Writing in the Humanities
Meditations on Human Expression & Action: Poetry, Visual Art/Music, & Philosophy
Instructor: Carrie Matthews
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 1-3 pm in Padelford A-20
Email: crmatthe@uw.edu
You can text/call me (206-351-0214) for quick questions
Texts
The good news: I’ll provide all the texts for free, both electronically and in hard copy, as close reading happens best on paper, pen in hand, for most people. The mixed news: I want *my* reading mostly in hard copy as well, so I am asking you to print out most of the writing you will submit (six pieces). On the bright side, my “artisanal” hand-written responses will assure you that I have not had “AI” “read” and respond to your work in my stead.
Please do consider subscribing to poem-a-day at poets.org. You may find the poem you choose to share with the class there (or anywhere); it may be a poem from childhood, or one you discover next week. Those of you with the capacity to work in other languages may wish to choose a poem in that language and provide an English translation. The Poetry Translation Centre has a few original and translated poems from Chinese, Arabic, Swahili, and other languages. And the Poetry Foundation and Academy of American Poets have a lot of poems and are good places to read around.
Course Overview
English 297, “Meditations on Human Expression & Action: Poetry, Visual Art/Music, & Philosophy” asks you to use poetry and philosophy, along with a brief foray into visual art or music, to reflect on how the humanities can help us understand what it means to be human in 2026. You will write analytically, critically, creatively, and reflectively on expression and arguments that center human intentionality. I want you to become or further grow as attentive readers of other humans’ cultural production as well as use writing to figure out what you think about particular expressive pieces, ethical quandaries, and moral reasoning.
Course Goals
- To guide you in using writing to learn as well as to communicate, demonstrate understanding, create, and critically interact with other writers
- To help you hone your literary close reading and philosophical critical reading abilities and to provide occasions for rich reflection on literary expression and normative ethics
- To help you become more aware of your own habits as readers and writers and to experiment with your writing process
- To carve out a space for us to take stock, communally, of what being human feels like at the beginning of 2026
Class Community Norms
Respect for Difference & Learning: For us to achieve the intellectual vibrancy diversity produces, we have to be open to learning how others perceive and move through the world, and we have to respect everyone's experiences. We should also recognize that some people's ways of perceiving and experiencing the world have been privileged, while others have been marginalized, disparaged, and sometimes met with outright violence. We should attend to that in our written and oral commentary by engaging difference with openness to learning and awareness of power dynamics. I expect each of us to help build a class community where racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, and ableist language and action are not welcomed so that all members of our class can be welcomed.
Respect for Writing and Writers: This class is an inclusive learning community that will frequently function as a writing workshop. Because of that—and because we learn from reading others’ writing—I will frequently ask you to post your writing on our class discussion board. If you are puzzled by an assignment, this will allow you to read your classmates’ responses and get a better sense of the task at hand. Please respect the parameters of our learning community and do not share your classmates’ writing with people outside the course unless you have their permission to do so in writing. And hopefully this goes without saying, but at the risk of redundancy: treat everyone and everyone’s drafts in this class with respect. In particular, when we discuss informal writing or drafts, identify emerging or potential strengths as well as weaknesses. And remember that you’re critiquing the draft in front of you, not the writer.
Plagiarism: Don’t do it! If you ever have questions about documentation, please come see me—I’m happy to help answer questions and share strategies for avoiding plagiarism. I do expect your words and the ideas they express to be your own except when you clearly signal and name another source.
Course Expectations
This course is designed to lead you through the steps of a developed writing or composition process. You are required to complete every step. This includes:
- actively participating in class discussions, small group work, and conferences;
- providing timely, thoughtful, and engaged written feedback on peers’ drafts;
- completing informal writing/pre-writing assignments on time; and
- submitting all drafts and revisions of the major essays on the date they are due.
My Role: to engage—to take seriously and read attentively—your work in progress. I will coach your writing, helping you hone your critical reading skills, develop nascent ideas, analyze others’ arguments, and push your own arguments further in conversation with your classmates, me, and aesthetic and philosophical texts.
Your Role: to grapple with the ideas in lecture and readings and in your peers’ writing and conversation. You should puzzle through the texts we read, not skim them, and come to class and conferences prepared. Perhaps most importantly, you will need to think through your own and your peers’ writing critically and engage in significant revision of your own thinking and writing. In return, you can expect your classmates and me to read your writing with care and take your reflections seriously.
