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ENG 791 Composition Pedagogy


The Emory College Writing Program is excited to tell you about a new opportunity for Laney graduate students who desire to expand their teaching portfolio and receive additional pedagogical training and experience in writing instruction.

The Writing Program has a semester-long course that trains graduate teachers from English and Comparative Literature to build a syllabus with mentorship as they prepare to teach in our first-year writing program. This semester-long training is ENG 791 Composition Pedagogy.

The Writing Program in cooperation with Laney Graduate School has decided to open up enrollment in the class to graduate students from other programs. This opportunity is perfect for students seeking further pedagogical training with a focus on how to use writing and other modes of communication as teaching tools. Upon completion of that class (always offered in the fall semester), graduate students will be qualified to teach ENGRD 101—Rhetorical Composition and Critical Reading in a subsequent semester. ENGRD is the new acronym for Rhetoric, Writing, and Information Design.

 ENGRD 101 provides instruction in rhetorical composition, critical reading, reflection, and writing as recursive process. Across themed sections, students engage with diverse genres. Courses share some common assignments including research writing and final student-curated portfolio with reflection project. 

 

Course information

See the First Year Writing pages for descriptions of shared outcomes and assignments. Within those restrictions, teachers have the freedom to choose a theme or topic for their course implement a course design of their choosing.

These themed first-year writing courses teach academic writing and genres of writing in various fields. Classes which have already been developed in the past for first-year students include:

  • Writing about Anything
  • Rhetoric and Argumentation
  • Being Here: Technology and Being
  • Ethnography: Interrogating Culture through Writing
  • Play-Make-Write-Think
  • Activism: Argument, Art, and Affect
  • Going Home: Stories of Return and Reintegration
  • Writing and Reading about Coming of Age
  • Writing the Environment

Graduate students taking this class benefit by:

  • Completing a three-credit semester-long graduate class in pedagogy with a focus on writing instruction which will be noted on their Emory transcripts.
  • Teaching a micro composition lesson under supervision of an experienced writing teacher during training.
  • Drafting, testing, and revising a syllabus of their own design (with feedback from writing/rhetoric specialists) for an undergraduate writing class, along with all assignments.
  • Learning teaching techniques and class design which supports solid instruction in writing. This learning includes scaffolding assignments, using learning outcomes, teaching for the transfer of learning to other classes, and multimodal assignment creation, among others.
  • Creating a themed writing-intensive class in an area of their interest.
  • Being the instructor of record for a composition class of 16 students.

Tattoo Information

  • In general, students should have met their program’s TATTO 605 requirement in order to be eligible for this teaching experience.
  • Teaching ENGRD 101 does not satisfy the program’s TATTO 605 requirement.
  • Teaching ENGRD 101 may satisfy the program’s TATTO 610 requirement, provided the student’s DGS has evaluated and approved the credit in advance.
  • A student who receives TATTO 610 credit for teaching ENGRD 101 is not eligible to receive compensation.

Compensation for graduate students choosing this opportunity

  • No compensation for taking ENG 791 Composition Pedagogy in fall semester.
  • $3000-$3500 (exact amount TBD) for teaching a section of ENGRD 101 in a following semester as long as the course is not counted as TATTO 610 credit (see above).
  • Upon completion of the successful teaching of ENGRD 101, students can apply to teach another section in a following semester if desired.

Approvals

All graduate students opting into ENG 791 and/or teaching a section of ENGRD 101 will need written approval from their Director of Graduate Studies and their graduate advisor. An email is sufficient—please send to Aaron Colton (Director of First-Year Writing) and robert.pearson@emory.edu (Assistant Dean, Professional Development and Career Planning, Laney Graduate School).  

Aaron Colton Headshot
Aaron Colton
Director of the First-Year Writing
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