School of Writing, Literature, and Film

AJ 313

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES IN APPLIED JOURNALISM

Section: 1

CRN: 55419

ECAMPUS

St Jacques, Jill

The heart of this capstone Applied Journalism course is its weekly series of guest speakers from across the spectrum of professional journalism: podcasters, TV directors, print journalists and freelance authors. All these media professionals are eager to help AJ students enter the journalism job market and find success with their writing. Our interviews with professional journalists dovetail with a series of interactive workshops geared to produce, critique and revise the student’s real-time job portfolio (resumes, cover letters, query letters and work samples). Because our Applied Journalism Minor centralizes student development in all forms of digital and print journalism, work samples can consist of any completed projects in public relations, advertising, audiovisual and/or multimedia journalism -- whatever field the participant feels passionately about entering upon graduation. Field trips required.

Prerequisite: Minimum grade of B in AJ 311 and AJ 312

AJ 410

SPECIAL INTERNSHIP: ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM

Section: 2

CRN: 55420

Remote Learning Course

2 credits

Goldfarb, Ben

Application link: beav.es/Swn

What are the elements of an effective environmental story? How do science journalists conduct interviews, construct scene, interview sources, incorporate research, and communicate complex ideas in clear, jargon-free prose? Every week we’ll read stories published in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, High Country News, and other national magazines, and plumb those articles for craft tips and inspiration. Students will then apply those lessons to their own work, building, over the semester, a single, feature-length story (2000 to 4000 words) on an environmental topic — and, yes, we’ll talk about how to get them published. Students should be prepared to write weekly, and to workshop their writing and the work of their peers.  

ENG 104

INTRO TO LITERATURE: FICTION

Section: 400

CRN: 52263

ECAMPUS

Bushnell, John

Understanding a story is one thing, but experiencing its impact is another. You’ll discover the simple routes into the heart of a story and witness how they’re enriched by more subtle literary elements. The goal will be not just to understand how fiction operates but to access its full range of emotional and intellectual rewards. By the end of the term, you will have received exposure to a broad variety of narratives, cultures, and ideas, and you will have developed the skills to appreciate their meaning, value, and pleasure.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 104

INTRO TO LITERATURE: FICTION

Section: 401

CRN: 54461

ECAMPUS

Harrison, Wayne

What is a story? How does fiction create or reflect the culture and historical moment in which they are written? Why do we (or why should we) read literature at all? In this class, we will build answers to these foundational questions. Using a critical lens, we will work to understand both the implied and stated meaning of short stories from across the last two centuries, as well as developing our knowledge of the key elements of fiction. We will discuss these stories in small and large groups, learn about the authors and the historical context in which they were written, and analyze them for a richer understanding and appreciation.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 104

INTRO TO LITERATURE: FICTION

Section: 1 / 2

CRN: 58749 / 55421

Norris, Marcos

Offers students a rigorous examination of the short story as it has developed artistically and generically in the Western world over the past two centuries. Primary readings include such authors as Edgar Allan Poe, Anton Chekhov, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Virginia Woolf, Flannery O’Connor, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and Jorge Luis Borges. Secondary readings include selections from The New Short Story Theories, edited by Charles E. May. Students will develop critical stances on the short story as a genre, they will develop their skills as literary critics, and they will practice the craft of literary criticism, a genre all its own.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 106

INTRO TO LITERATURE: POETRY

Section: 2

CRN: 51389

Roush, Stephanie

You’ll be introduced to a variety of published voices from the past and present; you’ll study the basic craft elements of poetry including detail, imagery, voice, and lineation; you’ll practice your close reading skills to become a more skilled and confident reader of poetry; and you’ll establish a routine of checking in with your emotions and deepening your sense of empathy.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 108

INTRO TO SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

Section: 1

CRN: 56054

Gottlieb, Evan

The roots of science fiction and fantasy lie in myth, folklore, and fairy tales. Although some attention will be paid to these origins, we’ll focus on 19th c., 20th c., and contemporary examples of science fiction and fantasy in print. As befits our increasingly diverse society, moreover, this course is committed to introducing students to a range of voices in these genres. Accordingly, we’ll start with a contemporary graphic novel and end the course with a recent sci-fi/ fantasy novella. In between, we’ll study Anglo-American sci-fi and fantasy stories by both well-known and now-forgotten authors, including H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Margaret St. Clair, Philip K. Dick, Ursula LeGuin, Octavia Butler, and Ted Chiang.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

ENG 202

SHAKESPEARE

Section: 1

CRN: 56713

HYBRID

Olson, Rebecca

An introduction to the second half of Shakespeare’s dramatic career (the Jacobean period), with attention to the playwright’s continued global legacy. This course is designed to help students become confident readers of Shakespeare’s language, articulate the significance of aural and visual elements of Shakespearean scripts, and analyze the plays in light of specific cultural and historical contexts, both early modern and contemporary. Plays include Macbeth, Measure for Measure, and The Tempest.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 206

SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE: VICTORIAN ERA TO 20TH CENTURY

Section: 1

CRN: 55423

Davison, Neil

Have you ever wondered how Great Britain engaged with democracy, liberalism, technology, and race, gender, and class while it became the first great industrial power and largest empire of the modern West? Have you ever been curious as to how and why World War I changed Europe forever and ushered in the Modernist/Postcolonial era? Did you ever groan at having to read Charles Dickens in high school? Have you ever heard of Oscar Wilde and how his outing as a gay man became the scandal of London during the 1890’s? Did you know that women were enfranchised as voting citizens in England before they were in the US? Or that England outlawed slavery and corporal punishment in its navy before the US as well? Did you ever hear that James Joyce was an Irish writer whose artistic achievement changed the short story and novel forever, and yet who is now one of the most unread authors in the English language? Were you ever curious as to how former subjects of the British Empire in the Caribbean, India, or various African countries struggle to reform their hybrid identities and regain the cultures and languages that had been stripped from them by the English colonizer? You’ll learn all about this and more through a study of English Literature during this period by examining pieces of writing across genres like the essay, poetry, drama, and short fiction from both England and the postcolonial Anglophone countries it once ruled over before the break up of its empire during the early to late 20th century.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Western Culture (CPWC)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 210

LITERATURES OF THE WORLD: ASIA

Section: 400

CRN: 59535

ECAMPUS

Singh, Jaspal

 

An introduction to the literature of Asia, a diverse and complex geographical and cultural location, written in English, which will include literature in translation. It involves examining the impact of European incursions on specific Asian nations and their influences on cultural productions. With the imposition of English Education in the British colonies, English language and literature grew to such an extent that in the postcolonial era major international writers in the English language, such as Salman Rushdie, Ruth Ozeki, Gitanjali Shree, Michael Ondaatje, among others, hail from Asia. India attained independence in 1947 after almost 200 years of British colonial presence when the Indian subcontinent was divided into two separate nation-states—Pakistan and India—where English education and language predominate in the postcolonial era. In Vietnam, first the French and then the American incursions produced literature that continues to influence literary traditions in Vietnam and in the West to this day. As for Burma, which is now called Myanmar, when it became part of British India after the Anglo-Burmese wars of the 1824-1826 and 1852-1853, it too, like India, grappled with the English language to such an extent as to continue to produce hybridized and counter discursive artistic and social productions and narratives thought what Bill Ashcroft et al. call a “dialogic process of recovery and reincription.”

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Cultural Diversity (CPCD)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

Liberal Arts Non-Western Core (LACN)

 

ENG 216

ILLUMINATING HAPPINESS

Section: 1

CRN: 59541

Biespiel, David

This course explores a set of questions posed by poets about living a more satisfying life, exploring poems that embody alertness to happiness, stress, joy, love, death, curiosity, imagination, knowledge, history, music, art, politics, psychology, and more, as well as how to flourish in the small moments of living and, even, how to live a more fulfilling life. This course raises the central question: what makes a satisfying life? This course explores the ways that many human beings think matter in daily lives, such as wealth, material possessions, even good grades, don’t and, instead, hinder well-being. Poets have long been interested in these questions. Poets have long been looking for happiness — what is it? where to find it? why it’s elusive? what does it mean? These questions are especially relevant for a detailed examination as students become more and more involved in making the decisions that will shape one’s future and the future of others. Using a set of requirements and re-wirements, students will explore poetry, the pursuit of happiness, and the human community. This course demands careful observation of both the assigned works and the life you lead. The course is designed to hone your concentration on details and the language that comes from those details, and I hope it helps release you into new ways of thinking about your lives. Our focus will be almost entirely on reading, writing, and doing, Monday - Friday, as if you are studying a new language.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

ENG 220

DIFFERENCE, POWER, AND DISCRIMINATION: STORIES OF THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER

Section: 2

CRN: 58758

Crosslisted with WR 220

Ribero, Ana

 

Through close reading and cultural analysis of stories from and about the US-Mexico border, this course aims to challenge conventional stories about undocumented immigration in the US and to consider immigration as a complex global phenomenon with multivariate causes.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Difference, Power, and Discrimination (CPDP)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 240

