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English 297: Interdisciplinary Writing — 5 Credits
Instructor: Joseph Concannon, PhD jscon@uw.edu | Office Hours: T 11:00 am -1:00 pm | Office Location: PDL A-503 | Class Location + Time: T Th 8:30 – 10:20 AM MGH 076
~ Community Writing ~
Hello, fellow Husky, and welcome to English 297. Through readings, discussions, papers, and revisions, this course seeks to help you become a more effective writer, reader, researcher, and community member. Woo!
Our course will follow two themes: weeks 1-4 will focus on space and place; weeks 5-8 will focus on organizational writing. Our readings and daily tasks will focus on materials reflecting these themes. Throughout both sequences, you will be reading (and observing, and listening to) texts and responding with carefully written (and discussed, and revised) papers. Your papers will form a portfolio, which will be edited and handed in for the majority of your final grade.
The course tries to take some pressure off of the notion of correctness in writing, but it will definitely challenge you to think about writing strategy. This means getting rid of the idea of “one size fits all” writing and replacing it with know-how of situation, strategy, and the practice of rhetoric. To this end, we will be working with not only literary texts but also film, visual art, music and other pop culture artifacts. These are all text, and through them, we will explore how composers effectively negotiate their hybrid identities and subjectivities to make persuasive, stakes-driven claims in their works. We will also, and especially, be interested in how they experiment with different genres and modalities to articulate stronger arguments.
This class is about developing your writing skills, but it is also about communities—both in the classroom and in the broader world. Your words matter to these communities.
Course Texts and Materials
These will all be made freely available to you.
Course Assignments
Sequence 1: 3/25-4/18
-Short assignment 1 (250 words), due 4/4
-Short assignment 2 (250 words), due 4/11
-Major Project 1 (700-1000 words), due 4/16 (draft 1) and 4/18 (draft 2)
Sequence 2: 4/22-5/16
-Short assignment 3 (250 words), due 4/29
-Major Project 2 (700-1000 words), due 5/14 (draft 1) and 5/16 (draft 2)
Portfolio workshops: 5/20-5/30
-Portfolio is due 5/30 and consists of one revised Short Assignment, one revised Major Project, and a course reflection. This portfolio is worth 50% of your overall course grade.
Participation: 30% of your overall course grade
-Daily class participation
-Canvas Discussion Posts
-On-time submission of Short Assignments and Major Project drafts
-Conference with Joe (once per quarter, around weeks 4-6)
-Group Presentation (in second half of quarter)
-Community requirement (I will explain later in the quarter, but the goal is to have you leave campus!)
This is not a class that will depend on lecture for learning. Seeing as the nature of the theme demands introspection and collective brainstorming, please be prepared to be awake and involved in class.
Assessment and Grades
Major Project 1 draft 2: 10% of Grade
Major Project 2 draft 2: 10% of Grade
Portfolio = 50% of Final Grade
Participation = 30% of Final Grade
Note: I don’t decide how well you do in this class—YOU do. I simply record the grades for the work you’ve done. To that end, I’m here as a resource to you, so take advantage of my presence. Ask me questions. Send me emails. Visit me during office hours. I’m here to help you succeed. I want to see everyone in this class do a great job.
Attendance Policy
Your regular attendance is required. UW policy precludes grading based on attendance, however, your intellectual presence is needed in order to make our classroom a community of learning. Please come to class regularly, and be present in class while you are there. Please communicate with me about your absences as early and thoroughly as possible. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to get the assignments, class notes, and course changes from a classmate. If you miss class on a day that written work is due, you are still expected to turn your work in on time. In-class work cannot always be made up. Please do not schedule any appointments during class time, unless an absolute emergency comes up. While in class, I expect you to be focused on the activities and not using technology unless it helps you learn/focus.
Late Policy
Late work will not be given any written feedback. Students submitting late work are welcome to come to office hours to receive oral feedback. Be sure to manage your time wisely and anticipate upcoming deadlines, which are all listed on the course schedule. And always come talk to me if you are struggling to keep up with the fast pace of the class. I’m happy to help in any way I can.
Conferences
You are required to attend one conference with me during the quarter. I’ll be scheduling these (again, mandatory and forming part of your participation grade) in week 3 or 4. You are also welcome to come and talk to me during office hours at any time (see below). If you can’t make my office hours, I’m also happy to schedule an appointment with you outside of my office hours. I highly recommend you take advantage of this opportunity.
Office Hours
Please sign up at this calendly link for office hours. Those are held Tuesdays from 11am-1pm:
Communication: Email is the best way to communicate with me outside of class time. Email me at jscon@uw.edu from your UW email. If your email does not require a response (e.g., you are emailing me to let me know you may be late to class on a certain day), I may not reply. If you have a question or comment that requires a response, I will usually respond within 2-4 hours or so. If I don’t, please feel free to send a gentle reminder that I have not responded to your question.
Reaching Out: If you have any concerns about the course or your instructor, please see the instructor about these concerns as soon as possible. If you are not comfortable talking with the instructor or not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact the following Program in Writing and Rhetoric staff: Director Stephanie Kerschbaum, kersch@uw.edu or Associate Director of Writing Programs, Carrie Matthews, crmatthe@uw.edu. If, after speaking with the PWR Director or Associate Director, you are still not satisfied with the response you receive, you may contact English Department Chair, Anis Bawarshi; bawarshi@uw.edu, (206) 543-2690
Religious Accommodation 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/). 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/).
Access and Accommodations: Your experience in this class is important to me. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented 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), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.
The IWP & Anti-Racist Pedagogy:
The Interdisciplinary Writing Program (IWP) is committed to engaging with anti-racist pedagogies. These pedagogies may take various forms, such as curricular attention to voices, communities, and perspectives that have been historically marginalized inside and beyond academic disciplines; inclusive classroom practices; discussions of racism; and consideration of other forms of prejudice and exclusion. We believe that countering the cultures and practices of racism in an academic institution is fundamental to developing a vibrant intellectual community. The IWP is happy to talk with you about your questions as well as to support student-led initiatives around anti-racist work, and we invite you to contact IWP faculty member Rush Daniel at daniej9@uw.edu or IWP Program Director Megan Callow at mcallow@uw.edu. If you’re interested in how teachers of English as a professional community have taken up anti-racist work, check out the National Council of Teachers of English Statement on Anti-Racism to Support Teaching and Learning at http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/antiracisminteaching
Selected UW Student Resources
Writing Centers
CLUE writing center, open 7 pm until midnight, Sunday through Thursday. CLUE is a first-come, first-served writing center located in the Gateway Center at the south end of the Mary Gates Hall Commons: http://depts.washington.edu/aspuw/clue/writing-center. CLUE also offers late-night study sessions and other academic support, and resources such as conversation groups for multilingual/international students.
The Odegaard Writing and Research Center (OWRC) also offers free, one-on-one help with all aspects of writing at any stage in the writing process. OWRC has locations in Odegaard Library, Miller Hall and Health Sciences Libraries. To make the best use of your time there, take a copy of your assignment with you and double-space any drafts you want to bring in. While OWRC writing consultants are eager to help you improve your writing, they will not proofread your paper. To make an appointment or browse the center's online resources, visit http://www.depts.washington.edu/owrc.
Wellbeing and Community Resources
Husky Health and Well-Being: “UW Seattle offers a wide range of health and wellness services, from exceptional medical care and counseling services to recreation classes, safety resources, peer health advocacy, trainings and more. Most services on this site are limited to currently matriculated UW Seattle students, while others are open to faculty, staff and the general public.”