Steve Wexler

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English 654-01: Advanced Topics in Rhetoric and Composition
Rhetoric of Science
Fall 2011
Jerome Richfield Hall 319
M 7:00 - 9:45 PM

Office Hours: M W 3:30 - 5:00
 

Introduction
Despite its objective reach and universal aspirations, science is always-already rhetorical, a political, cultural, and economic activity that promotes a spectacle of authority.  Biology, chemistry, psychology, and physics are products of history.  Their persuasive aura yields epistemic realities that shape everything from healthcare to disciplinarity to subjectivity.  A rhetorical understanding of science, then, could reveal the ideology and materiality behind the pursuit of truth, “specialization” to be a value-laden division of labor.

This graduate seminar on the rhetoric of science is organized around five central, overlapping questions:

  • What are the implications of Cartesian certainty for the project of Modernity?
  • What are the limits to Darwinian Theory and a science of race, gender, and intelligence?
  • What are the ethics of genism (e.g., genetic testing and cloning)?
  • What does the debate between quantum non-locality and Einstein locality suggest about Western culture and the politics of science?
  • What are the rhetorics of informational dis/embodiment?

Primary Texts
Aczel. Entanglement
Gould. The Mismeasure of Man
Gould. The Panda’s Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History
Hayles.  How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics
Toulmin. Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity
Watson.  The Double Helix

Suggested Readings
(**654 Oviatt Course Reserve)
Bacon. The Major Works
Bazerman, Charles.  The Languages of Edison’s Light
Bishop and Waldholz.  Genome
Castells. The Rise of the Network Society
Ceccarelli.  Shaping Science with Rhetoric: The Cases of Dobzhansky, Schrödinger, and Wilson**
Darwin. The Origin of the Species
Davis et al. Cutting Edge: Techology, Information, Capitalism and Social Revolution
Dawkins.  The Selfish Gene
Descartes. Meditations on First Philosophy
Dyer-Witheford. Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High-Technology Capitalism
Elderidge.  The Evolution of Punctuated Equilibria
Gross.  Communicating Science: The Scientific Article from the 17th-Century to the Present**
Hacking. The Social Construction of What?
Hayles.  How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics
Kuhn. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions**
Latour. Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts**
Latour. Science in Action
Leibniz. The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz
Levine. Darwin and the Novelists
Maturana and Varela. The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding
Nelson et al. The Rhetoric of the human Sciences**
Pickering. The Mangle of Science: Time, Agency, and Science
Prelli.  A Rhetoric of Science: Inventing Scientific Discourse**
Sagan. The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
Schiller.  Digital Capitalism: Networking the Global Market System
Selzer and Crowley: Rhetorical Bodies**
Thompson.  Issues in Evolutionary Ethics
Toulmin. Return to Reason
Vico.  New Science
Webster. Theories of the Information Society
Wilson. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge

Course Evaluation

  • Moodle 20%
  • Discussion Pair 25%
  • Midterm Project 25%
  • Final Project 30%

1. Moodle Weekly Reflections 20%
Discussion pairs will email me a question related to the week’s readings by Thursday.  I will post that question on Moodle.  Everyone will respond to that question.  Demonstrate your understanding of our readings, their subject matter and implications. This reflection is an important part of our coursework and a good opportunity for you to establish a meaningful dialogue with your classmates.  Aim for clear, convincing reflections in a conversational tone.  Go beyond summarizing.

2.  Discussion Pair 25%
Early in the semester, pair up with a classmate to lead a seminar discussion on our weekly readings.  When it’s your turn to lead a discussion (not lecture) you’ll be responsible for the following:

  • Assigned readings
  • Moodle Question (emailed to me the Thursday before your discussion date)
  • A supplementary reading for the class to examine critically in light of our weekly readings.  Please upload your text or link to Moodle one week prior to your discussion date.  If possible, come by my office to discuss your supplemental reading before you post on Moodle.  Find interesting and creative ways to get your classmates to situate our texts historically, rhetorically, biographically, politically, pedagogically, and so on. 