ENVIRONMENTAL LITERATURE

Section: 1

CRN: 59563

Gottlieb, Evan

We will explore the historical development and contemporary situation of American environmental literature, primarily non-fiction “nature writing.” We will locate the modern origins of this genre in the works of nineteenth-century Transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau, who self-consciously set out to establish a uniquely American view of what constitutes a beneficial relationship between people and their environments. We will then survey several twentieth-century classics, including Aldo Leopald’s A Sand County Almanac and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, to see how the modern environmental movement was shaped by their concerns with topics like sustainable land use and pollution. Subsequently, we’ll investigate some recent influential texts, such as Bill McKibben’s The End of Nature and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, that were written in the looming shadow of climate change and global warming. Time permitting, we will end by considering a several trends in contemporary environmental creative writing, such as Mary Oliver’s detail-oriented nature poetry and Jeff VanderMeer’s New Weird fiction, to try to understand how the traditional methods and motivations of American environmental literature are being transformed by the ecological uncertainties and dangers of the twenty-first century.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

ENG 254

SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: 1900-PRESENT

Section: 1

CRN: 59542

Schwartz, Samuel

Explores various literary modes—poetry, short fiction, novels, autobiography--and their production in the context of the aesthetic movements, politics, culture, and history that foregrounded their creation. The reading list reflects the diversity of U.S. regional literatures and their respective populations. We will balance between works that are “canonical” with those works that are not as often included in survey-level courses. Students will take written exams, participate in discussions, and collectively annotate selected works.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 265

FILMS FOR THE FUTURE

Section: 1

CRN: 60651

Crosslisted with FILM 265

Frelik, Paweł

 

What we know as cinema has never been a homogenous body but really a range of diverse entities, but, in the 20th century, most of them utilized a fairly uniform spectrum of formal devices and narrative grooves. In the 21st century, though, a number of transformations and innovations, many triggered by the arrival of digital technologies, make it possible to talk about post-cinema. Some of these departures are spectacular and staggering; others less obvious but no less game-changing. We will examine these developments and aesthetics through close readings of selected films to discover how they change our ways of thinking about and feeling with the movies.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

ENG 275

THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE

Section: 400

CRN: 53119

ECAMPUS

Kurman, Nirit

 

The influence of the Bible on our world is immeasurable, whether it be religious, cultural, or political. This course aims to add another layer to reading the Bible while respecting all religions, beliefs, and viewpoints. With a careful reading of the text and a close examination of biblical scholarship and other related sources, we will try to broaden and deepen our understanding of the Old Testament and the New Testament. We will discuss the historical context of the composition of the Bible while considering the multilayered nature of the text, editorial decisions, non-biblical cultural parallels, the formation of monotheism, and the separation of Christianity and Judaism. We will also discuss literary components such as the laconic writing style of Biblical narratives, biblical characters, and biblical poetry. We will discuss and analyze the influence of the Bible on modern art, poetry, and prose. The course aims to emphasize the complexity and richness of the Bible rather than reduce it to one truth, a single lesson, or an important principle. We will read the Bible through contemporary eyes, revising it from different angles, such as literary, psychological, and feminist.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Western Culture (CPWC)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 304

CAREER PREP FOR ENGLISH MAJORS

Section: 1

CRN: 56715

2 credits

Delf, Elizabeth

“English major, huh? What are you going to do with that?” Anything you want! English majors become lawyers, technical writers, publishers, social media managers, non-profit fundraisers, and even (as everyone assumes) teachers. The same skills that you’ve used to analyze Bleak House and write about Baldwin can help you in the real world, too. As Frank B. Liebold argued in his 2010 article “Where Have All the Jobs Gone?,” the current job market requires critical thinking and problem solving skills as much as anything else, and these “transferable skill-sets, or competencies, have become the new currency for success and future employability.” This class is designed for English majors interested in exploring and preparing for post-graduation career options. You’ll consider your own personal strengths and interests, reflect on the English degree and what you’ve gained, and get real experience and feedback on your resume, cover letter, and—yes, you need one—LinkedIn profile.

Successful completion of ENG 301 is a prerequisite for this course.

ENG 318

AMERICAN NOVEL: MODERNIST

Section: 400

CRN: 59536

ECAMPUS

Elbom, Gilad

Focusing on some of the prominent thematic, stylistic, historical, and cultural aspects of American modernism, this class will combine famous classics with important novels other than the ones commonly perceived as canonical. Through close textual analysis, we will examine seminal works of American modernism that have paved the way for previously silenced voices, paying attention to the rise of nontraditional authors, characters, literary strategies, and subject matters.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 319

AMERICAN NOVEL: POST-WWII

Section: 1

CRN: 59543

Dybek, Nicholas

We will analyze five novels written since 1945, with a particular eye towards the representation of “haves” and “have-nots.” In works by such authors as Toni Morrison, Richard Yates, and Ling Ma, we’ll explore how the lenses of class, wealth, poverty, privilege and consumption both reduce and complicate basic notions of success, failure, and belonging in America.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 345

