Keeping with the spirit of revision, I like to change the structure of classes periodically to respond to student engagement and to better integrate new media opportunities. I have linked to sample syllabi (PDFs) from three different "takes" on English 112, SCSU's research-focused composition course.
Spring 2009: This class is a bit of a shift from the scholarly theme to a type of genealogy/ethnography based on a specific family member. Writers propose their semester topic and make a tentative hypothesis as to their subject's impact on or reflection of the times that he or she lived. Writers then conduct interviews, research a particular time, blog weekly reflections, and investigate an artifact to bring them to their "Final Analysis," which is composed first as print media and then developed as a video.
Spring 2007: As a broad range of composing practices and expression are required of us (academically, professionally, and personally), this course offered students the opportunity to explore the different methods of (and purposes for) composition that they would likely use in their lives. Assignments included a report, a proposal, a position paper, and a video essay. Each student chose a theme for the semester; topics were as diverse as stencil art, Connecticut's weapons laws, the treatment of animals, and forensics. The grade was primarily based on the writer's final portfolio (Please see the Grade Computation Rubric).Spring 2006: To help encourage students' recognitions of themselves as writers, the course focused on developing a single long text--in this case, a book. Students wrote a proposal for the text that also outlined the chapters and development. They also created a website that further publicized (literally, making public) their work. Upon publishing their texts, students wrote and posted reviews of their peers' work.
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