Rationale

Blogging is so 2000s, right? So why are we doing it still in 2017? Here’s a few reasons why I think it’s important for us to blog:

• One of the outcomes of our course is for you to become more skilled writers. The best way to improve your writing is to do it regularly, period.
• Your (likely) experiences to the contrary, writing isn’t something we do in isolation or only for a professor. The best writers are aware of others involved in the conversation and write with them in mind. Blogging helps make this a reality rather than a trite phrase.
• Blogging creates an additional way to participate actively in the class. Even less vocal students can contribute and do so on your own schedule.
• Reading each other’s writing is a great way to learn more about what we’re studying. Your colleagues will have insights that you won’t have had or that productively challenge your understanding of what we’ve been reading.
• Digital humanists tend to blog. In fact, a number of things we’re reading this semester are blog posts. (Blog posts assigned in college classes?!)

The Nitty Gritty

Blogs only work when fueled by an energetic community. That and Red Bull. You will both write posts and comment on those of your colleagues.

Write Posts

• Not including finals and the non-week of Thanksgiving, there are 14 weeks in our semester, and you must write 8 7 blog posts on your own blog. You may not submit more than one blog post per week for credit, unless explicitly directed.
• Each post must be at least 250 words long.
• Each post must refer specifically to the day’s reading, often through direct quotation.
• Each post must include one illustrative piece of media (an image, a screenshot, a GIF, an embedded video or audio, etc.). The web is a multimodal medium; let’s embrace it. The media must be fully sourced, with full credit given to the original source, and, ideally, linked back to the original source online.
• To ensure that everyone has a chance to read the post before class, post your response by 9 am on the day for which the relevant text has been scheduled (e.g., Tuesday at 9am for something we are discussing that afternoon, etc.).

What should you write about? My colleague Mark Sample at Davidson College provides the following suggestions, “Focus on an aspect of the day’s material that you find particularly compelling. This could be something you don’t quite understand or that jars you. Or you could formulate an insightful question or two about the material and then attempt to answer your own questions. You might make connections between the course material and conversations we’ve had in class (or ideas that you’ve encountered in other classes). […] In any case, strive to go beyond the obvious or what we’ve already talked about.”

Read Posts

You are required to read your classmates’ posts. All of them. #worstprofever

Comment on Posts

• By the end of the semester, you must have left 18 comments on your peers’ posts. I will only count 2 comments per week toward this total.
• Comments must be posted before the start of class.

Your comments should engage directly with the content of your colleagues’ posts. They should be more substantive than a simple “🙌” or “It Me.” Your comments can be short and informal but shouldn’t be flippant. What points do you find compelling? What further questions does the post raise for you? Where do you (politely) disagree with their thinking?

Grading

Blog posts count as either Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. A Satisfactory post must meet all of the following criteria:

• Posted on time (again, 9am on the day we’ll discuss the reading).
• Includes a descriptive title.
• Is at least 250 words long.
• Includes one piece of properly sourced media.
• Written clearly. By this I mean less formal than a “normal” paper but still serious and rooted in evidentiary-based reasoning.
• Contains no more than 3 grammatical or spelling errors.

Comments will also be graded on a Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory basis. Satisfactory comments meet the following requirements:

• Posted on time.
• Engage with the original post.

N.B. Given the realities of the space-time continuum, I can’t comment on every post. I’ll respond when something catches my attention. While eliciting a comment from me is—in fact—a reason for fist bumping your friends, a lack of comments should not be seen as a criticism of your work.

Credits

Over the years, my blogging assignments have drawn on the work of my fellow authors at ProfHacker. My revisions this year draw heavily on Mark Sample’s current assignment.