

 

113A  Calendar  Summer 2021 Week 1 June 22, Tuesday:  Introduction of class members and syllabus/course. Read Top Six Digital Transformation Trends In Media And Entertainment (Online) from Forbes Magazine. Watch these Ted Talks:

Homework: June 23, Wednesday: June 24, Thursday: Group discussion on the article: “Smarter than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better”. Each group will take up an issue from the reading and present in the class. In-class writing: Compare and Contrast Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Clive Thompson’s “Smarter than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better,” and Two Ted Talks: Do all of three make the same argument? Where do they agree and disagree? Is there any difference in the point of view or tone or argument/s? If they agree, why do you think they do, and if not, why not? Next, we will generate a list of potential research topics in the class. Some potential Essay Topics: Education and Digital Media Google and Attention Span Upsides and downsides of Unlimited data storage Increasing military technology and world peace Nanobot drones and future of warfare Fashion and Digital Media Copyright and Digital Media Race, Gender, and Digital Media Digital Media and Advocacy Privacy and Surveillance Finally, we will return to the assignment sheet and review the expectations for the essay. Homework: Write a letter to a friend this time describing your response to Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Post your letter to Canvas by Saturday Midnight, June 26. Read and write a precise summary (500 Words due to Canvas by midnight Monday, June 28) of Kevin Kelly’s “Better than Human: Why Robots will—and Must—Take our Jobs”   Week 2 June 29, Tuesday: Group Discussion on Kevin Kelly’s “Better than Human: Why Robots will—and Must—Take our Jobs” Discussion Questions on the Reading: 1. Kevin Kelly argues that machines will eventually take over many of the jobs that we now perform. This scenario may seem dire, yet he doesn’t appear at all worried. To the contrary, in fact. Why not? Find statements in the article that explain his attitude. 2. Though he acknowledges that some of his ideas are “hard to believe,” Kelly does not begin by saying explicitly what other ideas or assumptions he’s responding to. How does he begin, and how does that beginning set the stage for his argument? 3. Nicholas Carr is less optimistic than Kelly about the future impact of technology. Who do you find more persuasive, and why? 4. How do you respond to human relationship with robots, summed up into four categories in a chart in the article? Do you agree or disagree to his categories and why? 5. How do you respond to Kelly’s “Seven Stages of Robot Replacement”? Can you think of any real life examples where some jobs went through those stages? Explain. Also watch this Ted Talks and Discuss it: Don’t Fear Intelligent Machines Work With Them    Finally, workshop on finding, contextualizing and evaluating sources for Progression 1 essay: We will take a quick tour through the library databases to see which ones might best serve our unit inquiry. Homework:

1. Start drafting the essay—at least three paragraphs—for the beginning, middle or end of the essay. While doing that keep in mind that your writing goal in this progression involves deeply engaging with the arguments of the shared texts, and developing a position(s) of your own.

June 30, Wednesday:

1. 1 min idea sharing on your essay topics
2. Analyzing the beginning and conclusion of two sample essays (download from Canvas)

Homework: Read chapter 22 “Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing” (pp. 541-554) from Everyone’s An Author. Now by using three shared texts and at least one secondary source, compose the first draft for Progression 1 essay. Make sure you keep in mind techniques of “quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing” as you compose the essay. July 1, Thursday:   Week 3 July 6, Tuesday: July 7, Wednesday: July 8, Thursday: Week 4 July 13, Tuesday:  July 14, Wednesday:    July 15, Thursday:  Week 5 July 20, Tuesday: July 21, Wednesday: Unit 3 begins– Screening of a video clips related to American Dream: Review the assignment sheet for argument essay. Discuss Paul Krugman’s “Confronting Inequality.” Rhetorical Reading of Paul Krugman (Group Activity) Homework: Read and summarize in 300-500 words Tim Roemer’s “America Remains the World’s Beacon of Success”; Shayan Zadeh’s “Bring on More Immigrant Entrepreneurs” (PDF in Canvas) ; and Gary S. Becker and Kevin M. Murphy’s “The Upside of Income Inequality”. Look for instances of claims being made and supported—analytical claims, argumentative claims, explanatory claims. Summary due to Canvas Assignment link by Wednesday, July 21). July 22, Thursday: Week 6 July 27, Tuesday:    July 28, Wednesday: July 29, Thursday:   Week 7 August 3, Tuesday: August 4, Wednesday August 5, Thursday Week 8 August 10, Tuesday Homework: Revise your draft based on my feedback. August 11, Wednesday Portfolio Workshop. August 12, Thursday Finalize your essay. Put together your entire portfolio. Your Portfolio is due in Canvas on Monday, August 17. Your Argument Essay is also due to Canvas on August 17. Your final portfolio should contain electronic copies of your three polished essays (Review Essay final draft, Rhetorical Analysis Essay final draft, and Argument Essay final draft) and a 2 double-spaced reflection on the entire semester–what you learned and how, what readings stood out, and what assignments and writing and research activities benefitted you the most. Upload those pieces through Canvas link.        

