The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning

Writing Fellows Course Descriptions

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Writing Fellows Course Descriptions

One of many student-driven organizations at Brown, Writing Fellows work in a spirit of collegiality, helping to extend intellectual discourse beyond the classroom. Mutually engaged, Fellows and Fellowees ultimately do more than focus on writing; they shape their own and each other’s education, and in so doing they help to keep vibrant what is most unique and valuable about Brown.

As peers, Fellows serve as sympathetic readers, providing informed, constructive criticism directed toward the argumentation, analysis, organization, clarity and style of papers. After drafts of papers are returned, Writing Fellows meet with each of their Fellowees in conference. These conferences provide a chance to discuss revision strategies and work through additional concerns.

English 1190M: The Teaching and Practice of Writing

The Writing Fellows Seminar is offered every fall. All Writing Fellows are required to complete the course during their first semester as a Writing Fellow.

This course prepares students for their work as Writing Fellows. Course readings, activities, and assignments introduce students to: post-process writing theory and pedagogy; data-based investigations of the revision habits of experienced and inexperienced writers; and effective methods for responding to student writing and conferencing with student writers. Enrollment is restricted to undergraduates who have been accepted into the Writing Fellows Program in the preceding July. Banner registrations after classes begin require instructor approval. S/NC.

We’ll open the semester with readings that define the pedagogical philosophy of the Writing Fellows program and move into a practicum that will help to prepare you for your hands-on work in a fellowed course this semester—readings and assignments will be focused on cultivating methods of written and verbal response; cultivating a rich understanding of writing processes and writing across the disciplines; and cultivating methods to work with different kinds of writing and writers across the human spectrum. You will leave the course with knowledge, experience, concrete strategies, and theories-in-the-making for how to communicate with and mentor others pursuing the (sometimes frustrating and intimidating) adventure of making meaning on the page/screen. You’ll also leave the course with a critical lens through which to identify issues of access as well as concrete practices to cultivate diverse and inclusive learning experiences and environments.

Through readings, writing assignments, and 1190M meetings, at the end of the semester, the goal is for you to be:

  • Thinking about “writing” as more than inscription on the page
  • Critically aware of your own writing histories, politics, processes, and strategies
  • Comfortable with a variety of non-hierarchical written (asynchronous) and verbal (synchronous) methods for responding to writers
  • Able to investigate and articulate the epistemic nature of writing in the disciplines
  • Aware of the hegemonic dimensions of language and comfortable with inclusive pedagogic practices to navigate those dimensions

Grading is mandatory S/NC. Attendance at every class is required. More than two unexcused absences, and/or more than three unexcused late assignments, will result in no credit for the course.