The Critique Lab is the Department of English’s networked computer classroom. Faculty members, lecturers, and graduate teaching assistants use the lab to teach a range of courses incorporating new information technologies. Some courses taught in the lab revolve directly around issues of writing and reading in digital environments. For examples of such courses at the undergraduate level, see UHM’s English 307 (Rhetoric, Composition, and Computers) and English 407 (Writing for Electronic Media). Examples at the graduate level include English 760 (Speech & Power on the Internet) and English 740 (Digital Technologies and Disciplinary Practices).

A range of undergraduate courses less directly focused on electronic literacy are also regularly held in the Critique Lab, utilizing its capacity for computer-assisted instruction. Several teachers of first-year composition, for example, teach with our locally developed collaborative writing program, Comment--a program similar to Connect.net and Daedalus, developed by former UH faculty member Walter Creed and currently in the process of being acquired by Bedford-St. Martin’s.

The Critique Lab is divided into two collaborative development/instructional areas:

· a horseshoe configuration of approximately 30 networked computers, including a teacher’s station connected to a projection screen; and

· a separate seminar space for group discussions and other face-to-face collaborations.

In addition to serving as a classroom space, the Critique Lab also functions as a walk-in lab for students; during non-teaching hours, the lab is open and available to UH students. The lab is always staffed, so technical support and supervision is available at all times, including when classes are in session.

For further information, or for specific requests related to using the lab, please review this site’s pages on Policies, Contacts, and Scheduling.