INTRO LIT CRITICISM & THEORY

Section: 1

CRN: 52119

Malewitz, Raymond

We will learn how to read and interpret literature outside of familiar practices of close reading. The course begins by exploring theories of a divided self, asking how figures such as Freud, Du Bois, and de Beauvoir understand what causes these divisions before applying them to literature that engages with this concept. We will then do a deep dive into the strange world of language and media theory, asking questions about how words, texts, and images relate to the world beyond them through the work of figures such as De Saussure, Foucault, and McCloud. The third unit will introduce students to cultural studies of nation, race, gender, sexuality and disability through figures such as Said, Butler, Gates, Gilbert and Gubar. Finally, we will explore some emergent directions in literary scholarship including New Materialism and Eco-criticism through figures such as Chakrabarty, Bennett, and Latour. By the end of the course, students should feel comfortable reading and using literary theories in their advanced literature classes. 

Successful completion of ENG 301 is a prerequisite for this course, which may be taken concurrently

ENG 360

NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE

Section: 400

CRN: 59537

ECAMPUS

Hausman, Blake

This class studies a range of literary arts and cultural expressions by Native American authors. We’ll consider Native American literatures in their historical, cultural, geographical, political, and legal contexts. Throughout the course, we’ll prioritize Indigenous experiences, worldviews, and intellectual traditions in the study of Native literatures.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Cultural Diversity (CPCD)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

Liberal Arts Non-Western Core (LACN)

ENG 445

STUDIES IN NONFICTION: GRAPHIC AND VISUALLY INNOVATIVE MEMOIR

Section: 400

CRN: 60476

Holmberg, Karen

Although it is assumed that memoir reports and explores a writer’s past personal life, the genre is elastic and often “tells the life” through a wide variety of techniques and information lenses. The visually innovative memoirs we’ll study this term draw from and use established fields of knowledge to probe questions of individual and cultural identity; for instance, Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother is a graphic memoir that draws heavily on child development theory, Rebecca Hall’s and Hugo Martinez’s Wake is part memoir and part excavation of suppressed histories of woman-led slave revolts, and Paisley Rekdal’s Intimate is a hybrid memoir and “photo album” blending personal essay, photography, historical documentary, and poetry. Some of the questions we’ll explore include 1) How does the verbal and “visual language” interact in each memoir? 2) How do these memoirs enfold larger cultural issues? 3) How can we see these visually innovative memoirs as collaborations? As hybrids? Students will be assessed on 3 essays (the last of which provides a creative option), weekly discussion posts, quizzes, and peer editing performance.

Recommend Sophomore standing with 8 or more credits of level 200 ENG or above

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing Intensive Courses (CWIC)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 470

STUDIES IN POETRY: ARCHIVE FEVER

Section: 1

CRN: 60499

1700-1900/Projects

Ward, Megan

Working intimately with the 101 copies that OSU holds of Edmund Fitzgerald’s 1859 translated poem, “The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam,” this class will build a virtual exhibit that includes images, original research, and public writing. Along the way, we’ll examine the very nature of archival research through theoretical exposition and literary representation. What is archival research so romanticized? What can it help us discover and what will always remain elusive in our search to understand the past?

Recommend Sophomore standing with 8 or more credits of level 200 ENG or above

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing Intensive Courses (CWIC)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 480

STUDIES IN LITERATURE, CULTURE & SOCIETY: PREMODERN SEXUALITIES

Section: 1

CRN: 59545

Pre-1700

Bude, Tekla

We in the 21st-century are heirs to intersecting frameworks of gender, sexuality, race, and class that grew out of Enlightenment-era (18th- and 19th-century) imperialism and capitalism. These frameworks include the gender binary, the tokenization and hypersexualization of black and Asian people, and the marginalization and criminalization of sex workers, among others – all things that gender and sexuality scholars today seek to critique and dismantle. In this class, we will look to the period BEFORE the Enlightenment for a better understanding of how these frameworks came to be, but also to understand other, alternative ways of understanding sex, gender, and sexuality. What models for gender and sexuality – and their intersections with race and class – do the medieval and early modern periods offer? The answers might surprise you: from queer nuns to cross-dressing sex workers, from female Jesuses to black Madonnas, and from trans heroes of medieval fiction to the all-male casts of Shakespearean drama, premodern literature provides us with some startling counterpoints to our received notions of gender, sex, and sexuality.

Recommend Sophomore standing with 8 or more credits of level 200 ENG or above

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

ENG 488

LITERATURE AND PEDAGOGY

Section: 1

CRN: 57966

Olson, Rebecca

Practices, approaches, histories, and theories of teaching literature appropriate for secondary through college settings. Considers text selection, assignments, and evaluation.This section will apply up-to-the-minute strategies for decolonizing the English literature / language arts curriculum and crafting accessible assignments. 

