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Literary Kinds
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genre proposal: historical precedent
This is Draft 2: (For Draft 1 and notes, as well as everything written below and more, go to my blog entry "new genre proposal: editable")
I would like to propose a look at the historical 'growth' of genres. Looking at some different, widely accepted 'genres' and their changes over time. With six weeks, a look at three different 'genres,' giving two weeks to each would be proposed, although of course this is not strict. We would be asking the questions of what changed? What grew, what remained the same? Are these two even the same genre? and whatever other inquiries come to mind. Would we read academic criticism?
![sgb90's picture sgb90's picture](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/572dc89488386acd5872915e5e434a92.jpg?d=https%3A%2F%2Fserendipstudio.org%2Fexchange%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2FSerendipStudioAvatar.png&s=85&r=G)
A Reality Hunger Proposal
David Shields, who argues that, "the history of art is the history of appropriation," has just released a new book entitled Reality Hunger: A Manifesto. The book is made up of aphorisms, fragments of texts, and mini-essays. Its formlessness conveys the author's purpose to defy the traditional genre of novel. As a book review in the Guardian points out, "More problematically, Reality Hunger also celebrates plagiarism as a literary tool." Over half of the book is deliberately composed of other people's thoughts. This would be an apt book for us to explore given recent questions raised in our class discussions concerning originality, authenticity, and "remix" as a cultural phenomenon.
See the book review in The Guardian for more background:
![TPB1988's picture TPB1988's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-713.jpg)
Graphic Novel Proposal
For the next half of the semester I think it would be a great idea to focus on graphic novels because they provide an excellent mix of modern storytelling with depth. I think I can safely speak for the class when I say that everyone has done the classics novels at least at one point in their lives.
![jrf's picture jrf's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-633.jpg)
intellectual property & where do we go from here - 2/25 class summary
We began with some questions that were posted online for Nicole and Jen:
Did either of them feel any worry about posting their work on the internet, where future employers could find it?
Nicole didn't feel much concern but wondered if she should, mentioning her middle-school Myspace that's still online; Jen plans to work in the digital humanities, and so feels it's great for her to have an online presence. Nicole adds that most people's names are all over the Internet in places they didn't put it on purpose (Bi-Co articles, etc.).
![Shayna S's picture Shayna S's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-614.png)
Science Fiction and the Multi-Genreverse of Doom
This is not just about Star Wars, Dune, or exploding spaceships. This is not just about scantily-clad princesses in high-tech towers, Captain Kirk, or the robot apocalypse. Science-fiction is a genre that encompasses almost every other genre there is. It crosses mediums: television, radio, video games, books, graphic novels, comics, movies... It can be about the future or the past, our humanity or lack-there-of, or the comedy or drama or dramatic comedy of our lives.
![spleenfiend's picture spleenfiend's picture](/exchange//files/images/SerendipStudioAvatar.png)
our next topic? who knows!
Right now I'm leaning toward studying graphic novels. Webcomics are a logical progression from blogs, and we could discuss comics vs. graphic novels (I don't actually know anything about this). We could study graphic novels like Persepolis, young adult graphic novels, and maybe manga. I don't actually know too much about western graphic novels (beyond Johnny the Homicidal Maniac...), so this would be a learning experience for me to an extent. Also, if we did superhero comics (I don't know much about these either), we could discuss how the concept of the hero is perceived over the years (and maybe across mediums).
![Jessica Watkins's picture Jessica Watkins's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-690.jpg)
The Next Step--Curriculum Possibilities
A couple of ideas for our curriculum after spring break:
1) Graphic Novels: Much of what we've studied with blogging involves visual components (i.e. pictures like in the travel blogs we read). Graphic novels such as Persepolis, Mouse and Watchmen would allow us to explore more of this visual side of learning and discussion. Pieces like Persepolis would also allow us to study visual learning as an international phenomenon, considering that we did not really delve into any international blogs but mainly concentrated on those based in the US.
![rmeyers's picture rmeyers's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-691.jpg)
summary/notes of Day Eleven class
We started with a big topic: "internet and intellectualism" and the shaping of both... The idea of global information, global academics.
![sweetp's picture sweetp's picture](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c6a39c781973e4d1d1c1465bc17cb1fa.jpg?d=https%3A%2F%2Fserendipstudio.org%2Fexchange%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2FSerendipStudioAvatar.png&s=85&r=G)
summary for class last thursday 2/18
-there were many hell week interruptions, including: frequent manical laughs and a ghost reading bad poetry
-our guest that day was Paul Robstein, who started off with a silly little poem
-at first, I was confusing 'b-ing' with 'being'
-he asked us why we talked vs. why other people talked
-a horse whinny interruption
-asked us why we read and write
-then, a hellee performance interlude: an argument, then another poem and finally a condom application lesson
-robstein said another poem
-discussion of intersections
-"Keep your mouth shut unless you know what you're talking about" -Ludwig Wichenstein (I agree[ed])
-Life is mundane until you delve into it-- then, it's constant excitement
![Anne Dalke's picture Anne Dalke's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-39.jpg)
About on-line conversation: how to make it work?
