ENGL 299 E: Intermediate Interdisciplinary Writing - Natural Sciences

The English 299E course, an Intermediate Interdisciplinary Writing course linked to NUTR 200: Nutrition for Today, serves as a complement to NUTR 200. While both courses have their distinct objectives, activities, and assessments, English 299E primarily focuses on expository writing grounded in the subject matter of NUTR 200. Therefore, this course will also help you gain knowledge about food, diet, and nutrition through a variety of writing exercises in different styles and genres. Our writing projects will selectively explore specific case studies, concepts, and issues in food, diet, and nutrition and utilize them in a rich academic context. There are three writing sequences that you will produce throughout the quarter: school lunch memoir, researching indigenous food sovereignty, and analysis of nutrition blog and social media. Each sequence will involve exploring and developing ideas, drafting the paper or another writing project, and working on and finalizing the draft. You will undergo all those writing processes through various class activities such as class discussions, peer reviews, and conferences.

Learning Goals:

• Enhance your skills in critically and holistically analyzing topics related to nutrition, culture, and society and express them in various writing forms. By the end of this course, you will be expected to have the capacity to interrogate ideas and norms through writing, particularly in terms of food ideology and sovereignty, nutrition, and public health.
• Provide opportunities for you to build connections between some of the critical concepts and issues in nutrition and problems or concerns you care about.
• Practice giving and receiving feedback through the peer-review process to develop your critical thinking and writing skills.
• Engage in collaborative works for knowledge sharing and learning from one another.  

Expectations:

The course is organized around three primary activities, which encompass class discussions, including brief lectures and group discussions to explore topic-related sequences, peer reviews that offer opportunities for students to receive and provide feedback on their writing assignments, and group conferences (see diagram below). Each sequence will be built up through these three in-person class activities held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3:30 to 4:20 PM in DEN 111. This class is structured into weekly modules, which you can access through the menu on the left or by clicking here. Modules have links to assignments and readings. 

There are six components of your grade:

1. In-Class Participation: 10%
2. School Food Memoir: 22%
3. Indigenous Food Sovereignty Paper: 25% 
4. Analysis of a Nutrition Blog: 23%
5. Peer-Review: 10% 
6. Conference: 10%

Click here for the grade scale for this class

Here is an explanation of each part:

1. In-Class Participation: 10%. Participation in class is required. There is no device to buy: you can use a phone, tablet, or computer, or I will also allow you to answer by paper and pencil if you prefer (talk with me in advance if you would like to use that option). In-class participation means you must actually be in the classroom participating in order to earn these points. Screens should only be used in class for answering Poll Everywhere questions or taking notes.
2. School Food Memoir: 22%. This is the first assignment sequence. In this assignment, you will write a 3-page memoir (about 1100) reflecting on your experiences with the food and lunch available at your school K-12 and draw from relevant readings to evaluate the problems of school lunch programs in the United States and proposals put forward to address them.
3. Indigenous Food Sovereignty Paper: 25%. In the second assignment sequence, you will conduct research on indigenous food sovereignty, and this will be presented in the form of a 4-page essay. The subject matter can encompass various aspects, including the correlation between indigenous food sovereignty and food security, which encompasses the nutritional advantages of traditional diets. Additionally, you can explore how the transmission of indigenous food sovereignty practices occurs across generations, as well as the influence of education in safeguarding traditional food systems. Another angle to investigate is the contribution of indigenous communities' traditional knowledge and agricultural methods to the promotion of food sovereignty and sustainable food systems.
4. Analysis of a Nutrition Blog and Social Media Channel. 23%. Online health and nutrition blogs and social media channels (YouTube, TikTok, etc.) are particularly interesting avenues for exploring contemporary food culture. For this third assignment sequence, you are being asked to write a 3-page essay that applies some of the critical concepts introduced in class and in the readings to an online health and nutrition blog or social media channels of your choice. Integrating the concepts with quotes from the readings and applying them to your data is especially encouraged.
5. Peer review: 10%. In this peer review activity, you'll be assigned to review drafts of your peer's writings and assess them using criteria. The review covers aspects like the content and structure of the writing. This peer review process benefits not only the writers but also the reviewers themselves as it contributes to their writing development before final submission. Each student will both write and receive three peer reviews for each assignment sequence, in addition to feedback from the instructor, which will be further discussed in conferences. 
6. Conference: 10%. The conference will be held after all students submit drafts of their writings and get written feedback from other students on Canvas. Therefore, Submitting the draft and written feedback in a timely manner before the conference is of utmost importance. During the quarter, the conference will be held three times for each sequence and conducted in class. Thus there will be three weeks of classes that will be used for the conference. Each student will be asked to determine their own conference time according to the schedule provided by the instructor. The purpose of this conference is to present and listen to input on the draft writing that has been submitted, as well as clarify and discuss class feedback to improve the draft before final submission.

Late Assignment and Missed Classes. You are responsible for managing your time. If you know in advance that you might need some flexibility, please contact your instructor as soon as possible—they will work with you to find a viable solution. However, exceptions will be made for credible emergencies.

All course material related to the lectures will be provided on Canvas and includes video and audio content, accessible PDFs, links to external online content, and text-based assignment prompts. For class discussions, please bring a notebook and writing utensil with you; any further materials needed for in-person discussion activities will be provided for you onsite.

Access and Accommodations

Your experience in this class is important to me. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS on your campus. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s), and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

UW Seattle: Disability Resources for Students(UW Seattle). Email: uwdrs@uw.edu Phone: 206-543-8924

Religious Accommodations
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for the accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

Resources

A number of challenges from a variety of directions can affect your ability to bring your optimal attention and energy to a course. Student Resources is a set of links to campus resources that UW makes available to students in trying to mitigate and cope with some of these challenges.

This schedule only includes major due dates/activities. This schedule is subject to adjustments throughout the quarter.