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

FILM 145

INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDIES-1968-1999

Section: 1

CRN: 57968

Lewis, Jon

This course focuses on American cinema and culture between 1968 and 1999, between the advent of the Voluntary Movie Rating System and the quite amazing anticipation in Hollywood of the new millennium (1999 was a particularly good year for movies), from the first stirrings of the American youth counterculture to the dawning of the computer age, from Easy Rider to Fight Club. Of primary interest will be the ways certain films embrace, interpolate, and intersect with history, politics, music, and the other visual arts. Weekly screenings to include: Easy Rider, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, The Exorcist, The Silence of the Lambs, Die Hard, Do the Right Thing, The Virgin Suicides, and Fight Club.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

FILM 220

DIFFERENCE, POWER AND DISCRIMINATION: QUEER CINEMA

Section: 2

CRN: 59546

Price, Zachary

Queer cinema, despite its counter-cultural roots, must work within the larger movie industry it aims to critique. This class examines how queer cinema since the 1990s intervenes in public debates over the rights and representation of sexual and gender minorities. As a class, we will understand the stakes of this visibility and the consequences of looking closely at desire.

Bacc Core - Difference, Power, and Discrimination (CPDP)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

FILM 245

THE NEW AMERICAN CINEMA

Section: 1

CRN: 59547

Price, Zachary

This class will attend to contemporary American Cinema by closely examining important films and filmmakers of 21st-Century Hollywood (2000-present) along with key events in the business of developing, producing, distributing, and exhibiting motion pictures. 

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

FILM 252X

INTRODUCTION TO SCREENWRITING

Section: 400

CRN: 60468

Crosslisted with WR 252X

Bohlinger, Joseph

Focuses on the basic components of screenwriting. Explores professional examples of documents intrinsic to the craft—coverage, story treatments, storyboards, script outlines, series bibles and production drafts for films and television shows. Creates students’ versions of several of these forms to generate creative content through a series of “recipes” designed to teach the core concepts of character, setting, dramatic conflict and visual storytelling.    

FILM 265

FILMS FOR THE FUTURE

Section: 1

CRN: 60596

Crosslisted with ENG 265X

Frelik, Paweł

What we know as cinema has never been a homogenous body but really a range of diverse entities, but, in the 20th century, most of them utilized a fairly uniform spectrum of formal devices and narrative grooves. In the 21st century, though, a number of transformations and innovations, many triggered by the arrival of digital technologies, make it possible to talk about post-cinema. Some of these departures are spectacular and staggering; others less obvious but no less game-changing. We will examine these developments and aesthetics through close readings of selected films to discover how they change our ways of thinking about and feeling with the movies. 

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Literature and the Arts (CPLA)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

FILM 452

STUDIES IN FILM: ANIMATION

Section: 1

CRN: 60195

Lewis, Jon

Early experiments in cine-animation coincide with the earliest movies; the very idea of motion pictures was itself a mode or version of animation (of still images into movement, of stationery objects into seeming action). This class will provide an in-depth look at animation history from the early experiments by Lotte Reninger and Winsor McCay (Little Nemo in Slumberland) and ventures into silent-era narrative (Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan’s Felix the Cat) through the several golden ages at Disney (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Silly Symphonies, Snow White, Pinocchio), the jazz-age cartoons made by the Fleischer brothers (Betty Boop, Popeye, Gulliver’s Travels), and the 35mm short subjects made at Warner Bros. (“starring” Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck). More modern works to include: the hand-painted experiments of Portland, Oregon’s Joanna Priestly and Japan’s Studio Ghibli’s epic watercolors (Princess Mononoke), modern stop-action (Tim Burton and Henry Selick) and puppetry (Trey Parker and Matt Stone), and computer animation (Pixar). Students can opt out of the final paper and instead produce their own animated videos.

WR 121

ENGLISH COMPOSITION

See the Course Catalog for available sections

English Composition is designed to help you develop skills and confidence in analytical writing, and to foster your rhetorical awareness—your perception of where, how, and why persuasion is occurring. This 3-credit course places emphasis on the process of writing, including acts of reading, researching, analytical thinking, freewriting, drafting, review, revision, and editing. Complementing this approach is our focus on the final product—quality compositions that demonstrate rhetorical awareness and evidence of critical thinking. 

Bacc Core, Skills - Writing I (CSW1)

WR 201

WRITING FOR MEDIA

Section: 1

CRN: 58776

St Jacques, Jill

Fox News. Social media. The New York Times. In today’s ever-escalating digital hurricane, the news feeds never stop. But how should this news be written? Do the game’s rules change, depending on the media form? Writing for Media introduces students to reporting news across a variety of traditional and new media forms. In this course, participants earn their wings through writing stories in newspaper, broadcast, digital and multimedia style. The core skill set consists of: conducting multiple interviews with experts and people on the street, using a computer to compile credible research, and turning in publishable articles by deadline. Associated Press Style will be the guiding light for this course in terms of editing and proofing. The final WR201 assignment is a photojournalistic essay, which requires a time commitment and field work outside class.

