rhetoric

which comes first?

Concepts of pedagogy are reflected in nearly everything I do that requires interaction with others, with technology, and with media in general. Having had a background in educational technology / instructional design/technology, I find that every decision I make in regards to technology comes down to a few basic questions that I ask of that technology:

What is its impact on the targeted audience?

Does it fulfill a need that is not otherwise fulfilled?

Am I engaging technology for the sake of the technology, or for the sake of improving communication?

Who does this implementation benefit?

What is the purpose of the implementation?

I think some of these questions come from my technology background, some arise from my rhetorical training. In all dilemmas, I am thinking about audience and purpose. While doing so, I’m considering new ways to engage my audience (whether that is in the classroom, at a conference, or with colleagues).

It boils down to the question of “Am I using the right tool for the right situation?”

I think, with all of the tools at our disposal, we often rush in without considering the need or purpose of the tool. Why should we? It takes 2 seconds to make it happen.

But the ramifications are that we may establish a foundation that leaks. If that technology is not kept up, if it is abandoned mid-building, what does that say to the authority of the developer, the construction of a cohesive identity, and the ability of us, as rhetors and instructors, to anticipate the needs of our audiences?

I love technology. I often rush into it with abandon when applying it to my own desires. This often helps me define how it will be used in a larger setting. When it comes to implementing it on a grander scale, especially in the classroom or for colleagues, I’m much more restrained and thoughtful, using the knowledge I’ve gained from personal use and interactions, to determine its purpose within the greater network.

Finally, I adhere to the adage that “just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.”

on rhetoric

No apologies to Aristotle. We can all write “on rhetoric,” can’t we? I mean, we could, if we wanted to. Some of us do. Those of us crazy enough to entertain a PhD in said field; crazy enough to spend an entire day reading assorted writings of Plato and Gorgias and Antiphon.

And speaking of Plato. I was actually cheering him on today. Oh, yes! He made a strong character of Protagoras. One of my all-time favorite speeches in classical Greek speeches that I’ve read so far. Seriously. Finally someone gave it to Socrates good. And Plato wrote it. BEST EVAH.

And that Antiphon. Writing imaginary judicial arguments. Seriously, the boy in the javelin argument wanted to kill himself by running IN FRONT OF A JAVELIN? There must be better ways to die. He killed himself? Oy. Made me laugh out loud at the absurdity of the argument. But it was well done. I give you that (in case you care, 2500 years in the grave).

new directions

With the changing of my blogging clothing, I’ve decided to add a bit of academia to my blog.

Above the first post on my blog, there is an announcement box. In this box, I will be posting rhetoric/composition/scientific & technical comm conferences and calls for proposals/papers.

Mostly this is for me, because I can’t keep up with all of the deadlines and opportunities. But I think it’s also a great way to share this with other people who might be interested in seeing what is available out there.

If you know of a conference / CFP in these areas, please send me an email. I’ll get it posted.

4C’s recap

On Friday I flew in to New Orleans for my first CCCC convention. It was my first conference in my chosen academic field (besides the little regional one we host), my first time with my advisor outside of school, and the first time that I’d be meeting other people in the field outside of those at the schools I had visited when researching doctoral programs.

I never get direct flights. Mostly that’s because flying out of Flagstaff isn’t conducive to that type of flying. We are on little twin-props up here that fly in to Phoenix Sky Harbor. From there, though, I’m almost always get a non-stop flight to my destination. Not so in the case of New Orleans. USAirways didn’t have any flights going there. None. So we had to fly to Houston. What a disaster of an airport. How many times do I really need to go through security? How far apart do terminals REALLY need to be? And if sitting on the tarmac for two hours, then being told we can’t get up to use the bathroom or the captain will have to pull over the plane and we’ll lose our spot in line, sounds like fun, I would gladly trade it for a drive. It would have been faster, I’m sure.

Our taxi driver was out to kill us. I know this because he turned up the stereo so we had to yell, then he proceeded to swing his van in and out of traffic, nearly hitting several cars, BEFORE asking us where we were going. Ahem.

What kind of airports and hotels don’t offer free wifi in this day and age? SkyHarbor gives free wifi. Not so Houston or New Orleans. Not so the Riverside Hilton. $14.95 a day? That’s highway robbery. Seriously. Get with it, people!

I love New Orleans. Even though it was muggy and hot, I love the city. There is an energy there that can’t be found anywhere else. The people are nice. The city is beautiful. It is just one of those places that I love to visit.

I’ve been reading others’ blogs on their CCCC experiences. There are topics on panels, on the 9th Ward tours, on the lack of wifi (seriously, this is an issue when you’re presenting on Internet-based technologies), and on the outcry of non-rhetoric/comp professors belittling rhet/comp people and/or CCCC. They are all interesting and insightful for me, since this was my first time there. However, the thing that struck me was the way panels / rooms were presented.

My room was supposed to have wifi. We had requested it and paid for it up front. We had presentations on Second Life, MySpace, and Bb Vista classrooms; we needed the access. Luckily, I had done screenshots to get ready for presentation and brought them along (I also did them for my advisor so she’d have hers).

