John Gordon

Code Studies is a field of study related to computer science, writing and rhetoric, linguistics, digital humanities, cultural studies, philosophy, psychology, and to a lesser extent, several others. One of the primary areas of interest in this subfield is the cultural significance of computer programming source code. Numerous researchers argue that code is writing, that is, a form of expression using symbols that are represented through syntax, which subsequently embodies semantic meaning. Code is no longer the exclusive purview of computer programmers, rather, it is read and interpreted by many who are outside of the programming profession, such as pundits, politicians, hacktavists, professors, lawyers, artists, poets, and many others. As a long-term computer science professional in the Information Systems industry, a computer science educator, and a student of writing and rhetoric, I have a particularly keen interest in Critical Code Studies and how it may be positioned in both the fields of Computer Science and Writing and Rhetoric Studies, how it may inform research in both fields and where it may lead research going forward. And what about the practical applications of this work? I will be conducting research and writing about these topics and sharing some of my work here to demonstrate both theoretical and practical applications in the event others might find it interesting. For reading in this area, I recommend the following as a starter set:

• Marino, Mark. Critical Code Studies. Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press, 2020.
• Brock, Kevin. Rhetorical Code Studies: Discovering Arguments In and Around Code. Ann Arbor, Michigan. University of Michigan Press, 2019.
• Jones, John, and Hirsu, Lavinia, editors. Rhetorical Machines: Writing, Code and Computational Ethics. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The University of Alabama Press, 2019.
• Vee, Anette. Coding Literacy: How Computer Programming is Changing Writing. Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press, 2017.