1. My initial abstract was about discussing rhetorical strategies for engaging our colleagues who might be on the fence about the value of digital networked media in the classroom, especially at the expense of already established assignments, workshops, and other pedagogical tools.  I’d like to see a session in which we really try to attend the most salient concerns against technologies in liberal arts classrooms, so we can think seriously about how to address them.
2. I would happily lead or facilitate a discussion on the specific form of “digital storytelling” and its value in coursework that involves iterative, experiential learning.  I’ve been doing it for several years at Austin College where I teach and have also recently started a DS working group with other LAC faculty, so if folks are interested, that’s a very real possibility.
3. What if your IT staff are unreceptive or slow to act with regard to generating and maintaining the infrastructure for digital media in the classroom?  When your Media Services staff have only one camera available for checkout by faculty, and its a shoulder-mounted VHS recorder, there’s a problem.  Could we talk about that? (OK, this is really probably more of 1. above.)
4. How about “gamification” or “exploitationware” as Ian Bogost recently called it?  I’d love to participate in a discussion about the use of game-like systems (or students’ recognition of the inherent game-like nature of existing college systems) in LACs today.  What is their value, what resources are necessary to really make them go, and what research is there to suggest they can be helpful (Gee, McGonigal, etc.)?

St. Norbert College students only—here’s your first chance to get involved with THATCamp LAC!

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THATCamp LAC Logo Contest
Prize: Eternal glory (and $100)

In June 2011, St. Norbert College will host THATCamp LAC—The Humanities and Technology Camp for Liberal Arts Colleges. THATCamp LAC will focus on digital humanities research at Liberal Arts Colleges, as well as on issues surrounding technology and teaching.

If you’re still wondering what the heck THATCamp or “digital humanities” are, check out our FAQ.

When you visit the site, you’ll notice that our logo really isn’t that pretty. We need a better one. We need something that evokes the idea of the “liberal arts college.” Our logo will end up on flyers, on mugs, on t-shirts—it needs to be good.

So we’re holding a contest. Here are the rules:

1. You must use the THATCamp logo as the base of your design. Here are the files for THATCamp’s logo (in a number of formats).
2. Your logo must fit easily on the website’s masthead (lac2011.thatcamp.org). A very tall logo, for example, would be awkward. Wide is the new tall.
3. Your logo should be simple, but invoke the ideas of “the Liberal Arts College” and “technology”: ivy twined with circuits, a Greek statue wearing white headphones, a graph depicting small student-to-faculty ratios. It’s your call (but probably not the graph)!
4. Undergrads only, please!

For inspiration, browse the logos for THATCamp New England, THATCamp Virginia, or THATCamp Chicago.

Logos should be submitted to Ryan Cordell via email.

All submissions are due by January 28th.