Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the need for students and faculty alike to learn to engage critically with the multimodality through visual composition. It addresses the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC). The book identifies discipline's moment as one in which we must acknowledge the composition that proliferates outside of academic environments. It discusses a gap in the technology preparation for graduate students within PhD programs in rhetoric and composition to take up multimodality successfully in their own teaching. The book explores the argument that there is a real need for multimodality in the 21st century composition classroom, even while our instructors, institutions, and administrators often need convincing to that effect. It explores the similar challenges our discipline faces at this point along with some potential responses.