READING SCHEDULE

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In an age obsessed by digital technologies, it is very easy to forget the rich history that underlies even the most current trends in print and electronic media. In an effort to revisit this history and to place current technologies in context, this course undertakes a study of print culture. The course will explore the technologies of production that resulted in the artifact that we call the book, as well as other forms of print media. Topics will address both older forms of "inscription" and more recent modes of digital "production." The course will address the development of mechanical printing from Gutenberg's movable type to the "hot type" of the 20th century, and on to hypertextual "type" as well as the making of paper!

The phenomenon of "the reader" is another topic that we'll cover, given that the rise of literacy as one of the driving forces of the book. We think that literacy used to simply entail the ability to consume the print productions, but it was more complex then and is no less complex now! As technology changes, we must wonder whether the future reader/writer will also become a printer, typesetter, binder, marketer, illustrator, and publisher? Or has that already happened?

The history of images and texts, though rarely addressed directly, is the common foundation for all of us who read, observe, and create. The course will appeal to students with both a literal and an imaginative understanding of literature.

TEXTS/SOURCES:

Roger Chartier. The Order of Books. (Stanford UP, 1997) 0804722676

Robert Darnton. The Case for Books. (Public Affairs, 2010) 978-1586489021

David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery. Introduction to Book History, 2^nd Ed.  (London: Routledge. 2012) 978-0415688062

Leslie Howsam. Old Books & New Histories: An Orientation to Studies in Book & Print Culture. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.) 978-0802094384

Audrey Niffennegger. The Night Bookmobile. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2010.) 0810996170

Peter Shillingsburg. From Gutenberg to Google: Electronic Representations of Literary Texts. Cambridge, 2006. 0521683475

Robin Sloan. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel. (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2012.) 978-1250037756

Daniel Traister's Site at U. Penn
Book History at Harvard
Pennsylvania Center for the Book
Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture
The Rare Book School
Consortium of European Research Libraries (many rich links)

ASSIGNMENTS:

The 2 major assignments will be research essays. The first will be about 7 pages and the second will be about 15 pages. They will both draw on a concept that integrates the history of the book and book-related media. The topics might range from how certain genres reshaped the book, to the role of the reader, to print and illustration technologies, to the commercialization of print & reading, to the creation of typefaces.

In addition to the papers, each student will be asked to prepare a BRIEF presentation on a topic of their choosing. The presentation will be followed up with a 1-2 page analysis. Every student will also be responsible for submitting a 1-2 paragraph weekly analysis of the readings as well as of any other observations from other media sources.

Finally every student is responsible for speaking up in class, asking questions, and helping to move the class intellectually.

PAPER 1	= 25%
PAPER 2	= 35%
ANALYTICAL Paragraphs	= 15%
PRESENTATION & Overview	= 15%
PARTICIPATION	= 10%

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

Every student is expected to comply with the UNCC "The Code of Student Academic Integrity." That means that PLAGIARISM or any other violation of fairness will NOT be tolerated!

If you are uncertain about what plagiarism means or how to avoid it, PLEASE talk to me. If you find yourself in a bind in terms of deadlines, DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!! Simply come and talk to me.

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