Date of Award
August 2019
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
English
First Advisor
Anne Wysocki
Committee Members
Dennis Lynch, Shevaun Watson, Stuart Moulthrop, Michael Zimmer
Keywords
ethics, feminism, multimodal rhetoric, social media, technology, writing pedagogy
Abstract
I bring together the relational ethics of feminist critical theory with approaches of multimodal rhetoric to examine the ethical implications of composing on social media platforms. Most social media platforms are designed to value consumerism, efficiency, quantity of web traffic, and constant synchronous response over concerns of responsible and critical communication. I propose a rhetorical approach of techno-social relationality (TSR) as an intervention against such corporate-minded design. Through this approach, I argue that civil engagement is not limited to people’s social responsibilities but rather is entwined in complex, material-technical contexts. By considering the responsibility of our machines as much as ourselves, I lay a foundation for the multimodal writing pedagogies I would like to see implemented in composition courses.
Recommended Citation
Ravel, Kristin M., "A Pedagogy of Techno-Social Relationality: Ethics and Digital Multimodality in the Composition Classroom" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 2238.
https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2238
Included in
Databases and Information Systems Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Rhetoric Commons