FA15 Writing Courses for Students in All Majors

The English department is offering some great courses this fall on topics that relate to writing outside of the classroom, perfect for students who want to increase their rhetorical flexibility and ownership of the writing process.  See below (or attachment) for descriptions of “Internet Writing and Rhetoric,” “Writing for Money,” and “Workplace Writing in the Digital Age.”
ENGL Writing Studies Courses FA 15

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ENGL 380: TOPICS IN WRITING STUDIES

Section B: Internet Writing & Rhetoric

What does a “like” or a “retweet” mean in social media?  How can we describe internet cultures? What are emerging genres embedded within online cultures?  What is the purpose of online reviews and commenting?  This class responds to these questions by examining a variety of known and lesser known online writers, course readings, in-class discussion, electronic communication, and digital technologies.  Its primary goal is to develop and strengthen rhetorical and writing skills for online contexts by asking students to produce numerous short writings that they will share with online audiences.  Students will investigate privacy policies, netiquettes (online etiquette policies), comment cultures, online forum decorum, and other online writing situations.  Students will develop an online writing presence using a website of their choice. Students will be exposed to a variety of free programs that they will be able to use to enhance their online writing skills.

Section D: Writing for Money

This will be a course in which students will learn how to write for money. We will operate as a writing workshop.  There will be no assigned outside readings for the course, other than the writing done by other students in the class.  Writing and peer commentary will be due every week.  The goal for each student will be to get paid to write, in whatever genre the student prefers.  Students will be responsible for locating outlets for paid writing (friends and relatives obviously won’t count), and for writing for those outlets.  Students will also chronicle and reflect upon this (difficult) process in weekly blogs.  Evaluation will be based on the quality of the reflection, the quality of feedback on peer drafts, the effort put into locating and writing for chosen outlets, and on the effort with which one pursues the goal of writing for money.

BTW 490: SPECIAL TOPICS IN PROFESSIONAL WRITING

Topic: Workplace Writing in a Digital Age

In recent years, the business and professional world has seen a shift towards computing technologies.  However, the paperless revolution never happened.  We now live in an amalgam of old and new expectations and situations.  This class thus aims to investigate new and old technologies, relationships, and documents relevant to workplace writing in the 21st century.  We will examine traditional workplace documents and evaluate their new electronic counterparts.  Furthermore, we will examine emerging hiring practices and collaborative writing practices of the 21st century workplace.  Students will emerge from this class with the following skills: the ability to produce a video resume, storyboarding and planning skills, interviewing skills for face-to-face and electronic situations including interviews, screen-casting skills, data refinement methods (using Google analytics and refine).  The semester will culminate in an electronic project that meshes written, audio, and visual text.

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Anna S. Ivy, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Academic Advisor
Department of English
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign