Mary Kalantzis and Bill Cope, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, On Globalisation and Diversity
Abstract: Mary Kalantzis's plenary address at the 2005 International Conference on the Humanities (Cambridge, U.K.) argues that globalization and diversity ground the world of our times. The article expands on this notion as Kalantzis and co-author Bill Cope describe three instantiations of globalization since the evolutionary processes of human beings began. The third globalization of which we are a part today, they argue, is characterized by layers upon layers of difference. These layers, moreover, are supported through new media and the Internet—and may indeed return us to “multilingualism, divergence, and enduringly deep diversity.”
Madeline Sorapure , University of California, Santa Barbara, Text, Image, Code, Comment, Writing in Flash
Abstract: Closely analyzing the software with which we write can help us understand what writing means today inside and outside of the classroom. An analysis of Adobe Flash shows that writing plays diverse and important functions in a program that is mostly known for multimodal composing. Writing happens in Flash as text, image, code, and code comment, and in each of these categories we see writing being transformed and redefined.
Robert E. Cummings, Columbus State University, Coding with Power: Toward a Rhetoric of Computer Coding and Composition
Abstract: This article explores the connection between computer programming (coding) and traditional composition. It first looks at how a discussion about adopting the open source community's copyleft publishing model suggests a deeper parallel between coding and composition than has been previously acknowledged. By repositioning the rhetorical triangle as a coding triangle, the article argues that the act of writing programs for a machine informs the process of constructing an audience, in traditional composition. To better inform the act of how a traditional writer invokes an audience, the article summarizes how Walter J. Ong has characterized this process. The article then examines how Claudia Herbst's portrayal of the cultural power of computer code raises questions as to how computer users similarly invoke an author. It also briefly considers how computer programming texts have characterized coding as an act of writing. Next the parallels between coding and composition and their treatment thus far in composition literature and new media theory are considered. The article considers Alfred Kern's work in employing BASIC programming to teach grammar and composition and then offers suggestions for thinking of new ways that a knowledge of coding can inform the teaching of writing. This article concludes with guidelines for writing teachers who wish to incorporate computer coding into their curriculum.
Rena Helms-Park and Paul Stapleton, University of Toronto at Scarborough, How Views of Faculty Can Inform Undergraduate Web-Based Research: Implications for Academic Writing
Abstract: The steady increase in the use of Web sites as sources in undergraduate research-based papers has raised concerns about the suitability of these reference materials for citation and about the ability of undergraduates to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate sources in academic writing. While informal means of evaluating Web sites are in existence, there is a need for Web-source assessment criteria that not only focus on the use of these particular sources in introductory undergraduate writing programs but also closely match the requirements of faculty within a specific academic field. This paper identifies elements of a prototypical rating instrument for students in Humanities courses based on the results of a three-part survey of faculty members in a Humanities Department (N = 31) and highlights the divergence between criteria that faculty found crucial and those that many undergraduate students appear to be using in their Web-based research.
Patricia Rose Webb, Arizona State University, Reconceptualizing Classroom-Based Research in Computers and Composition
Abstract: In this article, Webb maps out three dominant forms of research that have been undertaken in the field of computers and composition—theoretical, case studies, and limited quantitative. She then identifies a fourth mode that has begun to appear—a multimodal approach. Arguing for ways in which this method could help us answer research questions that have been previously unanswerable by other research methods, she calls for the field to reconsider incorporating this multimodal approach more within our research studies.
S. Louisa Wei, City University of Hong Kong, & Huaxin Wei, Simon Fraser University, Uncovering Hidden Maps: Illustrative Narratology for Digital Artists/Designers
Abstract: Interactive narratives have greatly changed our experience with story and storytelling. For a digital artist/designer, learning narrative techniques derived from fiction and film is crucial, as such techniques not only address the audience's reading/viewing habits but also are useful in breaking down a narrative into elements for the process of organizing/programming. This paper introduces an illustrative guide of narratology concepts for digital artists/designers, media students, and the like, and methods of uncovering the “hidden maps” in various kinds of narrative.
