Jeanette Lehn
Assignments & Activities Archive
Assignment Description
In my class on public rhetorics, I strive to empower students to possess agency in speaking to an unbounded global public with the understanding that all rhetors are constrained and imbricated in complex systems. Cooper writes, “Rhetors—and audiences—are agents in their actions, and they are responsible for those actions, but they are not the sole cause of what happens.” (Cooper, 439). This assignment outlines instructions for facilitating students in creating a 20-60 minute “group podcast,” but it could also be considered a scaffolded and recorded conversation, and the larger goal is not only to engage students in an activity that activates their internal belief in their ability to create positive modification through dialogue, but also to allow students to become more deeply immersed in awareness of rhetorical constraints. Students research aspects of a central theme individually and congregate (in person or online) to record a conversation wherein they share results of individual research and synthesize insights around the group’s chosen central theme and around the theme of the course: Activism in a Global Public. This assignment was created for a course titled ENG CMP 450 Writing for the Public, a public rhetorics course. Previous assignments in the course that this podcast was designed for include: a Wikipedia article, an edited video of found footage, and a circulation map. Ashley Holmes’s Public Writing for Social Change offers an assignment on public writing and social change that is geared toward deepening an individual student’s awareness of what it means to be an engaged citizen and could be used in connection with this podcast. Holmes writes, “While just one tweet or letter to the editor isn’t going to lead to sweeping social change by itself, using public writing to respond to the exigences of our current times can help us tap into networks that may advance a cause one step at a time.” (200). Central themes that we discuss prior to this group podcast assignment include: the notion of the public or a global public(s) (Wells), agency (Cooper), intertextuality (Bolter and Grusin), copyright law (Lessig, Johnson-Eilola & Selber), circulation (Edbauer-Rice, Gries, Queen), audience (Ede & Lunsford) and delivery (Porter). For the podcasting unit, we discuss ideas of narrative, strategies of interviewing, ethics related to intersectionality (Alcoff), and activism achieved using Critical Race Theory (CRT) counterstory (Martinez). The assignment is a culminating assignment and occurs in the last 3-4 weeks of the semester. Prior to the recording of the podcast, preparatory assignments include: a podcast analysis, a tools and technology research assignment, and an individual research update. In class, demonstrations are given of key technology to support the assignment (primarily Audacity and ZenCastr) and to offer multiple options for recording and editing technology allowing students to engage despite their familiarity with technology. I also invite guest speakers from supporting university services to answer more complex questions and demonstrate software further.