Rhetoric of New Media

Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor

Course Description: In this course we will examine a wide range of digital media practices including hypertext, interactive drama, videogames, literary interactive fiction, socially constructed narratives in multi-user spaces, and artificial intelligence-based story generation. Through a mixture of readings, discussion, and project work, we will explore the theoretical positions, debates, and design issues arising from these different practices. Topics will include the rhetorical, ludic, theatrical, and narrative dimensions of digital media as well as digital media’s political and legal ramifications. There will be a substantial amount of reading in this course. Class projects will include online activities such as the exploration of games, interactive literature, social networking sites, and other digital media applications.

There will be a midterm, a final, several short assignments, a class presentation and a research project.

Required Texts: Noah Wardrip-Fruin (Editor), Pat Harrigan (Editor). First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game

Additional readings available either online or in course reader

Class attendance is required