Jane Partizpanyan: https://jpartizpanyan.wixsite.com/website-5

Jocelyn Heredia: https://jocelynheredia.wordpress.com/

Ruth Morales: https://ruthmorales327.wixsite.com/website

Jasmin Solorzano: https://jasmincabrera2475845.wordpress.com/blog/

Celeste Rodriguez: https://celcii.wordpress.com/

Dianna Lopez: https://diannalou.weebly.com/

Michael Tran: https://michaeltran506564986.wordpress.com/blog/

Trevor Hock: https://trevorhock373271871.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/blog-2/

Patrick Rosapapan: https://pjr249451488.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/blog-2-2-04/

Juan Hernandez:  https://juanhernandez904816494.wordpress.com/

Christine Vartanians: https://christinevartanians.wordpress.com/

Jake Gilbert: https://jakegilbert30423186.wordpress.com/

 

Week 1/Jan 25 (Synchronous Class)

1. Introduction to course syllabus.  
2. Setup of initial website: 1. create pages, create posts–connect pages with posts and other pages.2. Embed video/images, embed scribd doc. 3. Order menu, create sub-menu (parent-child), customize header, color, fonts, themes. 4. Add widgets–blogroll, Twitter, recent posts/comments. 5. Post bio.
3. Introduce podcast assignment.
4. Individual student research: What is digital publishing? Gather as many insights and ideas as you can from any possible sources on digital publishing.

Homework: Identify a particular aspect of digital publishing that you want to produce a 5-min podcast for. Readings assigned for next class (Feb. 1) could be instrumental for finding a topic for your project.

Week 2/Feb. 1 (Asynchronous Class)

Read these articles and write and post a blog response (Blog Post #1) to your site :

1. “English: The Future of Publishing” (PDF in Canvas)
2. “Publishing without Walls: Building a Collaboration to Support Digital Publishing at the University of Illinois” (PDF in Canvas)
3. “The Center that Holds: Developing Digital Publishing Initiatives at the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship” (PDF in Canvas)

Homework: Read the following articles/chapters on aurality/sonic rhetoric  and write and post a blog response  (Blog Post # 2) to your personal site:

Cynthia Selfe. “The Movement of Air, the Breath of Meaning: Aurality and Multimodal Composing.” (PDF in Canvas)

Mary Hocks and Michelle Comstock. “Composing for Sound: Sonic Rhetoric as Resonance” (PDF in Canvas)

Week 3/ Feb 8 (Synchronous Class)

1. Discussion on the assigned readings:

–Questions on Cynthia Selfe’s “Aurality and Multimodal Composing” 

• What is Selfe’s main argument?
• What are stakes for teachers and students in privileging print only in the academy? 
• How did aurality lose its space in the university curriculum? 
• What was the role of aurality in college composition classrooms from the mid-nineteenth century onward? In what forms did aurality persisted in college composition classrooms? 
• How did different minority communities (African American, Hispanic, American Indian) retain aurality in their cultures? Think of some concrete examples. 
• What set the grounds for the revival of aurality/multimodality in the early 21st century college composition classrooms? Scholarship? Technologies? Cultural Ecology? 
• What are some common audio assignments the article discusses? What others could be included in the list? 

—Questions on Hocks and Comstock’s “Sonic Rhetoric as Resonance” 

• What is sonic literacy, and what is sonic rhetoric? Define based on your reading of the article. 
• How does the article define resonance? 
• What are three modes of listening? How are they different from each other?

2. Listen to this audio file as a sample of audio composition. Pay attention to the number of sound sources and think about the ways it would be different if it was in a video form.

Audio Only Documentary podcast samples:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nq0lx/episodes/player

3. Workshop on GarageBand—sound recording, mixing, editing.

4. Publishing Podcast–Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pandora

5. Scripting Podcast

Blog Post 2 Due

Week 4/Feb 15 (Asynchronous Class)

Complete Podcast Script

Compose and edit podcast

Publish podcast at least on 3 platforms

Homework:

Blog Post 3 Due before next class

Read this article, and write and publish a blog response (Blog Post # 3) on your personal site: 

“Participatory Video: An Apparatus for Ethically Researching Literacy, Power and Embodiment” (PDF in Canvas)

Week 5/Feb. 22 (Synchronous Class)

Presentation of Podcasts

Introducing video narrative assignment

Discuss “Participatory Video” article

Intro to Imovie and Camtasia: voice over, transition, editing, recording narrative on GarageBand

Homework: Collect more visual sources on your chosen topic; interview at least 2 people who can speak knowledgeably on your topic, and repurpose the  podcast script for a video narrative

Week 6/March 1 (Asynchronous Class)

 Put together your video narrative. Upload video to YouTube and also embed it to your personal site.

Week 7/ March 8 (Synchronous Class)

Video narrative presentation in the class

Introducing magazine publishing group project

Magazine Design Group formation (4-5 students per group)

Homework:

1. Read these chapters from Magazine from Cover to Cover and write and post a blog response (Blog Post # 4) to your site:

Chapter 6: Conceptualizing the Magazine: Formulas for Success (142-168)

Chapter 9: Molding the Magazine’s Content: Editorial Style (pp. 220-245)

Chapter 10: Creating the Magazine’s Look: Design for Readability (pp. 248-283)

2. As a group, start to generate ideas for the type of magazine you want to produce (identify the topic for your magazine), based on the project requirements. Some potential topics could include: cooking, crafts, travel, music, beauty, celebrities, fashion etc. Please keep in mind, as a team, you will assume different roles as a company employees: publisher, writer, editor, research assistant, art director, editorial assistant, circulation manager and so on.

Complete and publish blog post 4

 Week 8:Spring Recess (March 15-21)

 

Week 9/March 22 (Synchronous Class)

Discuss assigned chapters from the textbook.

Discuss potential topics for magazine projects 

Analysis of some sample magazines:  Learn about magazines by looking through several of them and then decide what the topic of your group’s magazine project will be.

Homework: 

1. Conduct some market research and identify your potential audience: Search products and services currently on the market, analyze data, and make decisions about your own products and services based on what kind of content is missing in the market. 
2. Read these chapters from Magazine from Cover to Cover and write and post a blog response (Blog Post # 5) to your site: 

Chapter 3: The Magazine as a Marketplace: The Role of Advertising (pp. 46-64)

Chapter 7: Magazine Business Plans: Determining the Bottom Line (170-191)

Chapter 11: Manufacturing the Magazine: the Production Process (pp. 286-304)

Chapter 13: Moral Frameworks: Codes of Ethics (pp. 340-348)

Week 10/March 29 (Asynchronous Class)

As a team, decide on your magazine topic, content, audience, and special features (Special features refers to the specific types of content likely to always engage their readers (e.g., surveys or polls, fun facts, opinion pieces, informative articles etc.)–

In other words,  discuss magazine research, potential content types, target audience, and special features, among other things, for your magazine.

Homework: Decide on the topic for your argumentative and informative article. Start researching the topic and collecting sources for both types of article. 

Week 11/April 5 (Asynchronous Class)

Write your argumentative and informative articles. Here are some quick notes about argumentative and informative articles:

1. An argumentative article makes a claim, which it supports and defends with logical argument based on evidence. Some examples include  writing a letter to a store praising a new product or service, an article criticizing a decision made by their mayor, or an organization taking a stand on an issue and defending that stand. 
2. An informative writing is constructed entirely of facts. These facts must be accurate because informative writing is meant to educate the reader. Examples of informative writing: the user manual that comes with a new phone, a social studies text book, or a city guidebook, or articles about global warming, or a news article on recent events.  Keep in mind that every topic your group works on must relate directly to the overall theme and content of your magazine. As such, Informative articles  don’t report breaking news as it happens. Instead, they take time to try to explain why something is happening–they aim to inform readers.
   

