Multimodal Composition FYWR courses
This small seminar emphasizes individualized instruction and gives students practice communicating in a variety of social situations and media, as well as opportunities to explore their own interests and ambitions as writers. Students will improve their ability to understand various modalities and compose in a variety of media. (4-credit, FYWR)
Writing 160.101 - Deconstructing Travel
Students in this section of Writing 160 will develop their college writing skills by exploring the definition of travel, the benefits and negative impacts of travel on the world, the inequities inherent in travel, and the ways travelers seek to mitigate those impacts. They will also inquire whether travel can be undertaken responsibly in the modern age.
Writing 160.102 - Activism and Writing
How can words become catalysts for change? In this course, students will explore the transformative power of writing in movements for social justice and advocacy. Drawing from a diverse array of activist genres and strategies, students will examine how writers craft messages that both challenge the status quo and inspire action.
Writing with Digital and Social Media courses
Writing 200.101
Writing the Wild: A Workshop for Content Creators
Over the course of the semester, students will hone the respective crafts of writing, photography, and podcasting by analyzing published work, conversing with preeminent members of the outdoor media, and workshopping their own evolving projects. The paths students follow in their individual work will by the end of the semester converge to help unpack our big, collective driving question: “What essential human conversations happen within and through wild experiences, and why do these conversations matter?” (3-credit)
Writing 201.101
Tell Me What to Do: The Rhetoric of the Online Advice Column
When people anonymously seek guidance from an advice columnist, or a forum like reddit’s r/AmITheAsshole, they are often seeking solace, sympathy, practical suggestions, and, whether they like it or not, moral judgment. A peek at the pleas for help on daily columns like Dear Prudence, Ask a Manager, and Carolyn Hax reveals resonant cultural crises of our times, just as newspaper columns like Dear Abby and Victorian conduct guides did in years past. In this mini-course, we will explore how advice columns reveal fascinating implications about the norms of etiquette, relationships, self-perception, and how we “should” go about something. In other words, we will explore ideological and rhetorical nuances of “online advice.” Assignments will move between analysis and more creative prompts. (1-credit)
