The Visual Rhetoric Workgroup (John Jones, Nathan Kreuter, Tim Turner, and Vessela Valiavitcharska) received the MEME award in 2007.

viz. / Visual Rhetoric Portal

The site can be accessed at http://viz.cwrl.utexas.edu/

Pedagogical aims

The increasing interest in visual rhetoric in the composition classroom and its continuing importance in composition studies suggested that there needed to be a resource where composition instructors and students could find up-to-date information about this rhetorical practice. The aim of the workgroup was to create such a resource, with the dual goals of providing both instructors and students a context for understanding visual rhetoric as well as suggesting creative means of integrating visual studies in the composition classroom. These aims were pursued by creating

• introductions to the theoretical foundations of visual studies,
• examples of assignments designed to illustrate the importance of the visual in communication and provide experience for students in crafting both arguments about visuals and visual arguments,
• a forum for discussing contemporary visual culture through theory, analysis, and examples of visual communication, and
• a general bibliography for exploring these themes in greater depth.

Integration of pedagogy and technology

To achieve our pedagogical aims, the visual rhetoric workgroup has attempted to use the website to provide multiple technologies for teaching and learning about visual rhetoric. The site uses examples of video and still images to illustrate theoretical concepts, provides instructions for creating visual arguments in presentation and flow-charting software, and uses the Drupal blog module to create a forum for conversations about visual culture, theory, and pedagogy. By combining these different methods of visual and textual communication, the site has made great strides toward achieving its goal of being a resource for analyzing, theorizing, and teaching visual rhetoric. Further, in following the University of Texas’s guidelines for web accessibility, the site is an accessible, mobile resource that anyone can use whether they are in the classroom, dorm room, coffee shop, or anywhere else in the public or private spheres.