We are in the epoch of simultaneity: we are in the epoch of juxtaposition, the epoch of the near and far, of the side-by-side, of the dispersed. We are at a moment, I believe, when our experience of the world is less that of a long life developing through time than that of a network that connects points and intersects with its own skein.
                                                            --Michel Foucault

All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered. The medium is the massage. Any understanding of social and cultural change is impossible without a knowledge of the way media work as environments.
                                                             --Marshall McLuhan

This is a writing-intensive course that will help develop your rhetorical analysis and critical thinking skills. In this course we will examine the intersecting themes of Identity, Media and Space. We will explore how both physical and virtual spaces affect our sense of self and how different media environments affect the way information and ideas are communicated in our culture.

People traditionally characterize themselves in socio-historical terms, defining their experiences along a linear pathway that extends out from the past and into the future. In emphasizing the linearity of our lives, we often neglect to consider how our spatial surroundings affect us: how we situate ourselves in various spaces and how we communicate through the spaces that separate us and bind us together.

We will begin the course by analyzing the physical and social spaces of our lives and read essays that reflect upon space/place by a variety of authors and theorists. We will then explore the virtual reality space of the OldPuebloMOO and experience first-hand what happens 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.

In addition to examining physical and virtual environments, we will spend the second unit of the course exploring the way media work as environments. In this unit we will explore how we interact rhetorically with various media (i.e. printed text, music, film, art, the web, etc.) and how such environments influence the way we understand and communicate within our culture. Within this exploration we will examine the effects/possibilities of alternative spaces for writing as well, such as MOO essays, pop culture mediums, hypertext, etc.

The project for the second unit will consist of two parts. The first part will require you to choose an issue or event and write an essay about how that issue/event has been communicated/discussed/explored through at least four different media environments. The second part will require you to contribute your perspective on the issue/event you wrote about by creating a "text" using one of the four media environments you chose to analyze.

The semester will come to a close in the form of a portfolio in which you will include your major projects as well as several small writing assignments and a cover letter that reflects upon your portfolio materials and you experiences in the class.