Season 2 | Episode 8: "Hacking"
In this episode of Zeugma Beck Wise explores hacking, broadly conceived as transformative practice, and the way it intersects with rhetorical teaching and research. In an audio essay, she introduces her own "Rhetoric of Hacking" class and its pedagogical approach. She also interviews Steven LeMieux about the Machinic Invention project group at UT's Digital Writing and Research Lab, which explores the rhetorical constraints and affordances of working with objects like 3D printers and single-board micro-computers.
You can stream the episode below; you can also download it via iTunes and LibSyn.
Image credit: Alexandre Dulaunoy, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License
The term 'hacking' evokes Hollywood images of sociopathic geniuses working through endless lines of cryptic code to empty out Wall Street or shut down the infrastructures of entire countries. Yet, at its most basic meaning hacking can simply be understood as any sort of transformative practice. In this episode of Zeugma, Beck Wise explores the potential of different hacking practices for the rhetoric classroom and for academic research. She reflects on her current intermediate rhetoric class entitled "Rhetoric of Hacking" and relates the experiences of her students with this unconventional format. Beck also talks to Steven LeMieux, leader of the DWRL project group, Machinic Invention. They discuss the rhetorical potential of 3D printers and micro-computers and challenge rhetors to think of 'makerly practice' as part of the academic endeavor.
This episode of Zeugma features the songs "Submenu Hack" by Nhoin (license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International), "Young Love" by Boxcat Games (Creative Commons Attribution License), and "Funny Avatars" by Guy Harries (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License).