I wanted to tease out here a couple of things that have been emerging in the in-my-brain intersection of our last two class sessions: Paul Grobstein's conversation about conversation, and Tim Burke's description of the evolution of his blogging persona.
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Easily Distracted on Feb 23
The class was visited by the Easily Distracted "citizen intellectual", Professor Tim Burke. Several questions were asked and topics covered:
![sgb90's picture sgb90's picture](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/572dc89488386acd5872915e5e434a92.jpg?d=https%3A%2F%2Fserendipstudio.org%2Fexchange%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2FSerendipStudioAvatar.png&s=85&r=G)
re-thinking originality
I have been re-thinking my thoughts on originality and its cultural connotations, especially in light of the recent readings. I realize that I have been somewhat indoctrinated by the romantic, yet still prevalent (despite the influence of postmodernism) notion of originality being the attribute of the solitary, creative genius. I think, as a cultural ideal, we still have the tendency to make the individual monumental, to emphasize the individual discovery of an idea while neglecting the influence of countless others in the emergence of that idea.
![nk0825's picture nk0825's picture](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/322c7ca59b97e6cc256b8751523ed502.jpg?d=https%3A%2F%2Fserendipstudio.org%2Fexchange%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2FSerendipStudioAvatar.png&s=85&r=G)
The Rare Defense of Wikipedia
As I was reading the Digital Humanities Manifesto I found myself respecting the authors who wrote it and intrigued by their rational. I thought that some of the statements made were rather bold. For example, "The digital realm [is] open source, open resource...anything trying to close space is the enemy." I think it may be a bit extreme to call anything trying to somewhat privatize the internet an enemy, yet I do believe it can be moreso something of a progress blocker?
![Molly's picture Molly's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-689.jpg)
Putting it all out there
I think it's great to post papers online. When Paul Grobstein visited our class last week, he talked about how "chatter" is what gets things going. If you submit a paper just to your professor, there's no room for chatter between anyone but you and the professor, and that probably isn't a good thing. You need more ideas. Posting a paper online grants access to anyone who cares to read what you've written, and that may be a bigger audience than you think. Personally, I like people reading my writing and giving me criticism on it, so why not open that up for more?
![spleenfiend's picture spleenfiend's picture](/exchange//files/images/SerendipStudioAvatar.png)
posting online
I definitely prefer posting essays online to handing them in to only the professor for a number of reasons. For one, in most classes, I've never been able to see what my classmates are writing - unless the purpose was to "peer edit," which, in my opinion, just turns into students trying to find flaws with papers just so they'll look like they did their homework. There is more room for finding grammatical errors to look like a know-it-all than there is to discuss new ideas. That sounds really bitter, but I swear I don't mean it like that. I don't hate peer review because someone was mean to me about grammar.
![Jessica Watkins's picture Jessica Watkins's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-690.jpg)
Class Summary for 2/23/2010--Tim Burke's visit
Today's class started out relatively normally--students pulled their desks into the usual, haphazard semi-circle, Anne set up her laptop and the familiar task of "coursekeeping" began. The class discussed the experience of putting their papers online (for many it was the first time doing so) and talked about technical difficulties to do with formatting, inserting pictures, etc. Anne commented on how the class discussion online, as well as the papers' role in it, is better than "slipping a paper under a door," and how "we're shaking up this backroom activity known as peer review." Aseidman dropped her role as a "scribe" due to one too many students signing up for the job, and Tim
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Conversation on Blogs
At first glance, blogs appear as only a medium, a different method to present textual information. I once possessed this narrow view of blogs, and saw them as simply a new way of expressing oneself: once written in a journal, diaries had now moved to the internet forum. I wasn’t considering the comprehensive scope of blogs in the beginning; now it is clear to me, through reading the analyses of blogs, such as in jo(e)’s posting, that blogs are actually an emerging genre.
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more chatter: thoughts on the digital humanities manifesto
The Digital Humanities Manifesto sounds rather extreme at first site, and I can't help thinking that at times, the language may not be one hundred percent clear, but I also think arguing with how something is written goes against the point of the article. We talk a lot about making things accessible, but I think it might be obvious that nothing can be accessible to everyone. The importance of putting everything out there, no matter what it is, is becoming more and more clear to me, partially due to the Manifesto and partially due to our last class discussion about "chatter."