One Course Summer Institute - POETRY AND NEW MEDIA

Robert P. Dana Director of the Center for the Literary Arts, Becca Klaver How do writers keep their work relevant as technology advances? In our visual, tech-saturated culture of viral memes, character count limits, and—for better or worse—declining attention spans, poetry has been experiencing a surge in popularity. Poetry is uniquely adaptable to both the possibilities and limits of digital media. In this course, you’ll read poetry that uses the languages of textspeak and emoji and will get inspired by new media projects that take the form of Instagram posts, YouTube spoken word performances, and innovative “videopoems.” You’ll also gain photo- and video-editing skills as you create your own poetic new media projects. Activities will allow students to: become early participants in the Instapoetry trend collaborate to create a class multimedia website learn and practice skills in photo and video editing practice presentation skills through gallery shows and screenings of final projects attend and discuss live performances of poetic works. What students take away for high school and college work: an appreciation for how poetry integrates into new media the ability to think critically about the relationship between literature and media applied experience in using new media poetry as a form of self expression and a body of work that can be included a writing portfolio. No prerequisites