ENG 4815 Coldiron Fall 2022

This capstone course for the EWM track investigates the history and theories of textuality in terms of major media transitions. Our own moment of media transition is the most recent in a very long line: our course traces the development of writing systems on stone, clay, skin, and wax; the addition of papyrus/paper substrates; the major move from scroll to codex, with its religious and political ramifications; the addition of print technologies to this ancient manucript culture; and the recent addition of electronic texts. From this very big picture, students will select one focal point for a capstone project (a particular text, a particular means of representation, even a particular rhetorical trope, image, or narrative episode, meme, or unit) and will follow it from its prehistories through its multiple media instantiations. Drawing on theories of orality, écriture, and hybridity, we will consider along the way not only what a text is, but what it can do; we will investigate not only how we construct texts but how they can construct us. Grade is based on HWs and open-book exercises about the readings and video lectures; a scaffolded Final Project replaces the final exam. The course is conducted on Canvas so functioning technology is necessary. A commitment to steady work, careful reading, independent writing, and collaborative sharing of individual results are essential for success in this course.

Course Pre-Requisites: ENG 3803 strongly recommended