Proposal for English 3300: Special Topics in Language and Literature 1. 2. 3. 4.

Professors name: Leonardo Flores Date of submission: March 15, 2011 Title of proposed course: Introduction to Electronic Literature Description of course and course schedule The computer has become an important space for the creation, publication, and consumption of literary texts, and a vibrant native literature has emerged from the exploration of its expressive potential over the past 30 years. This course is an introduction to electronic literature in its diverse forms: hypertext fiction, kinetic poetry, multimedia narratives, cyberdrama, interactive fiction, permutational poetry, flash and shockwave poems, interactive short films, and much more. The students will learn to analyze the critical artistry and cultural importance of literary works in electronic media through reading, writing and discussion. Schedule (weekly outline): 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) Electronic Literature: N. Katherine Hayles, theoretical framework, concrete poetry Precursors: Raymond Queneau, Emmett Williams, Jackson Mac Low, Jorge Luis Borges Early Electronic Literature: B. P. Nichol, Eliza, MUDs Early Hypertext Short stories: Deena Larsen, Samplers Early Hypertext Novel: Shelley Jackson, Patchwork Girl Early Hypertext Poetry: Jim Rosenberg, Alire Second Generation Electronic Literature: Web based works, Concrete Poetry Fiction: Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 1 Fiction: Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 2 Poetry: Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 1 Poetry: Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 2 Poets and Poetics: Jim Andrews Poets and Poetics: Stephanie Strickland Poets and Poetics: Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries The future of electronic literature: artistic and editorial challenges

5. Justification This course introduces concepts that are very relevant to literature and writing, such as materiality, the unique characteristics of the computer as a space for artistic creation and reception, and how diverse writing technologies help create and transform literary genres. It makes its students aware of how the computer and the Internet have prompted new possibilities for language, literature, and scholarship and explores the poetics that inform such explorations. I am very well prepared to teach this topic because it is my area of specialization. I have taken coursework, taught three classes on the subject (Literature in a Wired World, Writing Technologies and Narrative, and Writing Technlogies and Poetry). This was one of my areas in my doctoral oral examination and the topic of my dissertation, titled Typing the Dancing Signifier: Jim Andrews (Vis)Poetics. I have also given numerous presentations and written several articles on the subject.

6. Method of presentation This course will be taught primarily through lecture and discussion, supplemented with online resources, such as a course website, discussion forum, and social bookmarking and annotation tools. I will require a computer classroom, such as CH-325 or CH-326 to teach the course, because my students will need to constantly access and interact with electronic texts. 7. Evaluation Students will be evaluated as follows: Reading journal The students will respond to readings in a blog in every class. (10%) Midterm and Final Exams These exams will test the students grasp of critical vocabulary, major themes, poetics, and their overall comprehension of the works studied. (40%) Essays will test the students ability to analyze works of electronic literature not covered in class. The first essay will be an explication of an electronic text. The second will be a research paper on a writer of electronic literature and his/her poetics. (40%) Attendance and Participation This will be a student-centered course that will require their active participation, both in class and in online discussion forums. (10%) 8. Anticipated student interest This student should be interesting to English Department students and non-mayors alike. With the high level of exposure students get to electronic media, there should be much interest in how it is used in artistic ways. My previous courses on related topics attracted full classes. 9. Required and recommended texts Andrews, Jim. Vispo.com. Web. (required) Borrs, Laura, Talan Memmott, et. al. eds. Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 2. College Park, MD: The Electronic Literature Organization. February 2011. Web. (required) Electronic Literature Directory. College Park, MD: The Electronic Literature Organization. October 2006. Web. (required) Electronic Poetry Center. State University of New York: Buffalo. Web. (required) Flores, Leonardo. Typing the Dancing Signifier: Jim Andrews (Vis)Poetics. Diss. University of Maryland: College Park. 2010. Funkhouser, C. T. Prehistoric Digital Poetry: An Archaeology of Forms, 1959-1995. Tuscaloosa, AL: U of Alabama P, 2007. Modern and Contemporary Poetics. Print. Glazier, Loss Pequeo. Digital Poetics. Tuscaloosa, AL: U of Alabama P, 2001. Hayles, N. Katherine. Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary. Michigan: Notre Dame UP, 2008. Print. (required) Hayles, N. Katherine, Nick Montfort, et. al. eds. Electronic Literature Collection ,Volume 1. College Park, MD: The Electronic Literature Organization. October 2006. Web and CD-ROM. (required) Jackson, Shelley. Patchwork Girl. Watertown, MA: Eastgate Systems. 1995. CD-ROM. (required) Kirschenbaum, Matthew. Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination. The MIT Press, 2008. Print. Larsen, Deena. Samplers. Watertown, MA: Eastgate Systems. 1998. CD-ROM. (required) Larsen, Deena. Fun da mentals: Rhetorical Devices for Electronic Literature. Deenalarsen.net. Web. Liu, Alan et. al. The Agrippa Files. University of California: Santa Barbara. Web. (required) Simanowski, Roberto. Digital Art and Meaning. Minneapolis: U. of Minnessotta P. 2011. Print.