Recommend grade B or higher in WR 121 or WR 121H and 30 wpm typing speed

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

WR 214

WRITING IN BUSINESS

See the Course Catalog for available sections

As college students, you will soon enter a job market driven by new technologies, a changed economy, and the need to communicate with different audiences from all over the globe.  The ability to write clearly and effectively for a wide range of purposes and audiences will be a vital skill in your future, regardless of your field of work. This course will develop your understanding of rhetoric, audience, and conventions to improve your communication skills; we will focus on the practical uses of clear and effective writing that can be applied to a variety of workplaces. 

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- is required in WR 121 and WR 121H or minimum score of 1 in ‘Exam for Waiver - WR 121’

WR 220

DIFFERENCE, POWER, AND DISCRIMINATION: STORIES OF THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER

Section: 1

CRN: 58759

Crosslisted with ENG 220

Ribero, Ana

Through close reading and cultural analysis of stories from and about the US-Mexico border, this course aims to challenge conventional stories about undocumented immigration in the US and to consider immigration as a complex global phenomenon with multivariate causes.

Bacc Core, Perspectives - Difference, Power, and Discrimination (CPDP)

Liberal Arts Humanities Core (LACH)

WR 222

ENGLISH COMPOSITION

See the Course Catalog for available sections

While continuing the concerns of WR 121, WR 222 emphasizes the development of argumentation skills and the control of style to suit a variety of writing situations. Students will develop skills through critical thinking; discussing the style and mechanics of good writing; and workshopping and drafting formal essays. You will also study the work of professional writers for inspiration and guidance in your own writing, and approach them with a critical mind. In your reading you will learn to adopt the habit of looking closely and questioning the reliability of opinions; to identify, evaluate, and use the elements of argument; to distinguish between observation, fact, inference, etc.; to discern invalid evidence, bias, fallacies, and unfair emotional appeals; to understand how assumptions operate; to draw reasonable conclusions based on induction and deduction; and to distinguish subjective and objective approaches.

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

WR 224

INTRO TO FICTION WRITING

See the Course Catalog for available sections

WR 224 is an introduction to the writing of fiction. Our approach in this fiction writing workshop will be to develop your skills as a creative writer through several means: careful reading and analysis of our own work; careful reading and analysis of established writers’ work; the execution of several meaningful fiction exercises; and a constant commitment to revision. Assessment methods include creative writing exercises, quizzes and reading checks on textbook craft sections, peer review, and the evolution of a short story from first to final, polished draft by the end of the term.

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

WR 240

INTRO TO NONFICTION WRITING

See the Course Catalog for available sections

Creative nonfiction is the genre of creative writing that bridges the act of making literary prose--the crafting of vivid scenes, a thoughtful narrative voice, and meaningful formats--with the kinds of practical personal writing often required in our academic and professional lives. We will discuss several published pieces from the creative nonfiction genre, including personal essays, memoir, and lyric essay. More importantly, we will also write, edit, workshop, and revise several pieces of our own creative nonfiction. Expect a lively class with lots of imaginative prompts, free-writes, and hardy discussion.

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

WR 241

INTRO TO POETRY WRITING

See the Course Catalog for available sections

"The art of poetry is ultimately an art of attention—Michael Blumenthal.” We will consider the tools necessary to approach poetry more attentively as both readers and writers. This course will provide a firm grounding in the rudiments of poetic craft such as word choice, line breaks, imagery, structure, and other devices, as well as an introduction to different forms available to poets. We will consistently work through writing exercises and read/ discuss the work of various poets in order to aid us in the generation of our own poems.

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

WR 250

PODCAST STORYTELLING

Section: 1

CRN: 58778

Griffin, Kristin

We’ll study the practice and conventions for writing, recording, and editing podcasts. We’ll listen to and analyze some of the best and most influential podcasts from the past few years—from Radiolab to Serial to Ologies—and see what makes that writing and recording successful, before we write our own podcasts. You can expect to learn the more practical skills involved in podcasting, such as audio recording and editing, as well as more complex elements like how to nail an interview and how to structure a multi-part audio essay to make it as compelling as possible. We’ll stress the importance of engaging multiple voices, developing a podcasting style, researching your topic, and appealing to your audience through narrative.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in WR 121 and WR 121H

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

WR 252X

INTRODUCTION TO SCREENWRITING

Section: 400

CRN: 60469

Crosslisted with FILM 252X

Bohlinger, Joseph

Focuses on the basic components of screenwriting. Explores professional examples of documents intrinsic to the craft—coverage, story treatments, storyboards, script outlines, series bibles and production drafts for films and television shows. Creates students’ versions of several of these forms to generate creative content through a series of “recipes” designed to teach the core concepts of character, setting, dramatic conflict and visual storytelling.

