Texts

Horn, Robert E. Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21^st Century.  Brainbridge Island, WA: MacroVu, 1998.

McCLoud, Scott.  Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.  1993.  NY: HarperCollins, 1994. 

McLuhan, Marshall, and Quentin Fiore.  The Medium is the Massage.  1967.  Corte Madera, CA: Ginko P, 2001.

Additional texts will likely be required; there are some new publications coming out this fall that I want to look at before assigning.  Web material will be assigned when possible in order to keep costs down.

Course Material can also be accessed via Blackboard: http://blackboard.ndsu.nodak.edu

Course Description and Objectives

This is a new course in the NDSU English department curriculum.  It has more in common with courses like creative writing and intermediate composition than it does with literature courses—it focuses on students producing texts rather than consuming texts.  But anyone interested in the study of literature also needs to understand literature in the context of contemporary, visual culture.

The course is intended to help students learn the vocabulary of visual language, and in turn help them learn how to read and produce visual communications.  The course will be writing/design intensive: students will do very little traditional kinds of writing assignments, but will regularly be asked to communicate in a visually and verbally effective way.

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

•     explain visual culture and language to friends and family (because visual culture is a great topic for conversation at parties), as well as explain it to the instructor

•     analyze print and screen forms of communication with precision, drawing on the vocabulary and frameworks introduced in the course.

•     produce effective visual communication in print and on the screen related to personal, professional, and/or educational goals. 

Course Policies

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism:  Work submitted for this course must adhere to the Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct as cited in the Handbook of Student Policies:  "The academic community is operated on the basis of honesty, integrity, and fair play.  Occasionally, this trust is violated when cheating occurs, either inadvertently or deliberately.  This code will serve as the guideline for cases where cheating, plagiarism, or other academic improprieties have occurred. . . . Faculty members may fail the student for the particular assignment, test, or course involved, or they may recommend that the student drop the course in question, or these penalties may be varied with the gravity of the offense and the circumstances of the particular case" (65).

Academic Honesty Defined:  All written and oral presentations must "respect the intellectual rights of others.  Statements lifted verbatim from publications must be cited as quotations.  Ideas, summaries or paraphrased material, and other information taken from the literature must be properly referenced" (Guidelines for the Presentation of Disquisitions,  NDSU Graduate School, 4).

Special Needs: In keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act, I would encourage students with disabilities who need accommodations in this course to contact me as soon as possible so that the appropriate arrangements can be made to accommodate particular needs.

Expectations

• For every hour of class time, be prepared to spend two hours out of class, or about 6 hours per week reading, writing, and/or creating.  Some weeks will require less time, some weeks will require more, but this formula is a standard gauge for college education. 
• Show respect for your classmates, their ideas, and their work. This class will require you to share your ideas with classmates, either in class, through electronic discussion, or through peer review.  Learning to respect—even understand—diverse perspectives is one of the hallmarks of a university-educated person. 
• Be observant, thoughtful, and curious.  I will do very little lecturing in this course; I will be trying to help you developed more sophisticated ways of looking at texts and images, help you think more deeply and richly about issues that matter to you, and help you develop a sense of intellectual curiosity.
• Have fun!  I know that when someone tells you to have fun, you rarely have fun, but in my experience, I learn best when I am having fun.  Learning how to make a home video is one of the most exciting things that I have done in the past few years.  That may just say something about me, but you will be working with powerful and exciting tools in this class, and you will have a chance to produce work that will stun your family and friends.  If you can't have fun, please grin and bear it ; )

Materials

You will probably need the following: 

• A zip disk (250 MB) or a writable CD in order to store some of your work.
• A VHS tape and/or a Digital Video Tape for making a video.
• If you have a camera, you will get a chance to use it. If you don't, digital cameras can be checked out from the NDSU Service Center. 

NDSU has some excellent computing facilities and equipment for free check-out, so as long as you are able to work on campus, you won't need any specific computer equipment.