Upcoming Classes

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 1
Topic: Modern Loneliness
Instructor: Lucy Wallitsch
Meets: MW 8:30 A - 9:45 A
Description: In this composition course, we will explore the experience of loneliness through a range of genres and discourses. As a lived experience which is currently undergoing medical definition and development vis-a-vis the "loneliness epidemic," and the massive cultural shifts which have come with the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness will provide the class with a case-study in the development of new medical terminology and treatment for experiences which have existed up unto this point as un-pathologized portions of the human condition.

In this class, loneliness will serve as an entry point into larger cultural conversations surrounding identity, embodiment, and community as written in various mediums, genres, and discourse communities. Throughout the course, you will have opportunities to hone your analytic and communication skills through writing, critical thinking, close reading, and visual analysis. You will write in many genres, including literary analysis, research articles, multimodal genres, and reflective work, and will spend significant time revising your work for inclusion in the writing portfolio.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 2
Topic: Goosebumps; or, Hearing Otherwise
Instructor: Margy Adams
Meets: MW 11:30 A - 12:45 P
Description: Goosebumps; or, Hearing Otherwise - For as much as we live in language, we are also confined by it. How, then, do we make linguistic sense of that which may appear beyond our textual reach? How may we communicate that which seems incommunicable -- the heart-wrenching finale of Tchaikovsky's Symphonie Pathétique, the ethereal harmonies of Beyonce's "Bigger," the "funny feeling" of Bo Burnham's Inside, the sound of your grandmother's voice as she tells you a story? Conversely, can we determine anything -- about us, our societies, or our histories -- from the ways things sound, and how can we translate these examinations into text?  

