ENGL 581 A: The Creative Writer as Critical Reader

Welcome to our class!

You'll find the description below, along with general information about the texts, assignments, and grading.

First I want to acknowledge that we are in a very unique situation, and we will treat it as such!

I recognize that some of you might not have reliable internet and/or technology, and that some of you may even be in a different time zone. I have created weekly modules on different topics, but I aim to be as flexible as possible. If you ever want to propose a different assignment or a different way of responding to one of my prompts, please let me know.

Canvas will be our home base. Turn on Canvas notifications. Use Canvas when you message me so we both have a record of correspondence. It also makes it easy for me to respond to everyone in the class if you've asked a question that others probably have as well. Please feel free to let me know of any concerns, at any time. I will do my very best to respond to you quickly.

We will use Zoom for:

• Weekly class meetings, some just to check in, some to hold a discussion.
• Visits by guest speakers.
• Break-out rooms for smaller group discussions.
• Weekly office hours, Wednesdays 1:00-3:00 pm, and by appointment

Here's a link to a very handy guide to online learning put together by English Department: Transitioning to Online Resource and Guides Packet for ENGL EWP IWP.pdf

Since it is aimed at more basic writing classes, not everything in there will be applicable to you, but it's super helpful!

If you haven’t already done so, familiarize yourself a bit with Zoom.
Zoom Pro is now available free of charge to all current students. Here's a link to a Page with some other videos about using Zoom: Zoom Starter Kit

Privacy

The instructor’s intellectual property rights and the privacy of all course participants must not be violated. Students may not share course materials with non-class members without explicit written permission from the course instructor. Students may not record any part of a class session without the express consent of the instructor, unless approved as a disability accommodation. Individual course instructors may record course sessions but only for use by registered class members for instructional purposes. All recordings will be housed on secure platforms authorized by UW.

 

Synchronous Instruction Privacy Statement

This course is scheduled to run synchronously at your scheduled class time via Zoom. These Zoom class sessions will be recorded. The recording will capture the presenter’s audio, video and computer screen. Student audio and video will be recorded if they share their computer audio and video during the recorded session. The recordings will only be accessible to students enrolled in the course to review materials. These recordings will not be shared with or accessible to the public.

An Exploration of Hybrid Works, or Text and….

Hybridity has many roots, many branches, many blossoms. A hybrid work may be like the new Cosmic Crisp apple, a cross between the Enterprise and Honeycrisp apples,

or like a chimera, the fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail from Greek mythology.

In the former, a completely new apple has been bred and traces of its origins are weak; in the latter, the original forms remain readily apparent.

In this class, we will explore these and other types of hybrids, write about the hybrid, and make some hybrids of our own, asking the following questions along the way:

• What is a hybrid?
• What are the potentials for balance and imbalance among the genres that make up a hybrid?
• What makes a hybrid successful?
• What meanings might accrue to or be generated by hybrid forms?
• How do contemporary practitioners of hybrid forms draw on examples from the past and/or from other artists working concurrently?
• What is the relationship between hybridity and collaboration?

Part of the class will be devoted to working with and responding to students in Professor Claire Cowie’s 400 level class, Artist Handmade Books, to develop hybrids of text, image, and structure and to explore the relationship between hybridity and collaboration. We will also read a variety of hybrid texts and explore other hybrid art forms that use text.

Texts

• Family Resemblance
• The Art Lover
• Ghost Of

Other readings, videos, and other texts linked through Canvas

Assignments

• Short creative responses the week's topic. There will be 6 of these. You may choose to do any 3, plus the longer hybrid or paper OR you may choose to do all 6 of them (and skip the longer assignment).
• Artist Book
• Longer hybrid work or paper on  a hybrid art object.
• Participation—every week there will be some small way to show you’re participating. I’m not keeping track of who’s speaking up in our Zoom discussions!

Grades

OR

Office Hours

I will be holding office hours via Zoom every Wednesday, 1:00-3:00 pm, and by appointment.

For each module, I will also include a Canvas Discussion, where you can ask me any questions about the assignments.

Academic Integrity:

Plagiarism, or academic dishonesty, is presenting someone else’s ideas or writing as your own. In your writing for this class, you are encouraged to refer to other people’s thoughts and writing—as long as you cite them. While I whole-heartedly agree that great writers “steal” from the work of others, they do NOT do this word for word, line for line.   If I find that you have been using another writer’s (including another student writer’s) words without attribution, we will need to have a serious chat and you run the risk of failing this class. I will also expect that ALL the writing you do for this class will be produced for this class. In other words, please don't "plagiarize" yourself by turning in writing you've done for other classes, either in the past or during this quarter.Please see Student Governance Policy, Chapter 209, Section 7.C for more details about plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct. As a matter of policy, any student found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will be immediately reported to the College of Arts and Sciences for review.

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 at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu.  (Links to an external site.)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 Religious Accommodations Policy

• “Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for 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 an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/) (Links to an external site.). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/) (Links to an external site.).”

And last but not at all least….

Department of English Statement of Values

• The UW English Department aims to help students become more incisive thinkers, effective communicators, and imaginative writers by acknowledging that language and its use is powerful and holds the potential to empower individuals and communities; to provide the means to engage in meaningful conversation and collaboration across differences and with those with whom we disagree; and to offer methods for exploring, understanding, problem solving, and responding to the many pressing collective issues we face in our world—skills that align with and support the University of Washington’s mission to educate “a diverse student body to become responsible global citizens and future leaders through a challenging learning environment informed by cutting-edge scholarship.”
• As a department, we begin with the conviction that language and texts play crucial roles in the constitution of cultures and communities.  Our disciplinary commitments to the study of language, literature, and culture require of us a willingness to engage openly and critically with questions of power and difference. As such, in our teaching, service, and scholarship we frequently initiate and encourage conversations about topics such as race, immigration, gender, sexuality, and class.  These topics are fundamental to the inquiry we pursue.  We are proud of this fact, and we are committed to creating an environment in which our faculty and students can do so confidently and securely, knowing that they have the backing of the department.
• Towards that aim, we value the inherent dignity and uniqueness of individuals and communities. We aspire to be a place where human rights are respected and where any of us can seek support. This includes people of all ethnicities, faiths, genders, national origins, political views, and citizenship status; LGBQTIA+; those with disabilities; veterans; and anyone who has been targeted, abused, or disenfranchised.