On AI/ LLMS: A Policy
Most Gen“AI”/LLM use is discouraged in this course. We are writing about the humanities, and I want your writing to reflect your own *human* intentionality, not some slop an LLM (large language model) has generated. I am also concerned about de-skilling. I want you to have the same writing abilities I acquired at your age, and I also want you to cultivate dispositions as writers that will help you persevere through difficulty. Writing is thinking; it can be hard. If you outsource it, I worry that you’ll lose or never attain the ability to think for yourself and the capacity to cope with struggle and difficult thinking/writing challenges.
Here is the policy for this class, written by my Autumn 2025 students. My additions are in brackets and one parenthesis.
- Students should be able to use “AI” to research and find useful information. Usage of “AI” should be restricted to researching/finding sources and should not be incorporated into the actual writing process.
- Students should only be permitted to use “AI” [beyond the above] if they can come up with a strong argument as to why it would be necessary for that assignment. Any assignment that a student wishes to use “AI”/LLMs on [uses beyond research/finding information that students then read/view/listen to] must be discussed with the professor, and the resource must be approved.
- If “AI” is found to be used [or suspected of being used], a discussion will be held with the professor on the reasoning and potential alternatives that are better educational resources. The policy should be (is) innocent until proven guilty if a student is suspected of using “AI.” Many times a paper will be flagged as “AI” generated because it is written in a certain way.
Usage of “AI”/LLMs beyond the scope of this policy will be considered violations of academic integrity.
And last, while I see ways some of the tech that gets called “AI” can be useful, I resent how it is being shoved down our throats and think much of the way it is being deployed is just a moneymaking scam. “AI”/LLMs are marketed to you, then companies offer to sell universities “AI” detectors, and then they offer faculty “AI” tools to respond to student writing. You’ll know I am not using those tools and am actually reading your writing because I will be commenting by hand.
Evaluation
All assignments are evaluated on completion (so 4.0 if they are complete) except for the two major project final drafts, which are assessed based on quality, including the quality of revisions. Late work loses .1 per day on a 4.0 scale. Asterisked (*) assignments are due in hard copy.
- Poem Presentation, Discussion Facilitation, and Participation (10%)*
- Poem Explication & Reflection (5%)*
- Your Own Sonnet & Reflection (5%)*
- Rough Draft of Major Project 1 & Conference (5%)
- Peer Reviews of MP 1 (5%)
- Major Project 1 & Reflection: Comparative Analysis (20%)*
- Midterm mini-project: Visual Art/Music as Expression and (Perhaps) Critique (10%)
- Ethics Essay: Thought Experiments & Ethical Reasoning (10%)*
- Rough draft of Major Project 2 & Conference (5%)
- Peer Reviews of MP 2 (5%)
- Major Project 2 & Reflection: Philosophical Fiction (20%)*
ACADEMIC RESOURCES & SUPPORT:
Reaching Out
Please do reach out to me with questions or for revisions strategies, etc. I am often available by appointment in addition to regular often hours. If you are not comfortable talking with the me or not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact the Director, Program in Writing across Campus, Jonathan Isaac, jisaac3@uw.edu, or Associate Director of Writing Programs, Carrie Matthews, crmatthe@uw.edu. If, after speaking with the PWAC Director or Associate Director, you are still not satisfied with the response you receive, you may contact English Department Chair, Habiba Ibrahim, hibrahim@uw.edu, (206) 543-2690.
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. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request Form.
UW Libraries Research
This course asks you, among other things, to craft research questions, analyze a diverse range of texts, and engage in meaningful “conversation” across ideas, texts, and situations’ patterns with appropriate citational practices. If you’d like assistance, guidance, or a second opinion in doing so at any point, you can book an appointment with one of the Odegaard Library’s peer research consultants here.
Writing Center Support
- CLUE Writing Center: Center for Learning and Undergraduate Enrichment (CLUE) is the UW's largest free tutoring program and offers evening hours.
- Odegaard Writing and Research Center: The OWRC offers free, one-to-one, 45-minute tutoring sessions for undergraduate, graduate, and professional writers in all fields at the UW.
Academic and Campus Supports
- CELE: The Community Engagement & Leadership Education Center provides students with opportunities to develop knowledge and skills needed to build sustainable community partnerships.