In this course, we will explore how to do what we can with the linguistic and rhetorical tools that we have by applying our language skills to sound and music. In addition to Beyonce, Burnham, and Tchaikovsky, we will study many BIPOC, queer, and performance artists, both scholarly and popular, to analyze how they address social issues, activism, and self-definition. We will investigate media from film scores to poetry in order to practice writing effectively in multiple genres. Reflections, research papers, memoirs, audio/visual narratives, and a final portfolio make up the bulk of our coursework. By the end of the semester, our understanding of writing -- and our relationship to it -- will be enriched through learning how to critically listen.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 3
Topic: Disease and Society
Instructor: Ruxie Zhang
Meets: MW 1:00 P - 2:15 P
Description: In the time of public health crises such as the COVID pandemic, what can writing do for us? How do various representations of disease inform or even change our understanding of ourselves and society? In this course, we’re going to closely examine different works on disease across genres and think about the essential question: how do diseases (or “dis-ease”), especially epidemics, become metaphors in our cultural discourses about race, gender, sexuality, class, and ableism? Students are expected to write a close reading journal, produce an autoethnographic narrative on the relationship between selfhood and disease, adapt the narrative into a multimodal project, and generate a final portfolio. Through close reading and critical writing, we will explore how diseases in different historical contexts are closely tied with discursive construction of subjectivity and how writing on one’s own experience can speak against or offer alternatives to such taken-for-granted construction of social identities.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 4
Topic: Disease and Society
Instructor: Ruixue Zhang
Meets: MW 2:30 P - 3:45 P
Description: In the time of public health crises such as the COVID pandemic, what can writing do for us? How do various representations of disease inform or even change our understanding of ourselves and society? In this course, we’re going to closely examine different works on disease across genres and think about the essential question: how do diseases (or “dis-ease”), especially epidemics, become metaphors in our cultural discourses about race, gender, sexuality, class, and ableism? Students are expected to write a close reading journal, produce an autoethnographic narrative on the relationship between selfhood and disease, adapt the narrative into a multimodal project, and generate a final portfolio. Through close reading and critical writing, we will explore how diseases in different historical contexts are closely tied with discursive construction of subjectivity and how writing on one’s own experience can speak against or offer alternatives to such taken-for-granted construction of social identities.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 5
Topic: Science Through Its Papers
Instructor: Donna McDermott
Meets: MW 4:00 P - 5:15 P
Description: Why do scientific papers look the way they do? In this class, we’ll discuss how these papers work. We’ll practice the accepted conventions of writing in scientific journals while also questioning how those conventions could or should be changed. To aid in this exploration, you’ll practice a wide range of communication skills: writing analytical questions, reimagining data visualizations, creating games that illustrate science topics, and presenting your interpretation of the papers we read. By the end of the course, you will have written your own scientific paper based on a data set we cultivate together.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 6
Topic: Hot Commodities (and Their Colonial Lives)
Instructor: Julian Currents
Meets: MW 1:00 P - 2:15 P
Description: Every day in the United States, we consume commodities: we pour sugar in our coffee, sprinkle salt over our vegetables, toss a banana in our backpacks before leaving the house. But where do these edible staples of our culture come from? How did they become part of our daily lives? In this class, students will explore writings about some of our most beloved contemporary commodities—like bananas—as well as some that have faded from daily use (think Captain Ahab!). Considering the historical context of most global commodities, the way we choose to think and write about these items can raise a variety of questions about ethics, identity, class, gender, race, and empire. In this first-year writing course, we will examine the variety of ways in which commodities have been rendered in media and will explore what these renderings might suggest about the way we consume. Students will practice writing as a recursive process while developing the skills necessary to compose in multiple genres through a series of creative and analytic assignments. This course has a postcolonial focus and will address fiction and nonfiction, film and photography, as well as contemporary critical discourses concerning commodity culture. Authors will include Merle Collins, Herman Melville, Pablo Neruda, and Jamaica Kincaid, among others.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 7
Topic: Struggles for Social Justice
Instructor: Nesar Uddin
Meets: TuTh 8:30 A - 9:45 A
Description: This course will introduce learners to rhetorical situations and appeals to develop the skills necessary for the analysis and production of academic writing. In this class, learners will critically read a number of multilingual writers’ literacy narratives depicting their challenges for literacy development and acceptance in the dominant culture. Learners will also read to analyze the rhetorical traditions that African American writers use in their arguments to persuade their audience. Learners will write their own literacy narratives and recognize how rhetoric functions by analyzing rhetorical arguments and developing their own researched-based arguments. In keeping with the current ubiquity of digital platforms, learners will transition from textual researched arguments to multimodal forms through the process writing approach. Major assignments include literacy narrative, rhetorical analysis, researched argument, new media presentation, revision paper, and portfolio.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 8
Topic: Struggles for Social Justice
Instructor: Nesar Uddin
Meets: TuTh 10:00 A - 11:15 A