Homework: As a team, collect and finalize your content for the magazine, and then divide responsibilities for designing the pages of your magazine (at least 5 pages per person). Individually, complete your argumentative and informative articles. Also, research, gather, and create photographs, graphics, and other images, which will appear with your argumentative and informative articles. Keep in mind visuals are used to inform, illustrate, decorate, and entertain in ways that are relevant to the articles they accompany. The way they interact with articles and other textual features defines the magazine’s visual style. You must provide captions to each of the visuals you use in your magazine.

Week 12/ April 12 (Synchronous Class)

1. Workshop on InDesign

2. As a team, design your magazine pages (including ads). 

3. Plan your magazine ads using these questions:

Magazine title/theme:—————————————————————————-

Product or Service I will advertise:———————————————————

Technique I will use: Pathos———     Logos————-       Ethos—————-

Target Audience:————————————————-

Catchphrase:—————————————————-

Describe what the ad will include:

Homework:

1. As a team, design your cover pages (front and back cover). 

Your cover must include:

• A title
• A cover photo/background 
• Several story-line titles (which of the stories do you want to highlight on the cover)
• Issue date
• Issue price

2. Also, decide your page map:

Sample page map from local lifestyle magazine:

Front cover

Ad 

TOC 

Ad  

News Briefs 

Column: heart disease

Dance/music/mix master

American politics

Column: Election Worries

Feature: Ferry Speeds Commuters

Ad

Feature: Home Theater How-To

Ad

Feature: Rebuilding River city

Column: Computer viruses    

Column: Movie Review 

Movie ad        

Back Cover

Some Ground rules for organizing the content:

1. Table of Contents must come before all other editorial material
2. Inside Front and Back covers should only include ads. No articles or other text go on the inside front cover or the inside back cover. This space is reserved for advertisements.
3. Competing advertisements should not go right next to each other. Coke and Pepsi would not be happy! 
4. Place advertisements in the most appropriate positions. For example, an ad for a movie should be placed near a movie review.

Please be ready to present your magazine in the next class.

Presentation Guidelines:

 I. Make slides on the topic, audience, market need, your magazine’s content, its organization, and promotion strategies

II. Please keep in mind that your audience for presentation are store owners who could be carrying or selling your magazines.

Week 13/ April 19 (Synchronous Class)

Presentation on Magazine design

Introduction to Digital Archive Assignment

Homework: Read these chapters from No Nonsense Guide to Born-Digital Content and write and post a blog response (Blog Post # 6) to your site: 

Chapter 2: “Selection” (pp. 31-50)

Chapter 3: “Acquisition, accessioning and ingest” (pp. 53-85)

Week 14/April 26 (Asynchronous Class)

Meet as a group and discussion the assigned readings in light of the digital archiving project. Work on the project. Also discuss and identify a topic, object or a collection of objects for digital archiving. Also discuss and divide work among members.

Homework:

Read these chapters from No Nonsense Guide to Born-Digital Content and write and post a blog response (Blog Post # 7) to your site: 

Chapter 4: “Description” (pp. 87-107)

Chapter 7: “Designing and implementing workflows” (pp. 153-162)

Chapter 8: “New and emerging areas in born-digital materials” (pp. 165-174)

Week 15/May 3 (Asynchronous Class)

Start to put together the archive. Provide contexts, history, evolution and metadata to the objects. Organize the content and complete all the sections of your website.

Also, individually, complete your 1-minute course reflection video and  your digital portfolio. Digital portfolio is due together with the digital archive project on May 10.

Week 16/May 10 (Synchronous Class)

Digital Archiving Presentation. Digital Portfolio Demo. Digital Archives and Portfolios due on 15, May.

 

Digital Portfolio Assignment

Magazine Design and Production Assignment

For this group assignment, you will come up with your own magazine topic and title; research and write an argumentative article, an informative article, and few advertisements; create or identify photographs and other graphics; and create a cover, and table of contents. As a group, you will also present your magazine to the class. Throughout the project, you share responsibilities and assume a variety of work roles, such as staff writer, copyeditor, researcher, and members of the advertising, public relations, and human resources teams.

You must use InDesign for this assignment for ALL layout and type although the label and other graphical elements may be created in some other design tools such as Canva and Photoshop. For design ideas, you can visit Behance or dribble.