- Career Center: The UW Career Center offers career counseling and planning, workshops and career fairs, a listing of part-time jobs on and off campus, and much more.
- Instructional Center: Study center through the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity.
- wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House: is a longhouse-style facility on the UW Seattle campus. It provides a multi-service learning and gathering space for American Indian and Alaska Native students, faculty and staff, as well as others from various cultures and communities to come together in a welcoming environment to share knowledge. It is located at 4249 Whitman Court.
- Q Center: The University of Washington Q Center builds and facilitates queer (gay, lesbian, bisexual, two-spirit, trans, intersex, questioning, same-gender-loving, allies) academic and social community through education, advocacy, and support services to achieve a socially-just campus in which all people are valued.
- Counseling Center: UW Counseling Center workshops include a wide range of issues including study skills, thinking about coming out, international students and culture shock, and much more. Check out available resources and workshops at their website.
- FIUTS: Foundation for International Understanding through Students: FIUTS is an example of a campus organization that can bring together your social and academic learning. "FIUTS is an independent non-profit organization which provides cross-cultural leadership and social programming for UW's international and globally minded domestic students. FIUTS is local connections and global community!" FIUTS also offers a free international lunch on the last Wednesday of every month. Consult FIUTS' website for a detailed calendar of events and links to many resources.
- Health & Wellness:provides support, advocacy, consultation, and education to the University of Washington campus community. Services are free for UW students, faculty, and staff. You can work with advocates on your behalf or on behalf of someone you know. Programs include Alcohol & Drug Consultation and Education, Suicide Intervention, Sexual Assault, Relationship Violence, Stalking and Harassment Advocacy, and Student Care Program.
- Any Hungry Husky: This program helps mitigate the social and academic effects of campus food insecurity. By providing students, staff, and faculty with access to shelf-stable, non-perishable goods and community resources at no cost, this initiative aims to lessen the financial burden of purchasing food and supplement nutritional needs. This resource is for everyone in the UW community.
English Department 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; nontheists; LGBTQIA+; those with disabilities; veterans; and anyone who has been targeted, abused, or disenfranchised.
Land Acknowledgement
University Land Acknowledgment:
The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations. Our acknowledgment of the tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot nations comes from consultation and guidance by the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs and Federal regulations and policies. In this phrasing we are adhering to tribal sovereignty.
Campus Safety
- Call SafeCampusat 206-685-7233 anytime – no matter where you work or study – to anonymously discuss safety and well-being concerns for yourself or others. SafeCampus’s team of caring professionals will provide individualized support, while discussing short- and long-term solutions and connecting you with additional resources when requested.
- Husky SafeTrip(206-685-9255) provides safe vehicle escort at night with a uniformed security guard for students, faculty, and staff.
- Stay connected in an emergency with UW Alert. Register your mobile number to receive instant notification of campus emergencies via text and voice messaging.
Resources for Undocumented and DACA Students
- The Office of Global Affairs This website is updated often and is a key site of information about UW legal services for students and the Immigration Law Clinic, with info from the ACLU and links to city and state resources.
- Leadership without Bordersis a central support for DACA students.
- UW Human Resources on Immigration Enforcement on Campus: This webpage addresses immigration enforcement on campus.
- According to UWHR, federal agency personnel cannot enter private spaces, which are defined below:
- Public versus private spaces: From College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dianne Harris’s email on Feb.10, 2025: "Private spaces include classrooms, laboratories, campus residences, private offices or any space that is card-access only or restricted to members of the campus community (such as fitness centers). Public spaces of our campus include all outdoor spaces (plazas, walkways, parking lots and garages, sports fields), the campus library, building hallways and open-area study spaces, and lobbies."
- The Director of ISS sent a message to all international students. This is to inform you about the messaging some students have been receiving.
Finally, here is a central site for university responses to federal policy changes, which is regularly updated.
Course Calendar
There may be some small adjustments to this schedule (posted on Canvas), but I will try to honor it.
