This is a one-semester, writing-intensive course that will help develop your rhetorical analysis and critical thinking skills. In this course we will examine the intersecting themes of Culture, Media and Identity and attempt to answer some perplexing questions, such as:

• How do we define ourselves? What sorts of things make up who we are and what happens to our sense of self when those signifiers are not available to us?

• How do we determine what is "real"?

• How is knowledge and information disseminated in our culture and how does that affect our sense of reality?

• What influence do various media have upon the way we process knowledge and information in our culture?

In the first unit of the course we will read several essays that reflect upon issues of identity and representation. We will then explore the virtual reality space of the OldPuebloMOO and experience first-hand what happens to our sense of self when we remove ourselves from tangible surroundings and interact in a virtual/textual environment. This exploration will lead to the first unit project, which will require you to construct your "identity" in a space on the OldPuebloMOO and follow that construction with an essay that critically analyzes the spatial metaphors you used and how those metaphors represent aspects of your identity/self.

We will spend the second unit of the course exploring American culture and communication. We will examine how we interact rhetorically with various media (i.e. printed text, music, film, art, the web, etc.) and how such media influence the way we understand and communicate within our culture. We will read the works of cultural theorists such as Marshall McLuhan and Jean Beaudrillard and study Don DeLillo's novel White Noise as a text in a variety of contexts.

I will also be encouraging a great deal of experimentation with syle and form during the semester, so do not be afraid to open yourself up creatively and have fun.

Please click here to fill out an introductory questionnaire and technology survey.