ENGL 348: The Internet for Humanists

A class discussion forum or "list," as it is usually called, enables participants to ask questions and exchange thoughts and information with everyone else in the class via e-mail. When you send a message to the list, it is automatically distributed to all the list members. On the engl348 list, you can

• follow up on discussions started in class
• call the class's attention to web sites and other resources that you feel are really useful
• ask questions about the reading ("Does anyone understand what Barthes means by the 'the infinite deferment of the signified'?")
• mention other books, films (e.g, "The Matrix"), and/or current events (e.g., China's imposing severe restrictions on Internet use) that seem relevant to what we're reading
• respond to your classmates' messages.
• I can use the list to let everyone know about sudden schedule or assignment changes. You should try to check your email at least once each day.

I realize that some Humanities students may not yet have e-mail accounts, or may not remember how to use the accounts they have. That's one reason that the very first topic we'll be covering is e-mail, including e-mail lists. You should be sure that you have an e-mail account, preferably on UMBC 7 or on gl (gl refers to UMBC 8, 9, and 10) as soon as possible. Any student enrolled at UMBC can get a free e-mail account simply by following these instructions.

Once you have an e-mail account, you can subscribe to the class list for ENGLISH 348 by sending an email message to listproc@listproc.umbc.edu. In the body of the message, type in lower case subscribe engl348 Your Name, replacing "Your Name" with your actual name. Please note that only students enrolled in English 348 may subscribe to the engl348 list.

Because this course is about the Internet, all students will be expected to participate in the class list. Indeed, your participation will count for 20% of your final grade (15% for those doing reading report). Here is a rough idea of how I will assess your participation:

• Frequent and insightful participation = A
• Reasonably frequent participation that is often insightful = B
• Reasonably frequent participation, but not thoughtful or informed = C
• Infrequent participation (fewer than 8 times in the semester) = D
• Not joining/participating in the class list = F

Obviously, the above doesn't cover all possibilities, but it should provide some general guidelines. We will discuss the class list at more length in class. If you have questions not answered in class, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Here's how..

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