3. Midterm Project 25%
Your midterm project is a creative project that asks you to choose one of the following:

  • Create a YouTube clip where you animate an issue in science that interests you.  Your focus should contextualize this issue in science through an analysis (e.g., interview, narrative, pastiche) of rhetoric, history, politics, and so on.  You need not “star” in your own clip.  This project requires:
  • 1250-word descriptive essay , MLA style
  • Ten-text annotated bibliography
  • YouTube clip
  • Class Presentation

OR

  • Google Docs Presentation.  Create a Google Docs presentation on an issue in science that interests you.  Contextualize this issue in science through an analysis (e.g., interview, narrative, pastiche) of rhetoric, history, and politics.  The project requires:

1. Introduction @ 1250 words, MLA style
2. Ten-text Annotated Bibliography
3. Images
4. Class Presentation

4. Final Project 30%

Your final project is a ten-page paper that will present a new position on an issue discussed in class. You are asked to collect a substantial body of critical sources and demonstrate your familiarity with the scholarly conversation surrounding your topic. You will have the opportunity to workshop your essay and give a five-minute "conference" presentation to the class.

Participation
There is no percentage or points ascribed to participation since participation is mandatory. Class participation includes attendance, discussions, and workshop activities.  Everyone has something to contribute to the class. If you do not feel comfortable speaking in class you may participate in other ways, such as group activities, peer review.  Although participation grades will not be distributed, I will be happy to discuss any questions you have about your progress.
NOTE: Late work will not be accepted unless you have obtained an extension from me ahead of time. You must submit your work even if you miss class on its due date.

Grades
When you enroll in our class you make a commitment to your classmates. This is a participatory, collaborative graduate seminar, and attendance is absolutely essential to our success. Since we meet only once per week, grades are dropped a letter with the second absence and an F is given at four.  All work is due on the date specified in our syllabus. You are responsible for completing and submitting any work due for a day that you miss and you must come prepared with any work required for the following class.  Please feel free to contact me or see me during my office hours to learn what you missed and how to prepare for the next session. 

NOTE:

(1) Late work will not be accepted unless you have obtained an extension from me ahead of time. You must submit your essay even if you miss class on its due date. 

(2) Due to the participatory nature of this class, laptops and cellphones are not permitted.

You must complete all work to pass the course. Please feel free to come by my office or email me if you'd like to discuss your progress and/or other concerns during the semester.  

  • Moodle 20%
  • Discussion Pair 25%
  • Midterm Project 25 %
  • Final Project 30%
  • Final Exam 30%

A

A-

B+

B

B-

C+

C

C-

D+

D

D-

F

93-100%

90-92%

87-89%

83-86%

80-82%

77-79%

73-76%

70-72%

67-69%

63-66%

60-62%

0-59%

Academic Honesty
You must be scrupulously honest in documenting the work that you have drawn from others.  Like other institutions, CSUN maintains a strict academic honesty policy.  Plagiarism is illegal and dishonest.  All cases of academic dishonesty must be reported to the Dean, who may suspend or permanently dismiss you from CSUN.  You will receive a course grade of F if you plagiarize.


SYLLABUS

FALL 2011
Course requirements and policies are subject to change; not all readings are represented below. Work is due on the date that it appears.

8/29 
                Introductions
                Syllabus

9/5  
NO CLASS

RATIONALITY OR REASONABLENESS?


9/12
                Toulmin. Cosmopolis  
                         
9/19  
                Toulmin. Cosmopolis  (cont’d)

SCIENCE MATTERS: INTELLIGENCE, BODY, NATION,
OR, WAS BEN FRANKLIN RACIST?


9/26  
                Gould. Mismeasure of Man
               
10/3 
                Gould. Mismeasure of Man (cont’d)

10/10 
                Gould. Panda’s Thumb:  “Wide hats and Narrow Minds”; “Biological Homage to                 Mickey Mouse”; “Women’s Brains”; “Flaws in a Victorian Veil”           

“THE MANGLE OF PRACTICE”: ETHICS, DIALECTICS,
TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS


10/17 
                Watson. The Double Helix
               
Bioethics
10/24
                Watson. The Double Helix (cont’d)
                Bioethics

                MIDTERM PROJECTS        
10/31
                NO CLASS           
11/7 
Aczel. Entanglement
               

CYBERNETICS, INFORMATICS, AUTOPOIESIS, AND FLOWS

11/14
                Hayles.  How We Became Posthuman

11/21  
                Hayles.  How We Became Posthuman (cont’d)

11/28 
                Hayles.  How We Became Posthuman (cont’d)

12/5 
                Gould. Panda’s Thumb: “Our Allotted Lifetimes”; “Natural Attraction”; “Time’s                 Vastness”

12/12

                FINAL PROJECT