Description: This course will introduce learners to rhetorical situations and appeals to develop the skills necessary for the analysis and production of academic writing. In this class, learners will critically read a number of multilingual writers’ literacy narratives depicting their challenges for literacy development and acceptance in the dominant culture. Learners will also read to analyze the rhetorical traditions that African American writers use in their arguments to persuade their audience. Learners will write their own literacy narratives and recognize how rhetoric functions by analyzing rhetorical arguments and developing their own researched-based arguments. In keeping with the current ubiquity of digital platforms, learners will transition from textual researched arguments to multimodal forms through the process writing approach. Major assignments include literacy narrative, rhetorical analysis, researched argument, new media presentation, revision paper, and portfolio.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 9
Topic: Struggles for Social Justice
Instructor: Nesar Uddin
Meets: TuTh 11:30 A - 12:45 P
Description: This course will introduce learners to rhetorical situations and appeals to develop the skills necessary for the analysis and production of academic writing. In this class, learners will critically read a number of multilingual writers’ literacy narratives depicting their challenges for literacy development and acceptance in the dominant culture. Learners will also read to analyze the rhetorical traditions that African American writers use in their arguments to persuade their audience. Learners will write their own literacy narratives and recognize how rhetoric functions by analyzing rhetorical arguments and developing their own researched-based arguments. In keeping with the current ubiquity of digital platforms, learners will transition from textual researched arguments to multimodal forms through the process writing approach. Major assignments include literacy narrative, rhetorical analysis, researched argument, new media presentation, revision paper, and portfolio.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 10
Topic: Food Writing and Media
Instructor: Mitchell Murray
Meets: TuTh 10:00 A - 11:15 A
Description: Food and gastronomy are at the center of collective identity formation, colonial conquest, and political upheaval. Many cuisines we now celebrate have their roots in the Colombian Exchange and the rise of global capitalism; they were invented by the poor, working-class, colonized, and enslaved. When we eat, we participate in these legacies of violence and expropriation. Yet, at the same time, cooking and eating are vital acts of creativity and community-building. In this first-year writing course, students will grapple with the fraught histories of food, enter the ever-expanding world of food writing, and answer questions like: What does food tell us about consumerism? What can delicacies like nutmeg tell us about capitalism and colonialism? What does foodie culture have to do with white supremacy? What are the consequences of culinary industrialization? How does climate change affect food production? Can we eat ethically and sustainably in an unethical and unsustainable system? Can we build the political will to feed everyone on Earth? Finally, we'll take advantage of our location to explore the foodscape of Atlanta. Readings will include genres and modalities like food journalism, foodoirs, TV, and digital and social media. Assignments may include rhetorical analyses of cookbooks, review essays, and actual cooking for public genres like foodoirs and TikToks.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 11
Topic: Food Writing and Media
Instructor: Mitchell Murray
Meets: TuTh 11:30 A - 12:45 P
Description: Food and gastronomy are at the center of collective identity formation, colonial conquest, and political upheaval. Many cuisines we now celebrate have their roots in the Colombian Exchange and the rise of global capitalism; they were invented by the poor, working-class, colonized, and enslaved. When we eat, we participate in these legacies of violence and expropriation. Yet, at the same time, cooking and eating are vital acts of creativity and community-building. In this first-year writing course, students will grapple with the fraught histories of food, enter the ever-expanding world of food writing, and answer questions like: What does food tell us about consumerism? What can delicacies like nutmeg tell us about capitalism and colonialism? What does foodie culture have to do with white supremacy? What are the consequences of culinary industrialization? How does climate change affect food production? Can we eat ethically and sustainably in an unethical and unsustainable system? Can we build the political will to feed everyone on Earth? Finally, we'll take advantage of our location to explore the foodscape of Atlanta. Readings will include genres and modalities like food journalism, foodoirs, TV, and digital and social media. Assignments may include rhetorical analyses of cookbooks, review essays, and actual cooking for public genres like foodoirs and TikToks.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 12
Topic: Property; Its Problems, Politics, and Possibilities
Instructor: Bernard Krumm
Meets: TuTh 1:00 P - 2:15 P
Description: This course provides students with an introduction to rhetorical analysis and expository writing by focusing on issues of property and ownership. We will read and analyze texts from a variety of genres that take up the matter of property from philosophical, historical, legal, political, and literary perspectives. We will consider foundational narratives about the origins of property and the normative basis of acquisition, the different kinds of property arrangements, the relation of property to justice, and the connection between political rights and property rights. We will then take up contemporary problems regarding property. Topics may include the following: the centrality of home ownership to the American dream and the impact of housing discrimination; how the legacies of colonialism and slavery have shaped our understanding of ownership; intellectual property and copyright law in the digital age; open-access and public domain; taxes on property, estates, and wealth; affordable housing and homelessness; the rise of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs; and the connection between property and social justice issues, including the push for reparations, restitution, and land acknowledgment. 

