Part of the course on the rhetoric of spectacle next semester is going to be a journal of spectacles, where students need to observe several different types of spectacle:
+++Political (e.g. the inauguration),
+++Pop-culture (e.g. the Super Bowl),
+++Protest (e.g. the inauguration's blue attendees),
+++Recorded (e.g. blockbuster film)
+++Permanent (the Washington Monument),
+++Art-making (live theatre) and
+++Everyday (that woman making a scene in the grocery store line)
These categories may shift a bibt, but you get the idea: There's overlap, and possibility for other ways to talk about these issues. The idea is that these entries will serve as the foundation for researchj projects that feature a full rhetorical analysis of a selected spectacle, a full research paper on the background, history and execution of the spectacle, and a proposal for a some sort of spectacle-featured event in response, revision, or in support of the original event.

So the kick is this. Instead of a standard hard-copy journal, I'd much prefer to do a course blog, where everyone posts and comments on what's going on in the world of the spectacular. It would also provide an opportunity for me to participate more visibly in their writing community.

So does anyone have any advice on setting up and maintaining a course blog such as this? Should I look for University space to house it or could we host it here among the herders?