Trivial Curricula

In this section of the open trivium, we invite readers to describe (and/or link to) existing or speculative courses and skills in terms of the trivium.

1. Grammatical courses.
Grammatical courses can be thought of as analogous to literature survey courses, or any course that foregrounds new media as the content of the course. What kind of courses would help the student accumulate the examples and techniques for new media eloquent wisdom? And what are the skills of the grammarian in the 21st century?
Introduction to New Media in the Humanities and Social Sciences Leslie Chan, University of Toronto, Scarborough: "This course rests on the premise that 'new media' is a highly interdisciplinary field of inquiry. As such we will survey how new cultural objects and representations created by digital technologies have become the subject and object of studies in the humanities and social sciences."

2. Rhetoric courses.
Rhetorical courses in new media (writing for the web, web design, document design, etc.) are probably the most prevalent new media and digital communication courses taught in English and Communication departments. What types of competencies, literacies, and electracies do or should students learn to cross medium principles of communication, as well as specialized principles of not only writing, but photography, film, design, etc. What kinds of artifacts "count" in evaluating whether or not our students can perform eloquence?
Multimedia Design in Professional Communication Jeff Sauer, Iowa State University: "[R]hetorical principles (audience analysis, invention, organization, style, design) [applied] to multimedia authoring and . . . master[ing] software genres commonly used for multimedia training program in education and industry."

3. The dialectical courses.
Students engaged in consumption and production need time and space to step back and reflect, to pose difficult questions of themselves, their instutions, their technologies, and the relationship among all three. What kinds of course materials, approaches, and heuristics do you use to foster reflection without effacing the other important aspects of the trivium?
Theories of New Media Lev Manovich, San Diego State University: Software theory—"interrogation of theoretical and historical readings, and media and software artifacts."

4. Blended courses.
Blended courses would combine at least two emphases: grammatical-rhetorical, rhetorical-dialectical, grammatical-dialectical; they might even combine all three. We invite descriptions of such courses in this section, and rationales for blending approaches.
English 680n: New Media Dr. Jennifer Bay, Purdue: Dialectical and rhetorical. "What is 'new media?' English 680N will examine this question from a variety of perspectives, investigating forms and examples of new media as well as the theories that underlie and emerge from these forms."

5. Sequences.
Even without a New Media Major, departments might consider a sequence of courses that would develop students' understanding of the history of new media, the means and methods of producing new media, and the space-time for critical reflection on new media and digital communications. We invite sequence descriptions, speculations, and suggestions in this location.

Example sequences:

Digital Technology and Culture, Washington State University.
Web and Digital Media Development, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.
Media Arts and Science, IUPUI.
New Media at the University of Maine.
Bachelor of Arts in English and New Media, University of Limerick.