Goucher College 2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalogue PLEASE NOTE: This is an archived catalog. Programs are subject to change each academic year.
Course Descriptions
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Writing |
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WRT 215 - Point of View (2 Cr.)
In-depth examination of points of view in fiction - the choices available and their effects. Reading of published texts, seminar discussion, writing exercises. Spring semester, first offered 2020. U’Ren, Poliakoff-Chen, Staff.
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WRT 219 - Linguistics (4 Cr.) (formerly ENG 219) (GCR Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies area)
Linguistics is the study of human language in all its complexity. This survey course covers the sound systems of the world’s languages; word formation, the creation of new words, and etymology; grammar, sentences structure, and style; semantics and meaning; pragmatics; language change and history of languages; dialects; slang; language and power; language and gender; and language acquisition. Students will analyze data from English and many other languages through linguistic problem sets and explore various aspects of their own language individually and in groups. Fulfills WEC requirement. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W or College Writing Proficiency (CWP). Spring semester. Garrett.
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WRT 221H - Theories and Practice in Composing, Tutoring, and Teaching - Honors. (4 Cr.) (formerly ENG 221 and WRT 221) (GCR Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies area)
This course introduces students to the current theories of writing and composing both in print and digital environments, as well as to a variety of methods and strategies for teaching and tutoring. Students will learn about different learning styles, the various genres of writing, revision strategies, and helping writers across the curriculum, while enhancing their own writing, listening, and speaking. Intersections with issues of racial diversity, identity, power, ethics, and disability will be at the heart of this course. Students will also gain insight into the best practices in responding to multimodal texts and to the texts of multilingual writers. This course is designed for students who are recommended as potential Writing Center tutors and those interested in teaching careers. Students will be required to shadow current Writing Center tutors the first half of the course and to tutor toward the end of the course. Fulfills WEC requirement. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W or CWP. With permission of instructor. Fall semester. Oweidat.
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WRT 226 - Creative Nonfiction I (4 Cr.) (Formerly ENG 226) (GCR Arts area)
This course introduces students to the breadth of creative nonfiction. The course focuses on building skills, learning techniques of creative nonfiction writers, and examining potential subjects. Students will read and discuss contemporary essays, as well as each other’s writing in a seminar (workshop) format. Additionally, students will be asked to consider the ethical responsibilities of writers and to examine the qualities of successful creative nonfiction. This class fulfills the WEC requirement. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W or College Writing Proficiency (CWP). Fall and spring semesters. Writing Program faculty.
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WRT 272G - Intensive Course Abroad (4 Cr.) (GCR SA)
SUMMER 2018 Offering:
TRAVEL WRITING IN CURACAO
This course asks you to explore the craft and the ethics of travel writing. The best travel writing offers readers an understanding of a country’s culture and history beyond the requisite descriptions of food and sunsets. While you visit and study on the Caribbean-Dutch island of Curacao, you will learn about the history of the island, and how this continues to impact life for Curacao’s citizens, residents, and tourists. Curacao’s unique mix of languages and religions, together with Curacao’s economic and environmental struggles, provide a prime opportunity to understand a reporter’s ethical responsibilities.. Explore these issues in depth while you explore Curacao’s culture, history, economy, and beauty. Preference will be given to Creative Writing minors, Professional Writing minors, and English Majors with the Creative Writing Concentration. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W or College Writing Proficiency (CWP). Summer 2018. Poliakoff-Chen.
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WRT 281 - Writing Studies II: Special Topics (4 Cr.)
Writing Studies II offers students the opportunity to examine specific genres in depth. Special topics include feminist rhetoric, community-based learning, medical narrative, and the graphic novel. This class fulfills the WEC requirement. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W or sophomore standing or College Writing Proficiency (CWP). Writing Program faculty.
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WRT 282 - Comics, Composition and Creativity (4 Cr.) (GCR Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies area)
Many children learn to read by reading comics, yet for years comics were, at best, considered poor writing and were banned from classrooms and libraries. Today, however, comics have become a multi-million-dollar industry and have captured both the popular and scholarly imaginations. Why is this so? This class seeks to investigate this paradox and other related big questions (what is originality? What makes great art great?) by examining comic and sequential art through its representative genres, and diving into the creative process itself. No prior drawing experience required. This class fulfills the WEC requirement. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W or sophomore standing or College Writing Proficiency (CWP). Fall semester. Sterling.
