ENG 655 Advanced Literacy, Technology, Power
Each week, after the Wednesday evening class, there will be an online forum for brief discussions and observations on some selected item do to with literacy. All of the items will be accessible via the internet.
The forum will be open from Wednesday night to Sunday noon.
The link to the site will be posted on this page and on the forum. Go to the site, check it out and then post observations, discussions, and responses on the ENG 655 forum for that week.
Note that postings are intended to be brief, informal, and unlike these instructions, even conversational
This week's Forum (April 5 - April 9)
This week's forum topic is on Cuba's Infomed website as a follow-on to the readings in Open Networks, Closed Regimes. Take note of the many discursive features that are evident in how the internet is being employed to further the cause of this "oppressive" regime not only in providing important health information, but also in challenging perceptions by western (read U.S.) democracy and official policy on the Cuba embargo.
Go to the the official Infomed website at http://www.cubasolidarity.net/
Explore the site a bit, then go to the "search our site link" at the bottom of the page. This will take you to Dr. Che's search window. Enter the term "literacy." Then link to Michael Moore's letter to Elián González. (Okay. I could have just given you the link to this, but then you'd miss out on the search window experience.)
Then, comrades, post your observations and ideas to the forum
For the paranoid ( http://www.soundclick.com/bands/Lyrics.cfm?BandID=4684&songid=80740 ) or conspiracy theory minded members of this class, you can avoid infesting your accounts with commie websites and alternatively or additionally, go to the Core Knowledge website at http://www.coreknowledge.org/ for an exciting look at a Hirsch-style cultural literacy education program/cult. Explore the site a bit and then link to the "common misconceptions" page at http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/about/articles/miscon.htm