Goals

Students in this course examine numerous issues about the role that technology plays in business and technical communication, including the shifting nature of literacy and rhetorical representation in the digital age, and the persistent tug of older analog technologies. The course places equal importance on theoretical and practical understandings of how new technologies help shape the rhetorical decisions of technical communicators in an increasingly electronic workplace.

Course Content

During the semester, students will read five books covering various theoretical aspects of communication technology and respond each week in two ways—by participating in class discussions and by writing short essays analyzing the authors' claims about technology. A longer research paper is due in the 14th week of the semester, followed by an XML authoring project for which students will prepare by reading shorter PDF articles in tandem with other assignments. Two silent films that reflect early impressions about technology—Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera—will also be shown during class.

Technology Project

In addition to the above readings, students will gain practical experience with XML authoring technologies by creating a single-source version of the department's Graduate Student Handbook. This ungraded project will allow students to collaborate with a specific XML technology widely used for documentation within business and technical communication.