CO301: Writing in the Disciplines - Course Description

Prerequisite: CO150: College Composition

CO301 focuses explicitly on reading and writing strategies for accommodating the rhetorical demands of specialized subjects to the needs of diverse audiences, particularly those audiences outside the students' disciplines. The course will be taught in four subsections that address topics and issues of interest in one of four, broad, disciplinary areas:

A. Arts and Humanities
B. Sciences
C. Social Sciences
D. Education

Although students may sometimes write to readers well educated in one of these fields, their work in CO301 is not designed to substitute for disciplinary writing in a field. Rather, CO301 assumes that students will write to more general audiences. The first six weeks of the course focus on analyses and responses to readings while the rest of the semester is devoted to preparing a portfolio of pieces written by the student.

As an intermediate composition course, CO301 assumes complete control of skills developed in CO150 so that students can go well beyond introductory academic writing. Like the other intermediate composition courses offered through English, the course emphasizes (1) writing processes with a special emphasis on revising and editing, and (2) critical reading processes with an emphasis on reading from a writer's point of view.

Unlike CO300, which focuses on one mode of written discourse -- argument, CO301 focuses on multiple modes and genres of written discourse. Students taking the course will learn about and practice writing a wide range of essays, including those that explain, interpret, react to, or reflect on specific issues for general audiences. The focus on general audiences is another point of distinction between CO300 and CO301. Whereas CO300 focuses on audience concerns only from the perspective of argumentative discourse, CO301 addresses a broad range of issues concerning how writers adapt their texts to diverse audiences, including which genres are most appropriate for specific rhetorical purposes.

Unlike CO302, which focuses on adapting to the rhetorical demands of writing in online contexts, CO301 addresses issues related to writing online only indirectly, through use of a class Web site, use of electronic communication with the instructor and classmates, and regular posts to a class Web discussion forum. Although faculty and students in the course will make use of online communication tools, they will not be writing specifically for audiences who are reading their texts online.

Methods of Evaluation: This course will be taught using traditional grading. In addition to grades on writing assignments, grades will also be assigned for in-class writing activities (e.g., daily writing activities, peer review workshops), posts to a class Web discussion forum, and out-of-class writing and reading activities (homework). Typically, the course grade will be based on in-class writing and homework assignments (15%), regular participation in discussions of course readings on a Web discussion forum (10%), and formal essays (75%).

Course Syllabus: A sample weekly syllabus is available on this site. Please note that this online syllabus serves as a general model that can be adapted by CO301 instructors. Specific sections of CO301 may use a syllabus that varies from the sample weekly syllabus.