Your required pages (10 pages) must have a minimum of  500 words as paragraph text so these pages will be text “heavy” although they should include photographs, graphics, and/or illustrations for visual interest. You must complete your own photographs, graphics, and/or illustrations. You must also collect sources and data through interviews, field visits  or library research to gather information for the argumentative and informative articles you will write for your magazine. The additional pages may be primarily photographic with a small amount of type.

A Note on Typography:

• You may not use a highly stylized or decorative font for this assignment.
  
• You may not use pure center alignment for your text.
• Think of your typography as part of your design and not as an element added after you have completed your illustration or photograph.

Required Elements

• Title of magazine
  
• Month and year of magazine
  
• Page numbers
  
• Article headline
  
• Article subhead
  
• Author of article
  
• Credits as needed
  
• Pull quote
  
• A minimum of 500 words as paragraph text
  
• Photographs of related items
• Argumentative article and informative article (one each per student)
• Commercial ads (2 original and a few reproduced) with texts and slogans accompanying advertising visuals. 
• Special features: op-ed pieces, news articles 
• Thorough Copyediting
• Artworks (photos, graphics, illustrations etc.) and captions
• Page size: 8” (w) x 11” (h) with a 0.5 margin
• Magazine cover design with its visual identity in mind. Your cover must include this info: a title, a cover photo/background, several story-line titles (which of the stories do you want to highlight on the cover), issue date, and issue price

Specifications: Required software techniques

• Master Pages with page numbers, magazine name and month
  
• Paragraph Styles
  
• Columns or guidelines per page
  
• Bleed
  
• Named layers
  
• Placed text and linked text boxes
  
• Hanging punctuation: Story > Optical Margin Alignment
  
• All blank pages removed
• Page size: 8” (w) x 11” (h) with a 0.5 margin and 0.125 bleed. 
• Color: CMYK
•  Resolution: 300 dpi 

Personal Research

Each student is expected to complete personal research for the assignment. These are LinkedIn Learning  recommended tutorials (accessible to all CSUN students).

 

• Designing a Magazine Layout by Nigel French
  
• Magazine Design Start to Finish: The Cover by John McWade
• InDesign CC 2020 Essential Training by David Blatner 

You will deliver a 10-minute group presentation of your magazine project to the class assuming that your audience is a group of store owners who would be carrying and selling your magazine. You will assume the role of a circulation manager and map out  a marketing plan for distributing your new magazine.

Once all done, you will host or publish you magazine on Flipsnack or Magcast (premium service) and host it in iTunes and Android.

 

Digital Archive Assignment

This is a group project. In a group of 4, students will choose a topic or a collection of objects, such as phones, laptops, tablets computers, books, typewriters, any physical media or new media, to archive using digital tools. As a group, you will construct a digital archive of chosen objects with your group in a website created in WordPress or any other platforms of their choice. You can pick a collection of objects from the Media Archaeology Lab. Examples range from traditional visual archives such as the Rossetti Archive <http://www.rossettiarchive.org/index.html>, which examines manuscripts, to media archaeological archives like the cuneiform project, which compares new media to ancient technology, to the e-lit archives which house entirely born digital content. As a group, you will consider whether it is better to photograph or video your collection of objects, how to do so, and how to describe them. The final product will be a webpage that contains a combination of visual and written documentation that digitally archives the object/s. Your webpage will also provide contextual and historical details about your collection of objects. Topics to consider addressing in the written portion include:

1. What is the history of this collection of objects?
   
2. What is the physical experience of interacting with it?
   
3. What type of social/political implications does this collection of objects have?
   
4. If you were choosing to display this collection of objects how would you? Would you have other objects nearby? Would you put it in another place in MAL? Why?
   
5. What is the difficulty in representing an object in the online/through words?
   
6. What are the possibilities (and perhaps failures) this collection of object presents?
   
7. How does this compare to similar objects (today and in the past)?
   

The basic requirements an archive should address are:

1. Background research information on each object you have in the collection (manufacturer, dates etc)
   
2. Size/dimensions
   
3. Documented experience with the object
   
4. Understanding of where this object is in the history of media
   
5. Visualization

The minimum word count is 10,000 words. I expect students to do above the basic requirements and engage with some of the above questions. Discuss these in your groups. Think about how you want to present this information on a webpage (we will workshop this as well). Imagine how your viewers will understand the difficulties of learning to turn something on or off if it is older for example- how will you represent that? 