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WRT 283 - Writing Harry (4 Cr.) (GCR Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies area)
Calling all witches and wizards! Grab your pens and quills and join us for an exploration of the world of Harry Potter: what role does the series play in promoting literacy? What influence does it continue to have in publishing and pop culture? In this course we will discuss both the Harry Potter books themselves, and the books that influenced Rowling in creating the Harry Potter universe. We will also investigate understandings of fandoms, genre fiction, and distinctions between literary influence, canonical conventions and plagiarism. Prior experience reading the Harry Potter books is not required, but suggested. This class fulfills the WEC requirement. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W or sophomore standing or College Writing Proficiency (CWP). Spring semester. Sterling.
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WRT 284 - The Rhetoric of Islamophobia (4 Cr.)
How is the rhetoric of Islamophobia constructed, circulated, received, and enacted? How can we encounter and disrupt this rhetoric and its manifestations? This course will examine the discourses of anti-Muslim prejudice and the mechanisms that drive Islamophobia in the U.S. in particular and the West in general. Using feminist rhetorical methodologies, we will investigate the historical roots of current Islamophobic attitudes, practices, and policies. Special attention will be given to Muslim women’s agency within this religious discourse and the ethical implications surrounding the discussions of their artifacts. This course will provide a space for us to engage in discussions with Muslims from Muslim-majority countries (via Skype) and Muslim Americans from our community. We will collaboratively think of creative ways to combat Islamophobia while producing written and multimodal works that make visible the network of relations keeping this hateful rhetoric alive and well. Class materials will include current events pieces, fictional and autobiographical accounts, scholarly articles, and films. This class fulfills the WEC requirement. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W or sophomore standing or College Writing Proficiency (CWP). Oweidat.
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WRT 285 - Analyzing Linguistic Data (4 Cr.) (GCR DA-AC)
This course has four main goals: to introduce students to some areas of linguistic study such as dialect variation, register analysis, and sociolinguistics; to explore some of the ways that linguists use data to learn more about language and how people use language; to examine how linguists, academics in general, and students themselves use written language; and to introduce students to the genre of scholarly linguistic writing (and academic writing more generally). Students will read scholarly and popular works in the field of linguistics; collect, analyze, present, and write about linguistic data; conduct group and individual research; and share their findings with the class. Students will learn to work with several corpora including the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the Dictionary of American Regional English, and will also create and analyze data from their own corpus. The class will culminate with students developing their own research question, conducting their own research, and presenting it to the class as both an oral presentation and a paper written in the style of published linguistic research. This final paper will be a multi-draft paper, and we will conduct peer review and one-on-one conferences to help students revised their work. Prerequisites: WRT 181 - Writing Studies (4 Cr.) or WRT 181H - Writing Studies - Honors (4 Cr.) or FYS 100W - First Year Seminar Writing (4 Cr.), and GCR Data Analytics Foundational Level completion. This class fulfills both the WEC and DA-AC requirements. Fall semester. Garrett.
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WRT 290 - Internship in Writing (0-4 Cr.)
Students’ internships in editing, publishing, journalism, radio and television, advertising, public relations, mentoring other students, and TAing for classes can qualify for credit in WRT 290. Internships can be on- or off-campus endeavors. Students have interned at a variety of sites, including journals, newspapers, magazines, literary agencies, literary magazines, radio stations, and book publishers. (Occasionally, students may receive internship credit while working for the college newspaper.) Faculty sponsorship is required. The number of credits correlates to the number of hours worked. May be taken either for a letter grade or pass/no pass.
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WRT 299 - Independent Work (1-4 Cr.)
Advanced studies and directed research. Center faculty.
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WRT 301 - Studio for Writers 3: Special Topics (1 Cr.)
This writing studio is designed for students to write about their shared experiences such as Study Abroad and Community Based Learning, in a group setting. Students will have the opportunity to discuss their writing with each other and receive feedback from their peers, in this instructor-guided writing course. The Special Topics will include high impact practices, as well as other significant shared experiences, such as the Grieving Process through Writing. Fall semester. Rauwerda, Oweidat, Terry, Poliakoff-Chen.