WR 301

PUBLISHING AND EDITING

Section: 400

CRN: 54929

ECAMPUS

Drummond, Robert

Invites students to learn about editing and copyediting techniques, broader editorial decisions, and current publishing platforms. Students will learn about scholarly publishing in the U.S. and about how social media and public relations fit into this world. Participants will also explore editing within a rhetorical dimension, considering purpose and audience, as well as conventions of grammar, mechanics, and usage. Students will review a scholarly article reporting on research in editing and/or publishing; as well as develop a publication-ready work of their own. As part of a final project, the class will work toward a collaborative publication.

Successful completion of Writing 121 is a prerequisite for this course

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

WR 323

ENGLISH COMPOSITION

Section: 400

CRN: 59539

ECAMPUS

Norris, Marcos

Offers a critical examination of The Twilight Zone, a television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Students will learn about the golden age of American television, how The Twilight Zone squared both artistically and politically with other mid-century commercial media, and about the creator of the show himself, an underappreciated force of genius who forever changed the face of television. Students will critically examine select episodes from the series and contribute thoughtfully to the online discussion forum. Keep in mind, however, that this is a writing class. For this reason, a considerable portion of the course will be devoted to the generic study of the television and film review, which embodies a distinct style. Students will learn to mimic that style, paying close attention to the tone, diction, and pace of their writing in order to produce entertaining and insightful reviews.

WR 324

SHORT STORY WRITING

Section: 2

CRN: 60486

HYBRID

Bhanoo, Sindya

In this intermediate fiction course, we will read and critique works of published fiction, and workshop student work. Each week, we will focus on different aspects of craft such as plot, scene, dialogue and voice. In addition, we will work towards building a regular writing and journaling practice. Students will respond to writing prompts inspired by readings and craft discussions.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of D- in WR 224 or WR 224H

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

WR 324

SHORT STORY WRITING

Section: 1

CRN: 57467

Dybek, Nicholas

Tim O’Brien writes that a story, if truly told, makes the “stomach believe.” But how do you convince a reader to believe, or even care about, something that never happened? In this class, we will attempt to answer this question—and many others—by reading and critiquing works of fiction (by published writers and by you and your classmates), and by completing short exercises that aim to illuminate the craft by calling attention to choices and effects of imagery, perspective, character, etc. This course will follow the workshop model of peer critique, so be prepared to write and read quite a bit and have at least two pieces of original fiction, one of which will be workshopped in class. Many would argue that writing cannot be taught. But, as with any craft—origami, ship carpentry—there is a long tradition of studying fiction in order to learn specific and/or established techniques and writing strategies. On the other hand, some of the most exciting fiction occurs when a writer disregards or flouts expected craft choices. In this course we’ll endeavor to figure out what “the rules” are and how and when to break them.

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

WR 327

TECHNICAL WRITING FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

Section: 3 / 5

CRN: 50360 / 53871

Elbom, Emily / Bennett, Dennis

Students use an engineering communication textbook and engage with the course objectives and learning outcomes through engineering-specific activities and assignments. This approach serves two purposes. First, by focusing specifically on principles of effective engineering communication, the course builds proficiency in the kinds of communication practices you will be tasked with both in pro-school and in the engineering workplace. Second, your engagement with fundamental engineering concepts in each of the course assignments will both solidify and extend your repertoire of technical knowledge. In other words, participation in this course not only will help you become a better engineering communicator but will also lead to greater conceptual and technical fluency in your chosen field.

These are Engineering Communication sections and are open to engineering students only.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- is required in WR 121 and WR 121H or minimum score of 1 in ‘Exam for Waiver - WR 121’

Students with a term class standing of Freshman may not enroll

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

WR 327

TECHNICAL WRITING

See the Course Catalog for available sections

Technical writing is practical written communication for a specialized need and a specific audience, typically instructive and/or informative, which may or may not be about science or technology.  Nearly all workplaces require technical documents.  Some workplaces hire trained technical writers, but in most cases technical writing is just one of your duties, often not even on the job description. Technical writing requires a problem-solving process focused on user centered design for a specific audience, purpose, and context, which is why it is sometimes called Information Management.  Information must be procured, packaged, and presented in clean, attractive, error-free copy for a specific audience.  This class requires you to present information in various documents, with focus on the writing in your field.  Research (both primary and secondary) is required.  Conferences and peer review will help. OSU’s Writing Center located in Waldo with an annex in the Valley Library provides excellent assistance with writing projects.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- is required in WR 121 and WR 121H or minimum score of 1 in ‘Exam for Waiver - WR 121’.

