Instructor: Julia Brown
E-mail: jbrown1@ccny.cuny.edu
Office: NAC 6/333C

Office Hours: By Appointment

Monday/Wednesday 2:00-3:15pm, NAC 4/222

Course Description:

This is an advanced and specialized English composition course designed for students who are interested in pursuing careers in the humanities, such as literature, linguistics, foreign languages, history, classics, philosophy, art history, gender studies, music, and dramatic arts. In this course, you will be exposed to academic writing, as well as writing that you may encounter in other professional settings. You will act as writer and audience throughout the semester. We will study and practice several genres associated with these areas to understand the standard conventions of humanities composition, vocabulary, and style, and acquire the necessary research and communication skills that will help you in future projects outside of this class.

Keys to Success:

1. The most successful students in a general education English/Humanities course accept that they have much to gain from the course, stay on top of the reading, think critically about the reading and actively participate in class discussions
2. Successful students, furthermore, see writing as more than the means of completing required assignments. They think of writing as not only a means of communication, but also an opportunity for reflection and a mode of personal expression. Finally, successful students see writing as a means of discovering their ideas on the subject at hand through revision.

Required Course Materials: 

Active CCNY email account and Blackboard page.

EN-21001 Learning Outcomes:

Over the course of the semester, you will

1. acknowledge your and others’ range of linguistic differences as resources, and draw on those resources to develop rhetorical sensibility
2. enhance strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment
3. negotiate your own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situation
4. develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes
5. engage in genre analysis and multimodal composing to explore effective writing across disciplinary contexts and beyond
6. formulate and articulate a stance through and in your writing
7. practice using various library resources, online databases, and the Internet to locate sources appropriate to your writing projects
8. strengthen your source use practices (including evaluating, integrating, quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, and citing sources)

Course Policies:

All papers must be typed in Times New Roman font, double spaced, and 12 point. All essays must be documented and formatted in accordance with MLA style. All papers must be submitted via Blackboard as a Word document or a PDF.

Much like your professional writing will have an audience, your work in this class will be shared with your classmates. I will ask for volunteers to present work; however, if no one volunteers, I will choose people whose work we will revise. Therefore, you should not write anything of a very private nature in your papers. Remember, you will always have an audience of your classmates for what you write in this class.

CCNY’s Statement on Community Standards:

https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/studentaffairs/community-standards

For more information visit: Academic Integrity

Preparation and Participation:

Consult the course schedule for deadlines. Please bring any assigned readings or handouts to class to enhance your abilities to participate in discussions and to complete in-class assignments. Also bring a pen and paper to each and every class.

We will be using various forms of electronic communication in class, and forms of electronic communication are welcome as long as they address the collective class goals. However, each usage of electronic communication that is not directly related to class will result in lowering your participation grade. Cell phones are rarely (if ever) relevant to class goals, this means that if your cell phone rings in class, you lose full participation points for the day. If you text message anyone in class, you lose full participation points for the day. Please keep in mind that I will not interrupt the learning of the rest of the class to ask you to refrain from cell phone use, unless it is excessively loud, in which case I may ask you to leave.

If you expect private emergency communication, please let me know and leave your phone on vibrate only.

You must register on Blackboard. Check the syllabus and take note of when assignments are due on Blackboard. Assignments are due before class. Check the site regularly for announcements, emergency class cancellations, new handouts or assignments. Make sure you manage your time and be able to deal with any unforeseen technical difficulties –the internet is down, your printer’s on the fritz, you need to buy ink, there were no available computers in the library, and the like -these are not legitimate reasons for a late submission or for being unprepared.

Additionally, your level of preparation and participation will be reflected in your final course grade. Participating well in class goes beyond just showing up: it means completing assignments, bringing assigned texts and/or drafts to class, and being ready to discuss the material. It means devoting your attention to those who are speaking in the room, respecting the ideas of others, asking questions when something is not clear, sharing your own views when appropriate, inviting quieter participants to in in the discussion. It also means completing in-class and out-of-class writing activities with care. These may include summaries and responses, and/or class forums on Blackboard.

At the end of the semester I will drop the four lowest class participation grades; therefore, you can afford a few absences or “off” days. I do not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences. The classroom is a community and we must all be active in it for it to function at its full potential. Therefore, you are expected to show up and participate in class. You cannot “make up” class periods which you miss; in addition, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed.

Deadlines:

In professional settings, a late submission can have grave consequences. In this class, the stakes are lower, but I will impose penalties with the goal of helping you to develop good habits. I will not accept small writing assignments late; however, I will accept the three large writing assignments up until 2 weeks after they are due. If a paper is late, within the first week you will be docked 5% of the grade, within the second week you will be docked 10% of the grade. After 2 weeks, I will not accept late papers and you will receive a zero for the assignment.

Should you experience an extraordinary hardship, you may request a deadline extension. I will grant these on a case by case basis.

To request an extension, please do the following:

1. Contact me in writing to request the extension prior to the deadline (the same day will not suffice)
2. Describe the status of your assignment and the reason you feel you deserve an extension
3. Propose a new deadline date
4. Wait to hear back from me, as I will grant extensions at my discretion
5. If you are requesting a course incomplete, you must contact me before the last day of class. I grant these only in rare circumstances.

