About half of this graduate course will cover the history of writing technologies, from the middle ages to the middle of the twentieth century. We will then focus on the current state of computer-based writing and communication technologies--the word processor, electronic mail, voice-to-text systems, the web, and the electronic library. Finally. we will look toward future prospects including visual and multimedia systems. The ongoing concern will be the interactions among writers, readers, texts, and the technology. "Interactions" will include social, political, economic, and psychological dimensions.

1	Sept 7 Introduction to the topic and lists of issues to think about.
2	Sept 14 Kligour, Chapters 1-7 on writing before printing Post your possible research topic to the listserv
3	Sept 21 Kilgour, Ch. 8-10 Post (revised) research topic and a list of 5 scholarly articles and 3 scholarly books on that topic
4	Sept 28 Kilgour, Ch. 11 Bring to class: annotated bibliography of at least four important articles and one book on your topic - Copies for everyone.
5	Oct 5 Kilgour, Ch 12. Bring to class: One-page definition of your research area, 5 minutes to present it and get commentary. Make copies for everyone.
6	Oct 12 -- 16 The class will meet on Saturday, October 16th in the lobby of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from 11:00-1:00. The address is 2400 Third Av. S. - there should be parking on 3rd Ave., or on the street in back of the museum; maybe in the free parking lot to the left of the museum as you face it.
7	Oct 19 Introduction and essays on Dante and Melville in Moylan-Stiles Survey existing research"--list of 15 things you've read (copies for all) plus 5 -10 minutes to walk us through it. Ideally this will be structured according to subparts of your topic.
8	Oct 26 Essays on Ticknor & Fields, Family Newspapers and Tauchnitz in Moylan-Stiles Project update (5 -10 minutes)--you should either be at the final stages of "Survey existing research" (item #4 on the attached "Research Proposal") or at the preliminary stages of the proposal. itself (item #5)
9	Nov 2 Essays on Twain and Houghton Mifflin in Moylan-Stiles
10	Nov 9 Essays on Jackson and Riverside series in Moylan-Stiles Grant proposal due, copies for everyone
11	Nov 16 In Nunberg, read "Preface," "Intro.," Hesse and O’Donnell
12	Nov 23 In Nunberg, read Duguid and Nunberg
13	Nov 30 In Nunberg, read Debray, Bazin, and Toschi
14	Dec 7 In Nunberg, read Landow and Simone
15	DEC 14 In Nunberg, read Bolter, Joyce, and Eco
Exam week	DEC 21 In exam week Final paper due

Texts:

• Frederick Kilgour, The Evolution of the Book. Oxford Univ. Press ISBN 0-19-511859-6

• Geoffrey Nunberg, ed., The Future of the Book. Univ. of Calif. Press. ISBN 0-520-20451-4

First project: Find a past or current writing technology where the interactions among writers, readers, text, audiences, and technology have not been explored sufficiently. Survey the existing research, then propose a research program which would expand our understanding of the interactions. For example, there's a fair amount of general discussion of the relation between pictures and text in nineteenth-century advertising and novels, but very few specific cases have been explored, especially with an eye to how print technology changed over the years. For another example, so far as I know, few have studied the effect of the xerox machine, while computers in the Freshman composition classroom have been studied extensively. For yet another, little has been done beyond some questions of typography to explore the ramifications of having texts presented simultaneously in two languages -- parallel translations, as it were.

The document will be a grant proposal (see next page), due on November 2. You will report on your area of expertise periodically throughout the term.

Second project: This will be a scholarly, researched essay on a topic related to your proposal. Ideally, it would be part of an article for a relevant scholarly journal, but that might not be feasible in the amount of time left in the semester.

The [fictional] National Fund for the Humanities is seeking applications for research grants for the 2000-01 academic year. The theme for this year's proposals is "Technology and Writing." The Fund sends proposals out to two scholars in the field of the proposal; their recommendations are then reviewed by a national panel of scholars from several humanities fields (literature, anthropology, history, area studies) which makes final recommendations for funding to the Fund's executive committee. Grants are for 10,000 clams for the full year, or 5,000 clams for a half year.

Applicants must be graduate students who are current taking English 5650. Proposals must be hand delivered by 5:00 on November 2, 1999.

Proposals should be no longer than 12 pages (double-spaced), excluding references and illustrations.

Proposals should have the following sections:

1. Title and proposer's name and address to which the proposal should be returned.

2. Abstract: 150 word overview of the project, written for a general audience. Abstracts of successful proposals are published in the Congressional Record and other sources.

3. The topic to be researched, or question to be answered

4. What is currently known about the topic

5. The research you propose to do with Fund assistance (specify whether you are applying for a full-year or half-year grant)

6. General texture of what you expect to discover through your research, including how you expect to report on the results (e.g., article(s) in specific journals, dissertation, monograph)

7. The significance of the project for scholarship in the humanities.

[Optional: The social significance of the project.]

8. List of works consulted [Optional: You may annotate items on the list for their significance to your project.]

Proposals will be judged (for possible funding) on the significance of the topic in its academic field(s), the quality of the project itself, and the likelihood that it can be accomplished in the grant period.

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Department of English, University of Minnesota
URL: http://English.cla.umn.edu/FacultyProfiles/Ross/Courses/
Please send comments to: Donald Ross
Last revised 15 November 1999

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