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Additional Writing Courses

Writing 8: Writing with Media

New media calls for new rhetorical practices. This course introduces students to the principles and practices of writing with media, offering instruction in how to read and to write multi-media compositions. Assignments include creating visual arguments; "re-mediating" texts to the Web and/or to PowerPoint; envisioning quantitative information; and composing a video documentary. Students will also produce written analyses of multi-media compositions in order to demonstrate their visual literacy.

Prerequisite: Writing 5 or its equivalent Writing 2-3, and permission of the instructor is required. Dist: ART. Gocsik.

Writing 9: Composition Theory and Practice

(Not offered in the period 11F through 13S)

Identical to English 9, this course explores the complex relationship between writing and knowledge as it is theorized and practiced, focusing on the important pedagogical shifts in Composition and Rhetoric over the last fifty years. Special topics may include how writing is taught (and knowledge constructed) within the disciplines; the intersection of rhetoric, power, and culture; debates concerning collaborative learning and intellectual property; the challenges of multi-media composition; conversations between composition and critical theory. Dist: ART. Gocsik.

Note: This course is strongly recommended for those pursing Secondary Teaching Certification through the Education Department's Teacher Education Program. This course does not carry major credit.

Writing 10: Writing In The Workplace

This course approaches professional writing as a rhetorical craft. Students will learn to analyze workplace cultures and communicate effectively within them. Course readings and activities focus on professional writing, with an emphasis on written, oral, and mul-timedia composition. Students will learn to create effective professional documents for a variety of purposes, and to adjust their rhetorical approaches to fit their professional goals. The course uses workplace simulations to teach professional writing in context.

Prerequisite: Writing 5 or its equivalent Writing 2-3. Dist: ART. Chaney.

Writing 11: Argument in Context: Theory and Practice

This course is designed to sharpen students' ability to interpret arguments in context through close analysis of rhetorical strategies. Employing theoretical frameworks from rhetorical studies, composition theory, and literary criticism, students will analyze a variety of arguments: global and local; textual and visual. Students will further hone their critical sensibilities as they shape and re-shape their own arguments.

Prerequisite: Writing 5 or its equivalent Writing 2-3, and permission of the instructor is required. Dist: ART. Gocsik.

Writing 41: Writing and Speaking Public Policy

Identical to Public Policy 41, this course is designed for students who intend to use their writing and communication skills to effect tangible change. Course materials will draw from various areas of public policy, and students will develop policy arguments through position papers, strategy memos, public talks, multi-media tools, as well as op-ed pieces and "letters to the editor" to be submitted to local newspapers. Students will strengthen their understanding and practice of public persuasion, as well as their capacity to analyze the components of effective argument.

Prerequisite: Public Policy 5 or permission of instructor. Dist: ART; WCult: W. Kalish.

Writing 42: The Art of Science Writing

This course is designed to introduce students to the art of effective science writing. Students will learn to interpret and analyze complex scientific research findings and translate them into engaging prose with special attention given to the intended audience. The main focus of the course will be on learning to write about science for scientists. Students will learn how to craft scientific research articles; they will learn to write effective abstracts, introductions, methods, results and discussions. Students will also learn how to create effective visual representations of their data.
In the second portion of the course, students will focus on science writing for the nonscientific audience. Students will learn how to accurately communicate their scientific findings and the findings of other scientists to the general public in the format of review articles and newspaper or magazine features.

Prerequisite: Writing 5 or its equivalent Writing 2-3, and permission of the instructor is required. Dist: ART.

Writing 43: The Written Judicial Opinion

(Cross-listed with Government 60, Section 2 in Spring 2013)

This course studies the structure, content, format, and organization of the written legal opinion, along with an introduction to judicial procedure and process. Students will analyze several historically and socially significant United States Supreme Court opinions in order to understand how and why they constitute "the law." Additional readings will contextualize the assigned written opinions. Other topics include how judges write their legal opinions, which factors judges consider when they write judicial opinions, and how the political and social norms and trends affect and influence judicial opinions. Students will learn the technical skills of judicial opinion writing and comprehend the structure and purpose of the American judicial system. This class is recommended for those interested in writing, law, and the American judicial system, and is especially appropriate for those students considering a career in law.

Prerequisite: Writing 5 or its equivalent (Writing 2-3 or Humanities 1). Dist: SOC. Sargent.

Writing 80: Independent Research

A tutorial course focused on an independent research project to be designed by the stu-dent with the assistance of a member of the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric faculty, who will serve as the project’s supervisor. Appropriate foci include topics associated with rhetoric, writing studies, composition, speech, communication, digital or multi-media composition.

A student wishing to enroll in Writing 80 must submit a proposal and plan of study, ap-proved by the supervising faculty member, to Christiane Donahue, Director of the Insti-tute for Writing and Rhetoric, during the term prior to taking the course.