Each website should have sections or pages on the following:

1. Introduction – This page should introduce site visitors to the main project you are working on. Length: 250 words

1. Information: You should have a space in which you provide images and basic information (metadata) to help orient your reader about your objects. Example include size, weight, approximate price, programs available, configuration, date of creation, secondary literature available on it. Accompanying this include photos which support the evidence you have gathered.
   
2. History: Give a brief history of your collection of objects. The length may vary depending on the age and complications within the history itself. Make sure to cite secondary sources. Length: minimum 1500 words, maximum 2000 words (approximately)
   
3. Concepts: Have sections or pages dedicated to discussing and critically engaging with concepts or theories. You can use the concepts from our book: No Nonsense Guide to Born-Digital Content.  Each group should have discussion of 5-7 relevant main concepts. Each concept should be approximately 500-700 words. Try to have 2 concepts per group member (although you can collaborate on this).
4.  Mission Statement, Collection Policies,  and Principles of Acquisition: Your archive should articulate these clearly and precisely. Please read the assigned chapters in the book for ideas on how to draft them.
5. Reflection: I want students to keep track of their progress on this assignment. Reflection should include the following:
   (A)  First impressions- what are your initial reactions to the collection of objects and the assignment?

(B)  Difficulties encountered- what difficulties are there in describing or working with your collection of objects? What difficulties are you having with learning about your collection of objects?
(C)  Information-How are you searching for information on your collection of object?What difficulties or successes are you having?
(D)  Website creation- How are you planning on using visual rhetoric? What are some of the problems with your website? How are you allocating work?

For this project, you will produce a 5-mins video narrative explaining an aspect, issue or question related to the course topic–Digital Publishing. Remember you are addressing the same set of questions but in a video format in this assignment. The prompts from podcast assignments are below for your reference:

1. What was your understanding of digital publishing before enrolling in this class?
2. What is your current experience of digital publishing?
3. In what ways did the readings change your view of digital publishing?
4. Why is digital publishing significant?
5. Where are we with digital publishing and where should we be and why?
6. What are some of the challenges of digital publishing?
7. What are the benefits and downfalls of digital publishing?

Your video should incorporate a good amount and variety of sources—alphabetic texts (articles, newspaper editorials etc.), audios, videos, still images, interviews, animations and visual resources, among others- and be organically composed. It should also demonstrate your knowledge or learning of a number of techniques, such as handling video camera, still camera, interviewing people, incorporating voice-over into the film and/or editing skills. The juxtaposition of different texts and narrative voice and their organic unity will be the key evaluation criteria for your project. Your project should also reflect your understanding of audience, textual cohesion, and ethical treatment of sources etc.

You need to write a script for the video narrative before putting everything together in I-Movie, Adobe Premiere Pro (accessible to all CSUN students through CSUN softwares), Camtasia (free to download to CSUN students) or any other movie making programs. You can work from podcast script, but please keep in mind that because it’s a visual medium, you will have to repurpose it for a different audience and context, and you will also need to collect a lot of visual resources to make it engaging for your target audience. And, you must secure permissions for all materials used in your project, and you must give credit for all materials used in your project.

Outcomes
You will demonstrate skills in audio and video recording and editing to create a rhetorically effective text.

You will talk in a generally knowledgeable way about video texts, how to compose them, and how they are structured in terms of compositional elements.

You will demonstrate a consideration of purpose, information, audience, and other rhetorical elements (context, source, stance, persuasive strategies/appeals etc.), as it they relate to your narrative topic.

Video Narrative is due for presentation and in canvas on March 8.

For this project, you will compose a short (5 minutes) podcast on any aspect, issue or question related to digital publishing using GarageBand or Audacity in the style of radio programs in NPR. In your podcast you can address the following questions: 

1. What was your understanding of digital publishing before enrolling in this class?
2. What is your current experience of digital publishing?
3. In what ways did the readings change your view of digital publishing?
4. Why is digital publishing significant?
5. Where are we with digital publishing and where should we be and why?
6. What are some of the challenges of digital publishing?
7. What are the benefits and downfalls of digital publishing?

Please try to be comprehensive in your responses since you will be using the ideas generated for this assignment also for the video narrative assignment. In your podcast script, you don’t need to answer these prompts in a chronological order. These prompts are just to help you gather ideas. You can choose to organize your script any way you want.

In the podcast, you will also make creative use of sound effects, music, silence, and any other audio tools at your disposal to communicate your ideas.