Writing Across Technologies

4.0 credits

Technology involves the development of a tool to solve a problem. In this way, writing itself can be seen a technology to aid memory, thinking, and communication. Since the invention of writing, other newer technologies have further changed how we write and how we think. Each new technology offers us a range of options that are more or less effective depending on our audience and purpose. This course will explore some of the many writing technologies that have come (and gone!) over the history of writing, from clay tablets to Snapchat. The class will take a hands-on approach and allow us opportunities to experiment with writing technologies to get a better sense of how technologies affect what we think, what we communicate, and what we think we can communicate. Students will propose individual research projects on a writing technology of their choice, which may involve some combination of original composition, scholarly research, and ethnographic study.