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WRT 305 - Writing Workshop: Poetry (4 Cr.) (Formerly ENG 305)
Supervision of individual creative projects in poetry. Formal and thematic weekly assignments with in-class discussion of class members’ poems. Suggested prerequisite: WRT 205 (ENG 205) or WRT 415 or permission of the instructor. Spring semester. Spires.
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WRT 306 - Writing Workshop: Fiction (4 Cr.) (Formerly ENG 306)
Supervision of individual creative projects. Individual conferences and weekly seminar meetings. Prerequisites: WRT 108 or WRT 120 or WRT 202 or permission of the instructor. Spring semester. Bell.
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WRT 307 - Creative Nonfiction II (4 Cr.) (Formerly ENG 307)
Further work in creative nonfiction. This writing workshop requires several extensively revised papers and peer critiques of essays. Prerequisite: WRT 226 (ENG 226) or another 200-level writing course. Spring semester. Center faculty.
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WRT 309 - Translation (4 Cr.)
This course introduces students to the main theories and trends in the field of translation, familiarizing them with common debates about best translation practices. By comparing multiple translations of the same source text and examining a variety of media, including literature, film, and music, students will consider the aesthetic, cultural, and social issues facing translators. Students will also have the opportunity to put theory into practice through writing assignments. Students may not know all pertinent languages but will be given the information needed to attempt their own translations. Students will acquire practical translation skills, an understanding of why translation matters, and an appreciation for the art of translation. A command of English and some knowledge of another language is required. Prerequisite: WRT 181 ; and WRT 108 or WRT 206 or permission of the instructor. Fall Semester: Schutt
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WRT 311 - Medical and Healthcare Rhetoric (4 Cr.)
What role does writing play in the world of medical science and mental health? This course seeks to investigate the role of language in practices and structures of health and medicine. Defining rhetoric broadly as the persuasive element in human interaction, we will explore how meaning is created, analyzed and criticized in the communication of healthcare, and how messages are delivered and structured in medical and healthcare-related contexts. Topics of interest may include career-related writing, the rhetoric of mental health, patient narratives, health literacy, patient-professional communication, disability studies and the rhetoric of alternative medicines and practices. We’ll also explore communicative acts involved in public health issues such as HIPAA, the role of patients in decision-making, AIDs, heredity, end of life decisions through multiple lenses: patients, clients, healthcare professionals, and advocates. Prerequisite: WRT 181 . Fall semester, repeated spring semester. Sterling/Professional Writing and Rhetoric Staff.
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WRT 312 - Science Writing: Process and Poetry (4 Cr.)
This 300-level course will engage in an overview of the field of science writing with an emphasis on understanding this work as an act of translation, or, as science writer George Johnson once put it, “explaining the strange in terms of the familar.” We will focus on the thinking and writing skills needed to write in a clear, compelling, entertaining way about science for a general audience. The course will cover how difficult scientific concepts and natural processes can be made clear to a general audience by using an array of techniques common in nonfiction reporting and storytelling: interviewing, observation, research, narrative, scenes, character, action, and metaphor, which one writer has called the “lifeblood” of science writing. Readings will include book excerpts and articles from such mainstream publications as Discover, Scientific American, Smithsonian, National Geographic, The New York Times, The New Yorker and Orion. Prerequisite: WRT 181 . Fall semester, repeated spring semester. First offered 2021. Hirsch, Professional Writing and Rhetoric Staff.
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WRT 314 - Grants, Policies, and Persuasion (4 Cr.)
This course teaches students to write effective grants and clear policies, while examining the rhetoric of persuasion. Prerequisites: WRT 181 and WRT 206 , or permission of the instructor. Fall semester. Poliakoff-Chen, Sterling, Sundius.
