Digital Research Methods

Catalog description

This course will serve as one of the core methods courses in the RPC PhD program, focusing on “digital” methods in rhetorical studies. As such, the aim of this class is to help you begin to gain confidence in conducting research in rhetoric, professional communication, and composition using digital methods. In this course we will assume that digital methods in rhetoric take broadly two forms: first, digital methods of acquisition, processing, and presentation of research data. And second, digital methods of production and circulation of rhetorical objects. The former closely resembles the methods of “digital humanities” while the latter will be closer to media archaeology and “critical making” practices. In all cases, we will relate these tools and methods to key questions and theories in our field, asking how and why we might apply digital methods in rhetorical scholarship.