ENGL 199 C: Interdisciplinary Writing/Natural Science

ENGL199C - Interdisciplinary Writing: Natural Science  (Spring 2019)                

   Instructor: Hsinmei Lin (May)   

Class hours: MWF 3:30-4:20PM

Class location: Savery 164

Office hours:  W 1-3 PM by appointment

Office location: Padelford B24

 (Ozzy Lin @ozzylinthecorgi)                                      Email: hsinmei@uw.edu

Writing, just like any other disciplines, should not be bound by existing borders and prior knowledge but should be transferable, retainable, and collaborative. Whether you work alone or with others, you cannot escape working/learning with/from others, in a physical or thoughtful fashion. Writing is an essential and effective way to examine and enhance thinking and learning. In this course, we as thinkers and learners at the university will together use writing to explore/expand our creative and critical minds, tackle both curious and practical aspects of our professional life, and effectively present research to targeted audiences.

Our class will gear toward a "hybrid"-- face-to-face plus distant learning--style. The course materials will, first, be drawn from the (sub)genres of biology and poetry, which are two fields of study often thought of as irrelevant. By examining popular and scholarly writing in biology as well as poems that focus on life forms other than humans, students will build connections based on the intertextual conversation provoked by the reading of both genres and establish a bio-poetical discourse community where biology and poetry intersect and co-generate a prolific body of conversations. Then, your will work on academic and practical professionalization as early career researchers/scientists through writing cover letters, resumes, and peer-oriented mock interviews. Finally, the course will culminate in your demonstration of your insider knowledge in biological science, broadly speaking, for a general, public audience, as you conduct research, write literature reviews, and present your reviews on topics of your own choosing.

Spring 2019 Calendar

Sequence One

Week 1

4/1 (M) No Class

            *Reading:  1) “The Big Lesson of a Little Prince” by Maria Konnikova                      (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/literally-psyched/the-big-lesson-of-a-little-prince-recapture-the-creativity-of-childhood/)

                              2) "Science vs. Poetry" by Sam Illingworth (https://blogs.plos.org/scicomm/2015/11/09/science-vs-poetry/) 

                              3) "Mind and Matter: The Intersection of Poetry and Science" by Naureen Ghani (https://blogs.plos.org/thestudentblog/2016/01/15/scienceandpoetry/)

4/3 (W) No Class

             **Reflection #1 due on Canvas by 4/3 (Wed)

4/5 (F)   Meet and Greet; Join Google Drive; Sequence 1 grouping; Assign sample poems to groups

Week 2

4/8 (M) Sample poems for biological conceptualization; group activities.

            *Reading: 1) “There was a child went forth everyday” by Walt Whitman                                                         [https://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1891/poems/202]

                             2) “The brain is wider than the sky” by Emily Dickinson

                                 [https://www.bartleby.com/113/1126.html]

                             3) "The Concept of Discourse Community" by John Swales (John Swales_The Concept of Discourse Community.pdf)

4/10 (W) Group workshop - Decide on a poem and associated biological concept(s) for creative project proposal; Conference #1 Scheduling

            *Sample selection of poems (You can also choose any poem not included here that you find fitting.): https://www.scienceweek.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Earthly-Matters-Science-Made-Marvellous.pdf 

             **Biopoetical conceptualization worksheets due on Google Drive by 4/11 (Thu) 

4/12 (F) Group workshop - Draft group proposals.

Week 3

4/15 (M) No Class

             **Upload Proposal Drafts to Google Drive by 4/16 (Tue)

4/17 (W) No Class/ Conferences (Between 12-5 PM)

4/19 (F) No Class/ Conferences (Between 12-5 PM)

             **Proposal due on Canvas by 4/21 (Sun)   

Sequence Two

Week 4

4/22 (M) Introduce Sequence Two; Lab position search-- Featuring experienced voluntary lab internship applicants; UW internship position search

              **Upload lab position worksheets to Google Drive by 4/23 (Tue)

4/24 (W) Group assignment based on internship interests; Sample cover letters and grading Criteria; structuring cover letter; Sample cover letter norming #1

              *Reading: Sample cover letter #1

4/26 (F) Sample cover letter norming #2

              *Reading: Sample cover letter #2

              **Reflection #2 due on Canvas by 4/28 (Sun)

Week 5

4/29 (M) Draft cover letters (structure, content); Conference #2 Scheduling

5/1 (W) Draft cover letters (presentation, style)

5/3 (F) No Class/Submit cover letter drafts (distant learning)

             **Upload cover letter drafts to Google Drive by 5PM, 5/3 (Fri)

            **Cover letter peer reviews due on Google Drive by 5/5 (Sun)

Week 6

5/6 (M) No Class/Conferences (Between 12-5 PM)

5/8 (W) No Class/ Conferences (Between 12-5 PM)

5/10 (F) No Class

             **Final Drafts of cover letters due on Canvas by 5/12 (Sun)

Week 7

5/13 (M) Sample resumes and grading criteria; structuring resumes; Sample resume #1 norming; Conference #3 scheduling

              *Reading: Sample resume #1 [Cavas Files]

5/15 (W) Sample resume #2 norming; Draft resumes

              *Reading: Sample resume #2 [Canvas Files]

5/17 (F) Draft resumes

              **Upload your drafts of resumes to Google Drive by 5/17 (Fri)               

              **Complete peer reviews on group members' resumes on Google Drive by 5/19 (Sun)

Week 8

5/20 (M) No Class/ Conferences (Between 12-5 PM)

5/22 (W) No Class/Conferences (Between 12-5 PM)

               **Submit mock interview questions for group members to Google Drive by 5/23 (Thu)

5/24 (F) Mock interview

              **Final drafts of resumes due on Canvas by 5/26 (Sun)

Sequence Three

Week 9

5/27 (M) No Class/Memorial Day

              **Reflection #3 due by 5/28 (Tue)

5/29 (W) Talk by UW biology subject librarian on researching, source collecting, literature review

5/31 (F) Sample literature reviews norming; grading criteria/rubric

             *Reading: Three samples of literature review 

Week 10

6/3 (M) Literature worksheet workshop; Conference #4 scheduling

6/5 (W) Literature review drafting workshop

6/7 (F) Course evaluation; Participation grade

            **Literature review worksheets due on Google Drive by 6/9 (Sun)

Week 11

6/10 (M) No Class/ Conferences

6/11 (T) Conferences

6/12 (W) No Class

6/14 (F) No Class

             **Final drafts of literature review due on Canvas by  6/14 (Fri)

             ** Extra credit due on Canvas by 6/16 (Sun)

**Complete syllabus: ENG199C_2019Spring-2 (1) (1).docx