Shenika's Final Project

Hello All,
Here is the link to the course I designed. I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

English 3580: Black Rhetoric  

Course Reflection

Over the years, I’ve noticed a continuously mute aspect in collegiate level English courses. When authors are integrated into the curriculum, it’s generally via western culture. Although equally important, black authors are not given the same integration privilege. Thus I developed this online course for enlightenment purposes.

Black Rhetoric and English

Upper level collegiate English courses generally focus on westernized rhetoric. Black authored texts are generally implemented in an inferior and popularized manner (popularized, meaning well-know authors like Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes are always the given text). However, rhetoricians such as Yusef Komunyakaa, Ishmael Reed, George Schuyler, Ntozake Shange and the like, have developed superior quality work equivalent to their European counterparts. Thus, their work should be equally valued and discussed in rhetorical courses.

The “Controversial” Element

Critical-thinking is a large component of upper level English courses. Controversy revolves around debates; thus if students interacted with controversial texts, they would be applying critical-thinking skills. Additionally, there is stigma in reference to black-authored work being slightly offensive. If properly examined, black-authored texts can be appropriately perceived (causing less controversy).

Theories

The following theories have guided my course design:

·      Affordance- Gaver (“The Affordances of Media Spaces for Collaboration“) and Torenvliet (“We Can’t Afford It!”) articles helped me understand the importance of integrating technology in a practical manner. Designing a course to meet the usability needs of ALL students is important for the success of the course and the student.

·      Writing Assessments: My assessment rationale was based on the content presented in chapter four of Because Digital Writing Matters. In particular, I used assessment content as suggested in the “Traits and Actions” section of chapter four (inventiveness, participation, etc.)

·      Course Creativity: The MSU WIDE report, “Revisualizing Composition: Mapping the Writing Lives of First-Year College Students,” guided my assignment decisions. The report helped me realize that various formats should be used and considered as writing. Brown and Adler’s “Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0” demand-pull theory was a contributing factor as well.

Final Thoughts

I researched black rhetoric and English to find where there is a lack of connection (to bridge the gap). I chose the textbook based on the course content connection (black rhetoric, literacy, culture, and identity). This is my integrated vision of English, black rhetoric, and technology.