Week 1: Course Introduction: Being Human in 2026 & the Humanities
T 1/6 Brownfashionagal, “How to Be A Human Again in 2026”; Start Our Keywords. Introduction to Close Reading Lyric Poetry; Composing a Newspaper Poem
Read for Thursday: Jeffrey R. Wilson, “Aphorisms on the Humanities”; “How to Read A Poem;” Opening Poems (Jones/Baraka; Gay; Reed; Diaz; Kelson; Thomas)
Th 1/8 Noticing/Annotating Exercise
Read for next Tuesday: Selected Sonnets (Petrarch, Shakespeare, Cummings, Browning, Donne, Larkin, Hayes) Sample Poem Explication, How to Write A Poem Explication
Week 2: Analyzing Poems, Writing A Poem Explication (Explaining How a Poem Works)
T 1/13 Draft Our Community Agreement, Practice Analyzing Poems, Go over Poem Explication
Read for Thursday: Re-envisioning, Adaptation, Parody (Sexton, Arnold, Hecht, Williams, Koch)
Th 1/15 Poem Explication & Reflection due*
Read for Next Tuesday: Selected Prose Poems (Stein, Simic, Baudelaire), Villanelles (Bishop, Plath, Roethke))
Week 3: Write a Love Poem (Sonnet), Introducing Villanelles, & Learn to Read a Prose Poem
T 1/20 Analyzing Villanelles & Prose Poems; Outlining your rough draft of MP1
Th 1/22 Sonnet & Reflection due*; Draft introductory paragraph of MP 1
HW: Rough Draft of MP 1
Week 4: Conferences Over MP 1 Rough Drafts: Comparative Analyses
T 1/27 Class Canceled for Conferences in Padelford A-20 (my office)
Th 1/29 Class Canceled for Conferences in Padelford A-20
HW: Revise conference draft for in-class peer review
Week 5: Revising MP 1 & Mini-Project on Visual Art/Music
T 2/3 Peer Reviews in Class. (Some of) Your Sonnets. Exquisite Corpse. Introduction to Collaborative Mini-project
Th 2/5 Final Draft of MP 1 & Reflection due.* Time in class to work on mini-projects. (Bring headphones if necessary). Introduction to Normative Ethics.
Read for next Tuesday: Vincent Triola’s “Virtue, Utilitarianism, and Deontological Ethics”; Rach Cosker-Rowland, “Ethical Theories and Controversial Intuitions” (this last article is a longer read)
Week 6: Complete Mini-projects. Introduction to Writing About Normative Ethics-Philosophy
T 2/10 Finish Mini-project in class and post to discussion board. Respond to mini-projects.
Read Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “A Defense of Abortion” and philosophical thought experiments
Th 2/12 Probing Thought Experiments that Take Up Ethical Quandaries
Read for next Tuesday: “Criticisms of Kantian Ethics”; “The Situationist Critique of Virtue Ethics”; Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
Week 7: Ethics & Philosophical Fiction
T 2/17 Critiquing Kantian, Virtue, and Utilitarian Ethical Approaches
Read N. K. Jemisin, “The Ones Who Stay and Fight”
Th 2/19 Ethics Essay Responding to a Thought Experiment due*
Read for next Tuesday: Ernest Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants”; Nnedi Okorafor, “Spider the Artist”; and read the discussion of Amandeep Jutla, MD; Onyinye Onwuzulike, BA; Elaine Shen, MD; Ragy R. Girgis, MD; David Puder, MD,“’AI Psychosis’: Emerging Cases of Delusion Amplification Associated with ChatGPT and LLM Chatbot Use – A Psychiatric Review” (watching/listening to the podcast is optional)
Week 8: Philosophical Fiction & Writing Pitfalls
T 2/24 Identifying the philosophical topic or quandary you plan to explore
On pitfalls: Read Binyavanga Wainaina, “How to Write About Africa”; Margaret Kingsbury, “9 Ableist Tropes in Fiction I Could Do Without”
Th 2/26 Other Pitfalls to Avoid & Approaches to Drafting; Outlining/Drafting MP 2
HW: Rough Draft of MP 2
Week 9: Conferences Over MP 2 Rough Drafts: Philosophical Fiction
T 3/3 Class Canceled for Conferences in Padelford A-20
Th 3/5 Class Canceled for Conferences in Padelford A-20
HW: Revise draft for in-class peer review
Week 10: Writing Conclusions
T 3/10 Peer Reviews in Class; Completing Our Keywords
Th 3/12 Final Draft of MP 2 & Reflection due*
What it Means to Be Human in 2026: your version, composed in class