Spring 2010

ENG 430 - Sp. Topics in Professional Writing: Telling the Tale
Professor Perry Glasser

Whether literary art, feature film, popular fiction, documentary, narrativepoetry, graphic novels, or stage drama, storytelling begins with a creative intelligence envisioning characters beset by difficulties. Some characters triumph, others do not. Maybe there's a witch in a gingerbread house; maybe the Dark Knight has to liberate Gotham City; maybe Huck Finn has to skedaddle from Hannibal. Different storytellers make different choices for their different arts, but they universally draw upon the conventions of character, structure, and causality, those elements that when successfully orchestrated create the forward momentum of a plot. This semester, through readings, viewings, and exercises in a variety of forms and media, we will explore the theory and practice of creating a compelling tale. Guest lectures, creative projects, and talks from professionals.

 

Sample syllabuses are now online!

Fall 2010

ENG 430 - Sp. Topics in Professional Writing: Food Writing
Professor Keja Valens

What are your hungers and how do you satisfy them?  How do your everyday actions affect global warming? How hot can you handle?  Do you know where that’s been?  What’s the secret ingredient?  Food writing asks the hard questions, the big questions, and then looks for the answers in the most sensual of places. In this course, we will ask and look along with food writing greats in fiction, creative nonfiction, investigative reporting, and cookbooks.  We will learn technique from the likes of Barbara Kingsolver, MFK Fisher, Anthony Bourdain, and Alice Waters, and then we’ll head to the test kitchens. Professor Keja Valens publishes scholarly work on food writing and also co-authors the food blog, Cooking the Seasons.

 

SPRING 2011

ENG 430 - Sp. Topics in Professional Writing: The Art, History and Practice of Science Writing
Professor Scott Nowka

Science writing gives voice to scientific inquiry and shapes our understanding of ourselves and our world. Not everyone who writes about science needs to be a scientist! We’ll write about the science of everyday life and the social impact of science on such issues as global warming. At the same time, we will develop techniques for writing for a variety of popular venues. Our aim includes exploring various career possibilities for science writers, understand the cultural importance of of how science is presented, and to provide students with the skills to succeed .