NC State University · Spring 2027

Issues in Communication,
Rhetoric, and Digital Media

Session slides, activities, and milestone guides for CRDM 790.

Course CRDM 790 · 3 Credit Hours
Instructor Kirsti K. Cole
Tompkins Hall 226
Office Hours Schedule a meeting →
Session Format Tuesdays · 6–9:30 pm · In person

Accessibility: All session materials are available in multiple formats. If any format creates a barrier, email kkcole2@ncsu.edu — an alternative will be provided before the next class session. This site works without JavaScript.

How to use this site
1
Before class Read the assigned text on Perusall. Complete the pre-class writing prompt.
2
During class Open the session slides (click any available week row). Press M to toggle reading mode.
3
Milestones Four graded deliverables across the semester. Submit via Moodle, email, or Google Drive.

Course schedule — Spring 2027

If the course meets on Monday, MLK Jr. Day cancels Week 2 — an async alternative will be on Moodle. Spring Break is March 15–19.

01
Movement I · Weeks 1–5

Who Are We and What Do We Think?

Shared critical vocabulary, scholarly identity, and cohort formation. Readings: Giroux · Benjamin · Mbembe · Brown.

Week 1
Arrivals
Introductions · Intellectual Autobiography · Constellation Mapping
Available →
Week 2
Critical Pedagogy and the Scholar-Critic
Giroux, On Critical Pedagogy · Institutional Autopsy
Available →
Week 3
The Past Is Not Past
Benjamin, Illuminations · Wreckage & Promise Gallery
Available →
Week 4
Who Gets to Live
Mbembe, Necropolitics · Concept Translation Workshop
Available →
Week 5
The University Under Neoliberalism
Brown, Undoing the Demos · Identity Statement Swap
◆ Milestone 1 Due Available →
02
Movement II · Weeks 6–10

What Do I Know and Who Helps Me Know It?

Candidacy work begins — exam lists and committees. Readings: Federici · Fisher · Derrida · Haraway.

Week 6
Primitive Accumulation and the Labor of Knowledge
Federici, Caliban and the Witch · Canon Audit
Available →
Week 7
Hauntology: What Haunts Your Field?
Fisher, Ghosts of My Life · Derrida, Specters of Marx · Rapid Presentations
Available →
Week 8
Exam List Workshop
Haraway, 'Situated Knowledges' · Structured Peer Review
◆ Milestone 2 Due Coming Soon
Week 9
Committee as Intellectual Community
Kelsky, The Professor Is In · Committee Email Workshop · Guest Speaker
Coming Soon
Week 10
Individual Meetings Week
No full group session · Individual check-ins · Prospectus Seed Writing
◆ Milestone 3 Due Coming Soon
03
Movement III · Weeks 11–15

What Will I Make and Where Am I Going?

Rigorous, situated imagination. Prospectus drafting, peer workshopping, and forward vision. Readings: Marcuse · Ghosh.

Week 11
One-Dimensional Thinking and the Dissertation Imagination
Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man · Draft Audit
Coming Soon
Week 12
What Can Humanistic Imagination Actually Do?
Ghosh, The Great Derangement · The 'So What?' Gauntlet
Coming Soon
Week 13
Paths Forward: Alt-Ac and Otherwise
Guest Lecturers · Three Versions Side-by-Side · How Knowledge Travels
Coming Soon
Week 14
Prospectus Workshop
Full structured peer workshop · Workshop Response Protocol
◆ Milestone 4 Due Coming Soon
Week 15
What We Made and What We're Seeing
Prospectus Presentations · Week 1 Card Return · Closing Reflection
Coming Soon
Quick Links
Readings Perusall Primary reading platform Submissions Moodle Milestone submission portal Supplementary Google Drive Shared folder & materials Advising Office Hours Schedule a meeting Guide Perusall Annotations How to annotate well Guide Milestone Details All four milestones