English 300/108: College Composition
Professor:
Fairuze Ahmed Ramirez
Online Liquid Syllabus
This is a fully online course.
CRC Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the land currently occupied by Cosumnes River College as the traditional home of the Miwok and Nisenan people. These sovereign people have been caretakers of the area since time immemorial. The state of California is home to more than 110 Federally Recognized Indian Tribes, representing the most diverse set of tribal nations anywhere in the United States. Despite centuries of genocide and occupation, the Miwok and Nisenan people continue as vibrant and resilient Federally recognized tribes, bands, and rancherias. The waters of the Sacramento, American, and Cosumnes Rivers have nourished Miwok and Nisenan tribal communities with cultural and dietary sustenance throughout time. "Cosumnes" of Cosumnes River derives from the Plains Miwok language. Stemming from the words "kosumu," meaning salmon and "umne," meaning the place of, it translates as "The Place of the Salmon." Recognizing their culture that is rich with spiritual ties to the land and waters that resonate with their traditions, we are humbled and take this opportunity to thank and honor those indigenous people of this area.
Welcome to English 300/108: College Composition!
Dear Scholars,
I aim to show you how we can collectively use language and communication to transform our lives. I believe language should be used to share human experiences, express human needs and it should be used to connect people from all walks of life.
My sustained efforts to foster equity and global citizenship will be demonstrated through my teaching practice, which is influenced by feminist perspectives and critical theorists of education whose teaching practices are rooted in social and human activism such as Paulo Freire, Louise Dunlap, belle hooks, and Norman Fairclough.
My teaching practice strives to look at language, culture, society, and education, critically. In addition to raising your consciousness of how to practice language and literacy for specific social contexts, we will also explore socio-political aspects of language, culture, image, and metacognition.
For instance, we will collectively explore, how culture, texts, and image shape our beliefs, and perceptions about people, language, and society. And our exploration into this question will allow us to create new meanings with language and spaces—that is, how can we learn to reinhabit our society while fostering spaces of inclusion? I will use my classroom as a brave place to explore this question with you to uncover the many ways language and power are exercised in media, image, public discourse, education, and government policy.
Together we will engage in critical self-reflection and collaboration, negotiating input and output of ideas and life experiences to foster mutual engagement of interest and reciprocity between one another.
Ultimately, my hope is that by the end of the semester, you will become a source of power for yourself because you will have witnessed the power of your own intellectual abilities and personal growth. I want you to bear witness to how your education can be a source of power for you and your future as I have witnessed in my own life the value and benefits of higher education.
Please take a moment to watch my welcome video to set up your expectations for this course.
I look forward to learning more about you and witnessing your academic literacy growth.
Sincerely,
Fairuze Ahmed Ramirez
How does this course work?
In our Canvas course shell, there are a total of 16 weeks and each week there will be tasks for you to engage in and each task provides you with an optimal learning opportunity to progress towards completing your Google Sites Eportolfio where you will showcase your intellectual labored reading, writing, and researching practices.
While some courses are self-paced, this course follows a weekly schedule and is facilitated by -- me! Each week you'll interact with your peers in weekly discussions, and complete a series of activities and assignments.
The weekly schedule allows us to learn from one another, and it keeps everyone on a path towards achieving our course learning goals. The course is designed to take about 3-5 hours per week. You will work at your own pace; however, there are scheduled due dates within each unit module that you will be expected to meet.
All major projects in this class will be assembled into a Google Sites Eportfolio showcasing your reading and writing process and revised written products. For instance, the Google Sites Eportfolio will include workshop drafts which you will submit for peer review. After you have revised your written work based on peer review, you will turn in that developing piece to your teacher, who will provide you with extra feedback on your composing process.
All revised and processed major projects will be curated into your course Google Sites E-portfolio to demonstrate your learning; therefore, we will spend the entire semester composing and curating the Google Sites Eportfolio. Attached to each major project will be a self-assessment cover letter reflection that describes your reading, writing, and researching processes.
Your participation is an important part of the success of this course- at the same time, I understand that all of you are still learning to manage your time in college as you juggle school, work, and family life; therefore, I highly encourage you to get in the habit of advocating and communicating your personal and academic needs. If you are feeling overwhelmed about a deadline that may overlap with another deadline in your other classes, or a family emergency arises, I highly encourage you to reach out to me-we'll work together to make a path to success. For more info regarding communication and deadlines please see the policies tab.
My PREFERRED METHOD
My preferred communication method is the Canvas Conversations tool (from our course, select 'Inbox' in the Global Navigation menu).
Alternatively, you may email me directly at:
OR
If you contact me Monday-Friday, I will respond within 24 hours.
ASK in the Q&A
The Q&A discussion forum in our class is a great place for general course-related questions. Your peers might even answer you there! If your question is personal in nature, please send it directly to me through the Canvas inbox.
What is appropriate for the Q&A? Questions pertaining to the course (where do I find that, can you provide more info about this topic, something isn't working properly, etc.)
What is not appropriate for the Q&A? Questions pertaining to your personal situation (keeping me informed about your needs, extension requests, etc.). These questions should be sent to me directly using the Canvas inbox.
