2022-2023 Course List

This course examines the teaching of literature across collegiate levels and is designed for English graduate students. It is both practical and theoretical, examining topics such as: the purposes for teaching literature and teaching critical thinking; pedagogical approaches for teaching literature; and designing syllabi, lesson plans, and assignments. We will explore these topics through a variety of texts and perspectives. Assignments will include creating syllabi and lesson plans, reviewing scholarship on a particular topic related to the teaching of literature, and a conference paper on some aspect of the teaching of literature.

This course will examine current instructional practices used to teach writing in academic settings. This course can be repeated for credits as the topic changes each time it is offered.

This course will introduce methods of inquiry-based research for investigating writing practices and pedagogy; this research could be conducted in classrooms for the purpose of improving teaching practices, students' learning, and/or institutional curricular design and practices.

This course will explore the theoretical and practical implications of integrating literature into the composition classroom.

Argumentation is the study of how people justify their acts, beliefs, attitudes, and values, and influence the thought and actions of others, by providing good reasons for the claims they make. This subfield includes both descriptive study (what do people consider to be good reasons and what are they doing when they offer what they take to be justifications?) and normative investigation (under what circumstances should claims be considered justified?). This course addresses argumentation in general and argumentation in specific contexts such as law, business, science, religion, and public affairs, as well as the teaching of argumentation.

Topics of interest to the teacher or professional working in the field of children's and young adult literature. May be repeated with different subject matter.

Topics such as writing assessment, teaching poetry, and teaching writing in the secondary schools. May be repeated with different subject matter.

This course, to be taken in the first year of MS coursework, addresses technical communication as both an academic and professional field. The course surveys history, foundational scholarship, research questions, and research methods in the academic field of technical communication. Students will explore the relationships between the scholarship and the practice of technical communication.

This course addresses the planning and execution of content through methodological approaches to data analysis and content development. This course surveys the planning, creation, and management of content within editorial development, experience design, and systems design. Students will explore the methods of content strategy to compile, extract, and develop meaningful content that uses multimodal tools for visualization.

Individual study in writing. (Creative writing majors may take up to 3 credits total.)

Advanced study of theories of literature and its production and use.

Exploration of the business of creative writing and the tools for writing and research in the field.

The course addresses the use of research to answer questions and solve problems in the technical communication workplace. The course addresses research methods commonly used by technical communicators, such as interviewing, surveys, usability testing, and secondary research.

Topics relating to rhetorical theory in the workplace, including examination of how workplace cultures shape writing assumptions and approaches. May be repeated with different subject matter.

Technical communication course designed specifically for STEM industry professionals or students in PSM programs; emphasis on development of technical communication skills and expertise needed for business- and industry-specific documents and presentations for internal or external audiences.

Examination of instructional design principles and models, including research in theory and practice of instructional design for technical communicators in academic and industry settings.

Focused study on a topic not covered in regularly scheduled courses.

Analysis of fiction and literary nonfiction that treats technical and scientific themes.

Rhetorical theory applied to technical documents, including an examination of how workplace cultures shape writing assumptions and approaches.

Theory and practice in the development and production of proposals, focusing on the researching, writing, and management of proposals by technical communicators.

User experience is a more holistic, contextualized approach to understanding an individuals encounter with technologies, systems, and documents. The course addresses theory, research findings, case studies, and methods for conducting user experience research.

Survey of language tests and other forms of related assessment that measure various second language abilities.

Literary and non-literary translation.

This course will involve the preparation of a portfolio in consultation with instructor.

Examination of the social factors and conventions that inform language choices, how sociolinguistic and pragmatic norms differ among social, cultural, and language groups, and how language learners acquire these norms.