On Multimodality: An Interview with Jody Shipka, Part 1

This is the first half of a two-part interview with Dr. Jody Shipka, who was the featured presenter at the Digital Writing and Research Lab’s 2014 Speaker Series. Steven LeMieux, an assistant director in the DWRL, conducted this interview during Dr. Shipka's visit. The interview was originally published on the website of the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC) as part of the final project of HASTAC’s 2013-14 rhetoric and composition working group: “Evocative Objects: A Workbook on Multimodal Composition including Assignments, Exercises, and Further Reading."

Jody Shipka is an associate professor of English at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and author of the book Toward a Composition Made Whole. In that book, she makes the case for introducing more multimodal work into composition classes, from interpretive dances to cakes to essays written on ballet slippers. She also outlines a detailed framework for assigning and responding to such work. The theoretical and pedagogical concerns of Toward a Composition Made Whole are the focus of this half of the interview. The second half, which focuses on the possibilities and challenges of multimodal scholarship, will be available soon via Zeugma’s various streams.

You can stream this episode via the player that's embedded on this page or you can stream and download it via our LibSyn page.