1998
– hypertext
Online Hypertext Theory and Practice
Department of Communication Studies
Subject Guide
department: Department of Communication Studies
course area: Media Studies
subject code: HM408
subject name: Media Project
year offered: 1998
semester offered: second semester
staff:
Adrian Miles room - 24.1.04 phone - 9925 3157 email - adrian.miles@rmit.edu.au
duration: one semester
mode: internal
credit points: 12
contact hours: 1 x 1 hour lecture, 1 x 1 hour laboratory and 1 X 1 hour tutorial per week (for 13 weeks)
non–contact hours: 9 hours per week (for 13 weeks)
prerequisites: HM331 Hypertext Theory and Practice
co–requisites: NA
post requisites: NA
materials: All students are required to have an email account.
An account on the department web server shall be provided.
description: HM408 is an advanced theory and practice subject that develops the skills that students have developed in HM331 Hypertext Theory and Practice. The subject seeks to further explore critical theory and thinking around issues of electronic writing and reading, combined with a sophisticated critical practice. The subject will place particular emphasis on the World Wide Web.
learning objectives: Students are to develop a critical vocabulary in their use of the Web. This will be understood in the contexts of using the Internet and writing for it. Through the work produced, and research undertaken, a high level of creative understanding of recent theories of electronic literacy and electronic design will be fostered. This work will be relevant to students across disciplines and vocational choices and provides a foundation for flexible delivery within this subject and further areas of study in their third year.
learning experiences: Students will attend a theoretical lecture where the major issues and terms of the subject shall be introduced. This will be complemented by reading material, tutorials, and an email forum. Computer laboratories will concentrate on the technical aspects of the subject, and are designed to facilitate the students involvement in the technological processes of electronic writing. In this work there will be an emphasis on critical hypermedia essays.
A detailed lecture and lab timetable is available online.
assessment: Assessment will be divided into two streams. The first will be self assessed and involves a core set of technical competencies (tested by a series of simple technical tests) that students will need to achieve to complete their major assessment tasks.
The second involve two authoring tasks; a personal homepage and a Web based hypermedia essay.
The technical tests will provide 20% of the final grade. The homepage will provide 15% of the final mark, and the hypermedia essay will provide the remaining 65%.
grades: Fail (less than 50%), Pass (50 – 59%), Credit (60 - 69%), Distinction (70-79%) and High Distinction (80 - 100%).
reading: A reading list will be provided to all students. This will include technical and theoretical material. Students are also expected to undertake individual research. Participation in a subject email list is compulsory.
plagiarism: If you represent someone else's work as your own then you have plagiarised. If you submit your own work that has been published or submitted elsewhere, without indicating this, you have plagiarised. Any work that has been plagiarised will be failed. This is not negotiable.
late work: Material that is not handed in on time will automatically be penalised at the rate of 1% per day.
extensions: Extensions can only be given prior to an assessment task's hand in date. Extensions are only given on merit.
reading list
Bolter, Jay David. "Critical Theory and the New Writing Space." Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Hillsdale (N.J.): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991. 147–68.
Landow, George P. "Hypertext and Critical Theory." Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1992. 1-34.
Bolter, Jay David. "The Computer as a New Writing Space." Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Hillsdale (N.J.): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991. 15-31.
Bolter, Jay David. "The New Dialogue." Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Hillsdale (N.J.): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991. 107-119.
Landow, George P. "The Rhetoric of Hypermedia: Some Rules for Authors." Hypermedia and Literary Studies. Ed. Paul Delany and George P. Landow. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1994. 81-103.
Graham, David. "The Emblematic Hyperbook: Using HyperCard on Emblem Books." Hypermedia and Literary Studies. Ed. Paul Delany and George P. Landow. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1994. 273-86.
Foucault, Michel. "What is an Author?" Language, Counter-Memory, Practice: Selected Essays and Interviews. Trans. Donald F. Bouchard Sherry Simon. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1977. 113-38.
Barthes, Roland. "The Death of the Author." Image–Music–Text. Trans. Stephen Heath. London: Flamingo, 1977. 142–8.
Barthes, Roland. "From Work to Text." Image–Music–Text. Trans. Stephen Heath. London: Flamingo, 1977. 155–64.
Aarseth, Espen J. "Introduction: Ergodic Literature." Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1997. 1-23.
Lanham, Richard A. "Twenty Years After: Digital Decorum and Bi-Stable Illusions." The Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology, and the Arts. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1993. 54-96.
Liestøl, Gunnar. "Wittgenstein, Genette, and the Reader's Narrative in Hypertext." Hyper/Text/Theory. Ed. George P Landow. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1994. 87-120.
Moulthrop, Stuart. "Rhizome and Resistance: Hypertext and the Dreams of a New Culture." Hyper/Text/Theory. Ed. George P Landow. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1994. 299–319.
Slatin, John. "Reading Hypertext: Order and Coherence in a New Medium." Hypermedia and Literary Studies. Ed. Paul Delany and George P. Landow. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1994. 153-69.
Ulmer, Greg. "Grammatology Hypermedia." Postmodern Culture. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/postmodern_culture/v001/1.2ulmer.html. 1991.(May 24, 1998).
Mitchell, W.J.T. "Beyond Comparison: Picture, Text and Method." Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. 83-107.
Mitchell, W.J.T. Extract. Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. 58-72.
Sawhney, Nitin "Nick", David Balcom, and Ian Smith. "HyperCafe: Narrative and Aesthetic Properties of Hypervideo." http://www.ic.gatech.edu/gallery/hypercafe/HT96_HTML/HyperCafe_HT96.html. March 9, 1997.(May 25, 1998).
Balcom, David. ""Short Cuts", Narrative Film and Hypertext." http://www.mindspring.com/~dbalcom/short_cuts.html. 1996.(May 25, 1998).
McHoul, Alec, and Phil Roe. "Hypertext and Reading Cognition." Culture and Communication Reading Room. 15th May, 1996. http://kali.murdoch.edu.au/~cntinuum/VID/cognition.html [link broken september 2000]. (May 12th, 1997).