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WRT 317 - Literature and Film: Screenplay Adaptation (4 Cr) (formerly WRT 217) (GCR Arts area)
Writing for a visual medium poses a set of unique challenges, especially in the adaptation process. This course guides participants through the elements of film writing and the methods of transforming the literary narrative into a feature film script. Students analyze award-winning adaptations of novels and short stories in order to understand cinematic language and its unique method of communication, the demands of its particular form of narrative design, and the importance of advanced structural planning for the medium. Students then are shepherded through the complex screenwriting adaptation process, going through several related projects and approval stages to ensure that their semester project reaches full potential. Students examine storyline and structure from concept to synopsis to script, with particular attention to dialogue, adaptation techniques, characterization, plot development, pacing, subtext, and visual storytelling. The class also features a roundtable workshop format in a demanding environment where students participate as both artist and critic, providing analyses of each other’s work. The course allows each student the opportunity to complete a large-scale project in a fully realized workshop environment. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or FYS 100W or CWP or sophomore standing. Fall semester. U’Ren.
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WRT 319 - Conlangs: Inventing a Language (4 Cr.)
Students will invent a fragment of a language, including sound system, morphology, and syntax while learning more about the grammar of English, and, to a lesser extent, other natural and constructed languages. At the end of the semester, students will have created a partial grammar of their invented language and translated a short piece from English to their new language. Prerequisite: WRT 181 or WRT 181H or FYS 100W. Offered Spring 2021 and every 3 spring semesters. Garrett.
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WRT 401 - Studio for Writers 4 (1 Cr.)
This writing studio is designed to support students across disciplines who are writing senior capstone projects and senior theses. Spring semester. Writing faculty.
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WRT 414 - Advanced Seminar: Creative Non-Fiction (4 Cr.)
An advanced workshop in creative non-fiction. Written work for the seminar will be an extended creative non-fiction project. In-class critique of students’ work, as well as discussion of published creative non-fiction works. Prerequisites: WRT 226 /ENG 226 or WRT 307 /ENG 307 or another 200-level WRT course. Spring semester.
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WRT 415 - Advanced Writing Workshop: Poetry (4 Cr.) (Formerly ENG 315)
An advanced workshop in poetry. Written work for the seminar will be an extended project consisting of 10-15 pages of poetry. In-class critique of students’ work. Prerequisites: WRT 205 (ENG 205) or WRT 305 (ENG 305) or permission of the instructor. Fall semester. Spires.
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WRT 416 - Advanced Writing Workshop: Fiction (4 Cr.) (Formerly ENG 315)
An advanced workshop in fiction. Written work for the seminar will be an extended project consisting of either three or four finished short stories (or chapters, with permission of instructor). In-class critique of students’ work. Prerequisites: ENG/WRT 202 or ENG/WRT 306 or permission of instructor. Fall semester. Bell.
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WRT 420 - Advanced Creative Writing: Visiting Writer (4 Cr.) (Formerly ENG 300)
The Kratz Center for Creative Writing invites an established fiction or creative nonfiction writer (from outside the current Goucher community) to teach this semester-long course. May be taken twice for credit. Spring semester. Manko.
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WRT 488H - Advanced Self-Directed Projects in Professional and Creative Writing (4 Cr.)
This course provides the opportunity for students to consult with each other and the instructor toward identifying creative and professional writing projects of individual interest and developing these projects into completed manuscripts ready to submit for publication. These projects may include novels, collections of short stories, book-length creative nonfiction manuscripts, screenplays, or professional writing projects. Students will work with their instructor and their classmates to share their manuscripts. They will read literature relevant to their indvidual concerns. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor. Spring and Fall semesters. Bell, Poliakoff-Chen, and Writing Faculty.
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WRT 495 - Senior Thesis (4 Cr.) (Formerly ENG 450)
Fall and spring semesters. Faculty sponsorship is required. Writing faculty.
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WRT 497 - Capstone (2 Cr.)
This course allows students to look back at their coursework, and look ahead at how they might continue to develop as writers. Discussion will include possible career paths and advanced degrees for writers. Prerequisite: Senior standing. Center faculty.
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WRT 497H - Capstone Honors (4 Cr.)
The Honors Capstone in Writing is for students who are ready to complete a book length work suitable for publication. This course allows students to look back at their coursework, and look ahead at how they might continue to develop as writers. Discussion will include possible career paths and advanced degrees for writers. Prerequisite: 300 and/or 400 level courses in Creative Writing, and permission of instructor. Fall semester. Bell, Center faculty.
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WRT 499 - Independent Work (1-4 Cr.)
Advanced studies and directed research. Center faculty.
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