1. Active participation in class discussions, both online and in class.
2. A "Weblog Journal" (blog) in which you will record your reactions to readings and carry out other assignments. Unexcused, late entries will cause your grade to suffer, so be diligent on this.
3. A website that will primarily be the repository for your review essay and final project.
4. A web review essay in which you will assess the coverage of a particular historical topic in digital forms.
5. A Digital History Project Proposal: You will make a proposal for a digital history project and also develop a home page for it. This project will be the basis for the work you do in History 697, so please put particular care into this assignment.

Participation: By definition a seminar (especially a graduate seminar) is intended to be a collaborative learning endeavor and so I have high expectations of your participation--both in class and online. Unlike a conventional class where almost all the advice and assistance comes from the instructor, in a seminar everyone will take a hand in shaping our discussions and helping fellow class members. In addition to our discussions in class, all of us will participate in an on-going online discussion via the class weblog. Too often new insights or problems appear outside the boundaries of our time slot on Monday nights and so the purpose of the weblog is to extend class discussion beyond our once a week meetings.

The class weblog is also an ideal forum for discussion of your projects with other members of the class. Everyone is expected to post regular reflections on the class discussions, readings, and projects in their weblog and to participate regularly in our collective blog. You might, for example, comment on a reading that particularly intrigued or annoyed you. Or, you might comment on problems that you have been confronting in carrying out your projects or getting your website to work. Or, you might have come across a terrific history Website that you think other members of the class should examine. You are also strongly encouraged to post comments on the blog entries by me or other members of the class.

Readings: Because this topic is so new, there are relatively few books that directly address it. As a result, there are only two books for purchase for this course:

Janet Horowitz Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck : The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace, MIT Press, paperback; ISBN: 0262631873.

Robin Williams and John Tollett, The Non-Designer's Web Book, 2nd edition, Peachpit Press, paperback.

Much of the additional reading will be available online and linked from the online syllabus, but a few items will be provided in hard copy. I may have to assess a modest additional charge for the copies.

Software: You should purchase the educational versions of both Dreamweaver and Photoshop Elements. Both are available at an educational discount at the GMU computer store. These will be used in both History 696 and 697. Students who are particularly interested in new media (e.g., are pursuing a minor in new media in the doctoral program) will probably want to purchase the full version of Photoshop.

Grading

Your final grade for the semester will be derived as follows:

Office Hours: My official office hours will be Monday from 2-4 and Wednesday from 2-3 in Robinson B377a. I am also available other times by appointment and am generally on campus every day of the week except Thursdays from around 9:30-4:30. Feel free to stop by any time, but be aware that I also teach MWF from 12:30-1:45 and M from 10:30-11:45. Feel free to call me at work (703-993-2152) or at home (703-330-2169). I'm an early riser, so that means it’s generally best to call me before 9:00 pm. I am often most accessible via email and I have even begun using IM (tkelly7029@aim.com), although I'm not as devoted to IM as I am to email.

Additional Workshops: I have set up in-class workshops for Dreamweaver, FTP, and Photoshop. The Student Technology and Assistance Center is willing to offer additional workshops, and if there are topics that enough class members would like covered I will help arrange additional workshops. In addition, they offer a regular series of workshops; the list is posted at http://media.gmu.edu/workshops/ (although none listed for September yet). Many of the topics (beginning Dreamweaver and Photoshop) are ones that we will cover in class, but you could re-take the workshop as a refresher or you might want to explore additional tools like Flash, PowerPoint, and Premiere.

The University also offers a variety of free online courses in software and technology applications (including Dreamweaver): http://smartforce.doit.gmu.edu/