Writing Support:

Please feel free to schedule a meeting with me if you need extra help, or even if you just want to talk about the course or have other questions about CCNY or CUNY.

I highly recommend the free tutoring at the Writing Center for help in the class. You can read more at and schedule an appointment at: https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/writing

Student Support Services:

Gateway Advising Center, NAC 1/220

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/gateway/

Students without a declared major can receive academic advising, especially if you have questions about your course of study, core requirements, etc.

AccessAbility Center Tutoring Services, NAC 1/218

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/accessability/

Provides one-on-one tutoring and workshops to all registered students with learning or physical disabilities.

The AccessAbility Center/Student Disability Services ensures equal access and full participation to all of City College’s programs, services, and activities by coordinating and implementing appropriate accommodations. If you are a student with a disability who requires accommodations and services, please visit the office in NAC 1/218, or contact AAC/SDS via email (disabilityservices@ccny.cuny.edu), or phone (212-650-5913 or TTY/TTD 212-650-8441).

SEEK Peer Academic Learning Center, NAC 4/224

Phone: 212-650-5786; email: seekpals@ccny.cuny.edu

Offers counseling and peer tutoring for students in need of academic and financial support who have registered for the SEEK Program.

Grading Policy:

Your final grade will consist of the following:

• Resume and Cover Letter: 5%
• Memos #1 and #2: 5%
• General Audience Project: 15%
• Writing for Academia- Conference Project: 20%
• Grant Proposal: 20%
• Informal Writing Assignments and Quizzes: 10%
• Participation/Attendance: 10%
• Final Portfolio and Reflection: 15%

Each of the three large projects units will also have smaller “feeder” assignments that act as stepping stones in completing the project as a whole. These feeder assignments will be counted as part of the unit grade, though their due dates will be different than the completed project.

The following schedule is subject to change:

Week 1	M 01/29	Course introductions
	W 01/31	Genre and Audience DUE: Read Terry Kirk Navigating Genres
Week 2	M 02/05	Resumes and Cover Letters DUE: Memo #1 (Literacy Narrative); Locate and print at least 2 internship or job ads you will be qualified for upon graduation; Look over the sources on Resumes and Cover Letters on the course website
	W 02/07	Peer Review DUE: Resume and Cover Letter Draft 1, Bring 3 copies to class
Week 3	M 02/12	NO CLASS
	W 02/14	Writing for a General Audience: Annotated Bibliographies DUE: Resume and Cover Letter Final Draft DUE: Read About Annotated Bibliographies–
Week 4	T 02/20	Classes Follow Monday Schedule Writing for a General Audience: DUE: Annotated Bibliography (Feeder) Draft 1
	W 02/21	General Audience: Understanding Audience DUE: Find a publication for you Op-Ed; Read Consider Your Audience and What to Think About
Week 5	M 02/26	General Audience: Incorporating Sources DUE: Read Stedman- Annoying Ways People Use Sources; Annotated Bibliography (Feeder) Final Draft
	W 02/28	General Audience: Peer Review DUE: Article Draft 1, Bring three copies to class
Week 6	M 03/05	General Audience: Incorporating Visuals DUE: Read Breaking Down an Image
	W 03/07	General Audience Conclusion/Conference Project Introduction DUE: Article Final Draft
Week 7	M 03/12	Conference Project: Proposals DUE: Find two Calls for Papers, print and bring to class
	W 03/14	Conference: Literature Review DUE: Read Lit Review Guidlines and Part 1 DUE: Conference Proposal (Feeder) responding to CFP
Week 8	M 03/19	Conference: Peer Review DUE: Literature Review (Feeder) Draft 1; Read Looking for Trouble
	W 03/21	Conference: How is a Conference Paper different from a Research Paper? DUE: Read Conference Papers
Week 9	M 03/26	Conference DUE: Literature Review (Feeder) Final
	W 03/28	Conference Project: Peer Review/Elevator Pitch DUE: Conference Paper Draft 1, Bring 3 Copies to Class
Week 10	M 04/02	NO CLASS
	W 04/04	NO CLASS
Week 11	M 04/09	Grants: Introduction and Problem Statement Create Groups- Brainstorm Ideas, GANNT Chart Due: Conference Paper Final Draft; Read Grant Proposals
	W 04/11	NO CLASS CLASSES FOLLOW FRIDAY SCHEDULE
Week 12	M 04/16	Grants: Budgets and S.M.A.R.T. Goals DUE: Completed GANNT Chart, Problem Statement (Feeder), Find 1 Prospective Grant per person
	W 04/18	Grants: Project Narratives and Incorporating Sources DUE: Find 1 unique source per person, bring to class
Week 13	M 04/23	Grants: Peer Review DUE: Project Narrative Rough Draft; Budget
	W 04/25	Grants: TBA
Week 14	M 04/30	Grants: Presenting Your Grant Proposal DUE: Read PowerPoint is Evil
	W 05/02	Grants: Presentation Workshop DUE: Memo #2 Group Evaluation DUE: Project Narrative Final Draft
Week 15	M 05/07	Introduce Final Portfolio Grant Presentations
	W 05/09	Grant Presentations
Week 16	M 05/14	Writing Reflections/ Any final grant presentations
	W 05/16	Final Portfolio Workshop

You can download a copy of the syllabus here.