Advanced Expository Writing, WR 333 (spring 2008)
In WR 333 you will develop your ability to craft the essay, a type of writing "particularly amenaable to exploration." The essays you will write may range from the intimacy of the familiar essay to the oratorical syle of the formal essay. The main texts are Reading the Worldand Style. Peer review and conferencing are a main component of the course.
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Columbia River Basin, UNST 111, 112, and 113 . (Taught last year)
This year-long Freshman Inquiry course studies the natural and human history of the
Columbia River Basin. Topics covered are geological formations of the Basin, the Missoula Floods, the flora and fauna, Native American lifestyles, the salmon, dams and energy production, urban vs rural issues, and environmental issues from watershed restoration to water pollution.
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Topics: Ecocriticism (Literary and Green Studies) , ENG 449/549 ( offered Winter Term, 2008)
Ecocriticism, broadly defined, is the study of the relation between literature and the environment or the environmetal implications of literary texts. It takes a critical look at how a text approaches our "more-than-human world." We will cover environmental literary history and ecocritical considerations of literature and creative nonfiction. The main text is the Ecocriticism Reader.
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Literature and Nature, ENG 308 (Fall 2007)
As ecological issues have risen to the forefront, particularly on college campuses, the interest in environmental questions has grown beyond the disciplines of the natural and social sciences and has now become an important topic in literary studies. We will examine the literary tradition of nature or landscape writing and ask such questions as what is our relationship to nature? What is the role literature and language play in shaping a culture responsive to environmental realities?
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Composition Theory, ENG 414/514 (to be offered Winter 2009)
Contemporary Composition Theory examines how various aspects of postmodern thought, including feminism, neo-Marxist theories, and cultural criticism, has affected the teaching of writing. Furthermore, how has expressionistic rhetoric, cognitive rhetoric, and social-epistemic rhetoric continued to shape pedagogical approaches to the teaching of composition?
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Topics: Language, WR 410/510 (Fall 2007)
The purpose of this course is to foster an appreciation of the richness, flexibility, and vitality of the English language through discussion, oral presentations, and writing. In our readings we will cover an array of topics, for example, the history of English, the language of new technologies and advertising, the relationship between language and culture, and language, race, and gender. We will explore how language and American society are interconnected, and analyze how language can lead, mislead, and manipulate us. The essays represent a diversity of rhetorical strategies—narration, comparison, definition, argumentation—and a diversity of genres—position papers, personal narratives, memoirs, and academic articles.
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