Hypertext Theory in Practice: An Interactive/Electronic Exploration of the Rhetoric, Poetics, and Pragmatics of Hypertext

Chair: Beth E. Kolko, University of Texas, Arlington
Presenters:
Douglas A. Brown, University of Texas, Arlington, "Just Reading? Just Writing? Just Linking!"
Emily Golson, University of Norther Colorado, Greeley, "I Wonder Where This Goes: The Structure of Choices in Hypertext"
Will Hochman, University of Southern Colorado, Pueblo, "Poetic Electric: Experiencing Hypertext with Writing Eyes"
Beth E. Kolko, University of Texas, Arlington, "Forget Art, Let's Dance: At Play in the Fields of Hypertext"
Mike Palmquist, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, "Navigating Hypertext Challenges, Responsibilities, and Implications for the Future"
Jonathan Alexander, University of Texas, Arlington, "Hypertext and Queer Theory"

Summary: This panel was one of the most fun of the conference presentations. The goal of these scholars was two-fold. First, they wanted to suggest the wide range of forms hypertext can take. They did this effectively with Hypertext Reflections, a collection of hypertext documents which the presenters verbally annotated during the presentation. But what made this interesting was the manner of the presentation. The panel members each gave brief introductory remarks, then opened Hypertext Reflections and invited three volunteers to choose which links to follow. As the volunteers arrived at different links, the creator would comment on it briefly. This is another model of how the computers and writing elements of this conference sought to cross the divide between the presenter and the presented-at.

The presentation was quite useful not only as a model for alternate ways of structuring presentations, but because it provided a useful discussion of some of the different genres found out there on the Web. Hypertext Reflections, which includes each speaker's remarks in addition to the hypertexts they discuss, is worth checking out.

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