Undergraduate
English L371
Critical Practices: "Equipment for Living" (In Uncertain Times)
English L470 (and Gender G402)
Women in the Archives / Vandals in the Stacks ks
This course offered undergraduates in English and Gender Studies a seminar in archival theory and practice, using the IU Office of Archives and Records Management as a site for intellectual inquiry. Students read in the areas of feminist theory, archival theory, and diplomatics, ultimately articulating a critical question at the intersection of feminist theories and theories of archive. Students worked with a partially processed collection (centered on the activities of former IU emerita Cecilia Hennel Hendricks), learning basic tenets of records management, including description, transcription, preservation, arrangement, and removal. Students kept and individual research journal and completed a series of collaborative "problem-solving" exercises that encouraged them to consider the evolving functions of physical and digital archives and to consider archival practices as determinants in the formation of literary and cultural histories. Based on their work in the Hendricks collection, students composed a seminar-length paper in response to their critical question.
English L207
Women (Writing) in Social Movements
In ENG L207 (Women and Literature), students surveyed the texts of women writers in English to investigate a range of rhetorical and poetic strategies that illuminated their participation in various "spheres" of social activity between 1500 and 1900, with special attention given to trans-Atlantic movement and racial uplift. Students read in a variety of genres, and they drew from feminist philosophy, feminist literary criticism, and rhetorical theory for investigative lenses onto what they read. Students conducted an archival research project at the Lilly Library, culminating in a critical investigative paper and an archival works-in-progress session.
English L111
Living Literature / Documenting Reality
English W350
Sustainable Public Discourse
Supported by the Fall 2010 Themester initiative, this course allowed students to focus on both the literal and figurative dimensions of sustainability in public discourse. Literally speaking, we examined academic and real-world genres that advocated for sustainability and analyzed the principles underlying their construction and reception. Figuratively speaking, we considered specific paradigms in written communication that perpetuate, devolve, or recycle themselves over time. We focused our study in three spheres of discourse, thinking deeply about writing theories and writing in the public sphere alongside one another. In addition to leading a group discussion, writing a series of short analysis papers, and exploring the Richard Lieber State Parks collection at the Lilly Library, students wrote a two-part final project. In the first part, they composed an historical-causal analysis of an issue they identified in the circulation of public discourse; in the second part, they repurposed that analysis into a sustainable genre form.
English W350, English 304
Public Discourse
English W350 (Advanced Expository Writing) is an upper-division writing course for sophomores through seniors, emphasizing the rhetorical analysis of public discourse and the construction of written arguments. Students discussed and analyzed texts in three different spheres--scientific and technical writing, political rhetoric and public policy, and daily persuasion and propaganda--in order to understand the rhetorical concepts of stasis, aim, audience construction, arrangement, logic, style, and linguistic convention at work in real-world genres. Students then researched and created a two-part Public Awareness project.
English W240
Community Service Writing
In this service-learning course, students explored the different ways that community agencies define "leadership" and "civic engagement," while learning the arts of writing and research for public contexts. Students served and conducted research at one of five non-profit agencies in Bloomington, reading in a variety of genres on such themes as body image, literacy, poverty, accessibility, and sustainability. In addition to doing fieldwork and triangulating sources on a series of inquiry-driven assignments, students worked in groups to compose a public document that would help their agency further its mission. Their work culminated in final digital portfolios.
English 106R, 108/108R, 108C
Fieldworking: Writing and Research
English 106 (first-year composition) and
English 108 (accelerated first-year composition) comprise the
new curriculum at Purdue, consisting of a
one-semester intensive course that integrated conferencing and visual and
information literacy into the writing course. The "Fieldworking" syllabus
represents an ethnographic approach to academic research and writing, where
students selected a local fieldsite for their investigation and completion of
a semester-long research project and portfolio.
English 102
Academic Writing and
Research
English 102 was the
second semester in Purdue's previous two-semester sequence for first-year
composition. This course emphasized scholarly research and argument, and
asked students to select a research topic related to their field of study.
They followed the same topic in a summary, review, report, and proposal
sequence in order to arrive at a final paper focused on a critical issue or a
problem.
English 101R
Leadership and Public
Discourse
English 101R was the first semester in Purdue's previous two-semester
sequence for first-year composition. This course, designed for the
Leadership and Service Learning Scholars learning community, emphasized
public discourse and asked students to read, collect, study, and create
relevant examples of advocacy literature. In conjunction with MGMT 190S, "Introduction to Service
Learning," students volunteered at one of five local agencies that became
the focus of a final advocacy project.
English 101
Writing Their Way Into Purdue
English 101 was the first semester in Purdue's previous two-semester sequence
for first-year composition. This course emphasized genre-based writing as
social action, and invited students to select a community on or near
Purdue's campus for a series of investigative projects, including a profile,
public document, and proposal, all of which reflected their development as producers and consumers of text.
Graduate
English W601
Archives of Instruction in Rhetoric and Composition
English W501
Teaching College Composition to Multilingual Writers
English 505A, 505B
Teaching Introductory Composition
This is a
two-semester practicum in teaching first-year composition for new and
incoming instructors at the M.A. and Ph.D. level. In the first semester, our
focus was on curriculum design and instructional pedagogy. In the second
semester, our focus turned to essential theories of composition studies and
to the development of teaching portfolios.