Ok, fine. I know, working in the technology field, that quite often technology fails us. I can get over that. It’s really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. But what about boredom?

I’ve been to a LOT of conferences. A lot. Never have I been to a conference where people actually read their papers. I’m not talking just glancing down now and again to get the gist of the topic, but actually reading the paper from beginning to end. Reading it. Sometimes not even looking up at the audience. No engagement. None. Just post the thing up to the site and let me download the PDF. Seriously. I’d probably get more out of it.

Maybe I’m shooting myself in the foot here, but I don’t understand why we would read papers. Let’s engage one another. Let’s share the research findings of our respective topics and then discuss them. I don’t need to hear that all of your verb tenses are consistent or that you are a brilliant writer. Rhetoric, and composition, are more than that. It’s about communicating an idea. I want to know what you think about what you’re sharing. Talk to me.

And yet, I read my paper because that’s what is done. I did, however, try to engage our small, but interested, audience by speaking to them, talking about my images, and sharing with them the ideas behind my research.

In the end, a professor from one of the schools that I applied to came up and talked to me. She asked me if I was really going to Minnesota. I told her I was. She let me know that she had been asked to attend our session to see me. It seems that they were going to offer me a spot in their program. That’s a nice feeling. Out of the 5 schools I applied to, I was accepted into 4. The 5th one wasn’t really an option because it didn’t fit me. I applied because it’s a state school and it would be closer to home.

Our trip home was crazy. Five hours in the Houston airport (with no wifi). It was good, though, because my advisor and I really talked about us — shared things that we hadn’t talked about before. I consider her more than a mentor and advisor at this point. She’s a friend.

I’m already thinking about next year’s 4C’s. San Francisco, here I come!

tidbits

I wanted to share a few things, today, that I’ve been saving to share.

“Should buying sex toys be as easy as buying a gun?”

Yes, that is the byline to an image of a gun seller in response to the change in the Texas law allowing the sale of sex toys. Is there a disconnect here? Are sex toys *really* on the same level of destruction as guns? Don’t you love the pathos being employed in this situation?

Check it out at viz, where there is a whole blog post about it.

the way I am

I love this video/song because it’s really what love should be about. Things suck, but I still love you. You’re falling apart, I’m a mess, but I still love you. It’s not a conditional love.

the future of reputation

I haven’t read it yet, but I love that the entire book is online and I have the opportunity to read it this way. If you are interested in identity, reputation, technology, and / or law, you might want to check out this book by Daniel Solove.

youtube as portfolio

I was actually up late enough to see a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live (which is an odd occurrence for me because I don’t watch that show and I’m rarely up late enough anyway). However, what I did see, I really enjoyed. This young man, Brandon Hardesty, is using YouTube for his acting portfolio, and is being featured on Kimmel’s show. What a great use of social media.

This is something instructors should look in to for their portfolio needs. How can YouTube, blogging, wikis, podcasts, etc. be used to promote your students?

New Directions in Critical Theory

This conference, held at the University of Arizona in Tucson, has extended its call for papers. While the extension dates are not listed, I just received this on Friday from the University so I know that it didn’t close on the 15th. You may want to check it out if you’re interested in presenting a paper this year.

rh.et.or.ic

I’ve often talked about the fact that rhetoric is not just the language that politicians use to get your votes. The simple fact is, though, that this is the type of rhetoric that we most quickly recognize and are prone to see because it is so public. Plus, it is often so blatantly in-your-face that we’d be hard-pressed not to get it.

Yesterday Erin sent me an email link to a video that I found to be a GREAT piece of rhetoric. This video gets at the heart of what I’m talking about, and in such a way that you can’t help but feel SOMETHING (whether it is disgust, hilarity, sadness, or whatever). It is persuasive in a way that forces us to feel.

It’s not just about the words being spoken, it’s about the looks on the faces of the participants and the words being flashed on the screen. It’s about mockery and genuine belief.

What does it say to you?

superwoman

In the interest of fairness (and isn’t cool that states who haven’t participated in a caucus or primary yet REALLY do matter this election season???), I want to share this response to Obama’s Yes, We Can video. I think this is a beautiful tribute to Clinton and her dedication to healthcare for all Americans, something we desperately need.

This is another fine piece of visual rhetoric. I want to believe it can happen. I want to believe that the person we elect CAN bring us quality healthcare, a better environment, college tuition subsidies, and so much more. I want to believe.

Song was taken from the 2007 Alicia Keys album “As I Am”

Everywhere I’m turning
Nothing seems complete
I stand up and I’m searching
For the better part of me
I hang my head from sorrow
Slave to humanity
I wear it on my shoulders
Gotta find the strength in me

Cause I am a Superwoman
Yes I am
Yes she is
Even when I’m a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I’m a Superwoman

For all the mothers fighting
For better days to come
And all my women, all my women sitting here trying
To come home before the sun
And all my sisters
Coming together
Say yes I will
Yes I can

Cause I am a Superwoman
Yes I am
Yes she is
Even when I’m a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I’m a Superwoman

When I’m breaking down
And I can’t be found
And I start to get weak
Cause no one knows
Me underneath these clothes
But I can fly
We can fly, Oooohh

Cause I am a Superwoman
Yes I am
Yes she is
Even when I’m a mess
I still put on a vest
With an S on my chest
Oh yes
I’m a Superwoman

liberal arts

Who says that the arts and sciences don’t go together? That’s just silly. Ninety-six print makers developed a Periodic Table of Elements based on different types of print mediums.