Students with a term class standing of Freshman may not enroll

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

WR 362

SCIENCE WRITING

Section: 401

CRN: 59540

ECAMPUS

Perrault, Sarah

Students learn and practice the conventions for writing scientific material for a variety of audiences. Involves writing and research assignments, multimedia presentations, lecture, and in-class and online activities.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in WR 121 and WR 121H

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

WR 399

SPECIAL TOPICS: PUBLISHING PRACTICUM

Section: 1

CRN: 58812

2 credits

Larison, John

Attention Writers: Are you interested in learning more about the process and business of publishing? The Publishing Practicum is a two-credit course that will introduce you to the worlds of publishing, from placing short stories and magazine articles to landing book-deals. Students also learn about how to launch careers in editing, agenting, copywriting, freelance writing and more. This class meets once a week, on Fridays from 2:00-3:50.

For more information, contact John Larison at john.larison@oregonstate.edu.

WR 424

ADVANCED FICTION WRITING

Section: 1

CRN: 56716

Bhanoo, Sindya

We will look at several books of published short fiction, and workshop student work. Looking beyond standard craft topics, we will consider what it is that makes certain works of fiction powerful and deeply moving. We will consider too, what it is that is unique about fiction as a genre. What can fiction do that other genres cannot? How can we use this to our advantage when we write our own stories?

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of D- is required in WR 324

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

WR 435

SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL, AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

CAPSTONE 1

CRN: 55509

Pflugfelder, Ehren

This one-credit course is required for and limited to students enrolled in the certificate in Scientific, Technical, and Professional Communication and is designed to help students compose and design a portfolio of their existing work for future professional use. The course covers the purpose and goals in creating a portfolio, the selection and organization of materials, the formation of an editing and revision plan, the development of contextual summaries, the writing of an introductory letter, and the delivery of a finished portfolio project. The portfolio will showcase the work you have completed in the certificate program and assist you in representing those abilities to others. The course is five-weeks long, starting at the beginning of the term.

Enrollment is limited to students with a program in Scientific, Tech, & Prof Comm (C750).

Department Approval Required: SAPR

WR 440

ADVANCED CREATIVE NONFICTION

Section: 1

CRN: 59559

St Germain, Justin

We will focus on reading, writing, and understanding creative nonfiction: memoirs, personal essays, and everything in between. Students will gain experience writing and revising their own work, as well as participating in discussion and workshops of their peers’ writing, and reading examples of CNF from contemporary and classic writers.

WR 441

ADVANCED POETRY WRITING

Section: 1

CRN: 51893

Biespiel, David

Do you feel sometimes frustrated with your poetic progress? Feel you’ll never be able to write the poems you aspire to write? You’re not alone. Poets at every level of experience deal with getting part-ways through a poem and getting bogged down, knowing something’s wrong but can’t figure it out, or don’t dare break the poem for fear of losing the “good parts,” then end up just reworking it over and over, and ending up with an overworked poem that doesn’t arrive at something fresh for the poet. Obviously, this is frustrating. You end up thinking you don’t have enough creative imagination or knowledge for solving poems. And: that you’ll never get it either. In this course, we’re going to attempt to combat that frustration first, by accepting it, and second, by changing the way you practice writing and changing the ways you experience the world. What’s the secret? Alertness, gesture, and juxtapositions. This course won’t be about efficiency or effectiveness in writing poems. It’ll be about failure. Seeking and exploring failure. By daring to fail, you’ll learn to write poems differently, enjoy the feeling of making poems, and discover a new pleasure in writing.

Successful completion of WR 241 is a prerequisite for this course

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

WR 448

MAGAZINE ARTICLE WRITING

Section: 1

CRN: 59560

HYBRID

Griffin, Kristin

This course will guide you through the process of pitching, writing, and selling a magazine article. You'll read all kinds of magazine stories, from front-of-book listicles to investigative features, and learn all the skills you need to jumpstart a freelance writing practice. This is a practical nuts and bolts class, and so you can expect to be introduced to valuable resources, will have the opportunity to chat with active editors, and will share your work with peers during in-class workshops.

WR 462

ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING

Section: 1

CRN: 56057

WIC/Hybrid

Pflugfelder, Ehren

There are few issues as significant or overwhelming as the environmental problems that humanity faces. Has it always been this way, and how have we reacted to these concerns? Environmental Writing is a course that asks these questions and more. The course focuses on a range of writing and theory on the environment, examining scholars, concepts, documents, and methodologies that are central to the evolution of American environmental theory, while also touching on popular theorists who has explored specific issues in ecology, nature writing, wilderness, environmental communication, and the emergence of the anthropocene. Students will be able to recognize concepts in the history of environmental writing in America, as well as be able to articulate ongoing and currently unfolding debates in environmental topics in their own writing.

Successful completion of WR 121 is a prerequisite for this course

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing Intensive Courses (CWIC)