Courses
100 U.S. Academic Writing for International Students
Recognizing that different cultures define good writing in different ways, this course introduces international students to American academic writing. Students will learn the qualities of a good thesis, a variety of organizational patterns, the characteristics of sound evidence, the roles of the reader and writer, and issues of word choice and American idioms.
One-half credit. Offered during the summer program for international students.
101 Perspectives on the Multilingual United States
This course introduces the social, cultural and linguistic landscape of the United States while also explaining the forms, conventions, and expectations of U.S. academic writing. Students will read a variety of texts to provide different perspectives on the multilingual character of the United States and how linguistic identities intersect with identities of race, class, nationality, and (dis)ability. Through class discussion and writing assignments, students will develop a critical understanding of the issues of power and privilege that shape the interaction between dominant and subordinated linguistic groups. In addition, students will learn about U.S. academic discourse by engaging in research and practicing a functional, recursive writing process in order to produce thesis-driven arguments. The course is specifically designed to support multilingual and international writers at Dickinson College. Full credit. Offered every year. Open to international students or by permission of instructor.
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year, US Diversity
102 Topics in Sustainability and Academic Writing
This course introduces students to critical topics in sustainability while also explaining the forms, conventions, and expectations of academic writing. Students will think critically about a contemporary topic in sustainability (such as climate change or biodiversity loss) in order to analyze rhetorical moves and assumptions in popular texts on this issue. Students will also learn about academic discourse by practicing a functional, recursive writing process in order to produce thesis-driven arguments about a contemporary sustainability debate and/or sustainability action.
Attributes: Sustainability Investigations
211 Topics in Expository Writing
A course in expository prose which focuses on the writing process itself, emphasizing the organization of ideas and development of style. Seminars, group tutorials, or individual instruction.
Attributes: Writing in the Discipline
214 Working with Writers: Theory and Practice
Designed primarily for students who serve as tutors in the Norman M. Eberly Writing Center as well as for future teachers, this course examines how people learn to write from both a theoretical and a hands-on perspective.
Prerequisite: permission of the Director of the Writing Program.
Attributes: Writing in the Discipline