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 15
Topic: Property; Its Problems, Politics, and Possibilities
Instructor: Bernard Krumm
Meets: TuTh 4:00 P - 5:15 P
Description: This course provides students with an introduction to rhetorical analysis and expository writing by focusing on issues of property and ownership. We will read and analyze texts from a variety of genres that take up the matter of property from philosophical, historical, legal, political, and literary perspectives. We will consider foundational narratives about the origins of property and the normative basis of acquisition, the different kinds of property arrangements, the relation of property to justice, and the connection between political rights and property rights. We will then take up contemporary problems regarding property. Topics may include the following: the centrality of home ownership to the American dream and the impact of housing discrimination; how the legacies of colonialism and slavery have shaped our understanding of ownership; intellectual property and copyright law in the digital age; open-access and public domain; taxes on property, estates, and wealth; affordable housing and homelessness; the rise of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs; and the connection between property and social justice issues, including the push for reparations, restitution, and land acknowledgment. 

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 16
Topic: The Mountains Are Calling: Nature & Environmental Writing
Instructor: Christopher Merwin
Meets: TuTh 4:00 P - 5:15 P
Description: This intensive writing course focuses on nature and environmental writing with readings from classical (especially American) nature writers and conservationists, contemporary academic articles, and public policy about the environment. We'll focus on thinking about environment philosophically (through writers like Emerson, Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold) and translating that into environmental ethics, advocacy, and activism. Throughout the course we will hone our writing skills through multimodal reflections on/in nature and environmentally focused papers, narratives, and projects.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 17
Topic: Plant People: Bodies and Botany in the Colonial Imagination
Instructor: Apala Bhowmick
Meets: MW 10:00 A - 11:15 A
Description: If you’ve ever wondered how humans and herbs might be culturally connected, this is the class where we learn about it! The objective of this composition course is to make us curious observers, brave critical thinkers, and sharp writers who can express their thoughts with coherence, clarity, and sophistication. We’ll discuss how the various colonial forces throughout history (French, British, Dutch, and Portuguese) have imposed their presence in their geographical colonies by altering the botanical elements native to these lands, why some orchids look more uncanny than others, and how a can of pineapples at the grocery store doesn’t have as innocent a past as it might appear at first glance! Assignments will include a film review, an ekphrastic essay, and a creative non-fiction piece. Readings will examine how plants and people have travelled across continents throughout history, the politics behind the concept of botanical gardens, the role of cuisine in colonialism, and how human bodies and botanical beings have remained discursively connected in the colonial imagination. Working with images (vintage ads, films), narratives (novels, short stories, ethnographic reports), poetry, and archival documents, we will cultivate our own writing abilities by connecting research with practical observation. Readings will include works by H. G. Wells, Jamaica Kincaid, John Berger, Sumana Roy, Jim Endersby, and Londa Schiebinger.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 18
Topic: Perspectives on Disability & Divergence
Instructor: Jareka Dellenbaugh-Dempsey
Meets: MW 5:30 P - 6:45 P
Description: This composition course will explore the ways that people have written about disabled bodyminds in the United States since before its founding. In this class we will center the perspectives of disabled writers as we examine life-writing, fiction, poetry, academic scholarship, and multi-modal compositions. We will practice techniques for reading and decoding these different genres, and create our own writing that interprets, reimagines, or reflects on themes from the texts. We will explore how disability intersects with other categories of embodiment and identity, including race, gender, and sexuality, and how these intersections affect the rhetoric we use to construct disability in the cultural imagination. Students will compose in multiple genres, including traditional essays and non-textual media like podcasts, and have ample time to reflect on and revise their writing to build familiarity with rhetorical terms and techniques for interpreting the many genres encountered in college. 

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 19
Topic: The Secret Language of Comics
Instructor: David Morgen
Meets: MW 2:30 P - 3:45 P
Description: In this class we'll read powerful contemporary comics, including nonfiction memoir comics, superhero comics, & other genres in the comics medium. You'll write with both words & images in order to develop your critical thinking and communication skills. There are weekly "low-stakes" sketch assignments along with larger analytical writing assignments spanning a variety of formal and informal genres & multiple modes of communication. No preexisting drawing talent or expertise is required.

Course: ENGRD 101 - Rhetorical Comp/Critical Reading
Section: 21
Topic: The Mountains Are Calling: Nature & Environmental Writing
Instructor: Christopher Merwin
Meets: TuTh 5:30 P - 6:45 P
Description: This intensive writing course focuses on nature and environmental writing with readings from classical (especially American) nature writers and conservationists, contemporary academic articles, and public policy about the environment. We'll focus on thinking about environment philosophically (through writers like Emerson, Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold) and translating that into environmental ethics, advocacy, and activism. Throughout the course we will hone our writing skills through multimodal reflections on/in nature and environmentally focused papers, narratives, and projects.