An Introduction of Sorts, Part I

This blog is the first project for Digital English, a class taught by Dr. Greg Ulmer during the spring 2010 semester at the University of Florida.

We are using a system called the CATTT (which I'll explain in the second post) as a heurectical experiment to create a "concept" for the internet environment.  The central premise is that while the book format is a superb way to work out theoretical ideas in literacy, it is not the right one for electracy.  This all is based on a discussion of three apparatuses for knowledge- orality, literacy and electracy- which create/solicit/demand different methods and tactics.

The experiment asks, "what parts of theory work on the internet?  what parts do not?" One of the motivations behind this experiment is to take back the concept factory back from commerce.

We are using five texts, but Part I (Project I) focuses on two texts and a public policy issue. The texts discussed in this blog are What is Philosophy? by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari and Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity 1920 to 1940 by Roland Marchand. The public policy issue, often but not always a disaster, is different for each student. My public policy issue is obesity. As the blog has progressed I have focused my attention on the question of calories- too many, good versus bad, teaching people about calories.