This is pretty cool stuff. I love it when the arts and sciences can come together. As someone with both an english and geology background, I see the importance of having knowledge in both (as well as other) disciplines. It gives us a more well-rounded view of the world. It also allows us to give opinions based on knowledge that is more well-rounded.

So take a look. Check it out. You may see some great art that you like. You might also get caught up remembering all of those elements that you’ve forgotten over the years.

(link found via bionic teaching)

If that doesn’t do it for you, this video might. I thought it might interesting for you to see some of the things that I find interesting and the discipline that I’m working in. While this isn’t my school, nor is it a program I’ve ever taken part in, it’s a great overview of digital rhetoric and what that may (or may not) entail.

Thanks to lizlosh and UCIrvine.

yes we can

While I voted early (and the person I voted for has already dropped out), this would make me want to vote for Obama. Does that sound silly or misinformed? I read all of their websites and checked out all of their policies. They were too close to call on most issues. I’m way too liberal for mainstream. But man, oh man, this makes me want to believe (which tells me that it has GREAT rhetorical value).

Song & video, featuring a star cast, by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas. Inspired by Barack Obama’s ‘Yes We Can’ speech.

http://www.yeswecansong.com

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics…they will only grow louder and more dissonant ……….. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea —

Yes. We. Can.

identity crisis

I have recently been asked to present to several campus groups (at different times) regarding the issue of identity in social networks. I guess, in some way, I’m considered the campus expert on this issue because it is what I’m doing my research on and it is something I’m constantly thinking about, working on, and researching. One of the things that one of the groups asked me to cover is the issue of problems that we can create with a seemingly innocuous identity construction. In particular, it seems that they want me to use the scare tactics to show how dangerous it can be to do certain things with your online identity — how it can cause the loss of a job, the denial of credit, the missed opportunity of graduate school.

Phoenix news channel 5, KPHO, ran a segment at the end of November about some Phoenix area school teacher’s MySpace pages (you can see the video at the link and read the article). The first sentence of the article states

CBS 5 Investigates discovered some Valley teachers making their private lives public by posting them on the Web.

Our private lives have often been public. We go out to bars, hang out with friends, take pictures, do stupid things. The thing is, we’re now posting it on the Web where it can be found by nearly anyone. In the past, it used to be only the people who were physically present who could be a danger to our careers. Now it’s any person who gets upset by someone taking a drink, dressing in a silly costume, or flipping someone off. Unfortunately, the biased perspective of the reporter made this whole thing into a witch hunt.

Today’s NYTimes shared an article about Stacy Snyder, a 25-year-old student teacher who’s MySpace page had her dismissed from her student teaching program.

In the absence of strong protections for employees, poorly chosen words or even a single photograph posted online in one’s off-hours can have career-altering consequences. Stacy Snyder, 25, who was a senior at Millersville University in Millersville, Pa., offers an instructive example. Last year, she was dismissed from the student teaching program at a nearby high school and denied her teaching credential after the school staff came across her photograph on her MySpace profile. She filed a lawsuit in April this year in federal court in Philadelphia contending that her rights to free expression under the First Amendment had been violated. No trial date has been set.

Her photo, preserved at the “Wired Campus” blog of the Chronicle of Higher Education, turns out to be surprisingly innocuous. In a head shot snapped at a costume party, Ms. Snyder, with a pirate’s hat perched atop her head, sips from a large plastic cup whose contents cannot be seen. When posting the photo, she fatefully captioned her self-portrait “drunken pirate,” though whether she was serious can’t be determined by looking at the photo.

This kind of snap judgment on the part of a school worries me. I know that the students in my classes have had MySpace and Facebook pages. I have seen some of them. I know that some of them have created YouTube videos. I have seen them. While I would not put up the same things on my pages, I understand why they are doing it. I have a feeling that if I had had access to the Internet when I was younger, I may have been doing the same thing. I wouldn’t have been thinking about the consequences but I would have been thinking about having fun and enjoying my time with my friends.

They are adults. They do need to take responsibility. However, I also believe that we, as a society, need to lighten up. We are so judgmental about these kinds of things. We are so hypocritical about them. I can bet that the same people who are angry about a young woman being photographed with a cup in her hand have probably had a drink or two in their lives as well. Heck, I’ve been out drinking with some of my instructors. It made me like them more because I knew that they were just like me–human, fallible, flawed, and fun.

I’m not a first grader or the parent of a first grader. I know that my view may be skewed because of that. But there needs to be a balance. Or do we have to start hiding everything? Are we going to go back to J. Edgar Hoover’s time when we had to be secretive about everything so we wouldn’t be brought before Congress, and yet the very man doing the hunting had his own skeletons?

Online identities do need to be considered. We also need to be a bit more balanced and less reactionary.