Class Overview 

This course is the second of two capstone senior project classes for all English majors. It provides students the opportunity to put experiential learning into practice by giving guidance and opportunity to create a substantial scholarly or creative work appropriate to their subfield of study: Literature, Professional Writing, Folklife/Southern Culture, Film Studies, or Creative Writing.  

By the end of ENGL 4810, students will have initiated, composed, developed, revised in response to feedback, and publicly presented an extended project that demonstrates creative thinking, innovation, and critical inquiry using sophisticated writing or production skills suitable to their concentration’s style and standard output.

Course Policies

Basic Needs Statement

Any student who faces challenges securing their food or housing and believes this may affect their performance in the course is urged to contact the Dean of Students, Reatha Cox, for support at coxr@nsula.edu. Furthermore, please notify me if you are comfortable doing so. This will enable me to provide any resources that I may possess.

Attendance and Lateness

This course will take place once a week in person. Please make every effort to be on time for class. I understand that sometimes life prevents you from being here. If you have to miss more than two classes, please email me or book an appointment to talk so that we can make a plan for you to stay on top of the coursework. 

Late Work and Incompletes

You are expected to complete all work on time. All assignments are due by 11:59 PM CT, unless otherwise specified. Late work and Incompletes will be discussed between us on a case-by-case basis.

Assignments

Participation

The bulk of your grade in this class will be based on participation. This largely means being present and actively working on your project during class time. We may also have discussions of shared problems and challenges.

Bi-Weekly Progress Checks

Every other week you will submit whatever you have so far via Moodle. When I grade these submissions, I will be looking for evidence of your work and your progress. I will not be giving editorial feedback.

Workshop

We will workshop part of each person's work once during the semester. Workshop participation means both having your draft ready to go for your session, and having comments prepared for your fellow students.

Preliminary Draft

You will submit a preliminary draft of your final project to me via Moodle. I will give feedback on this draft so that you may refine your project for its final submission.

Public Presentation

As part of the QEP program, every student is required to publicly present their work. We will discuss as a class options for presenting and how best to fulfill this requirement.

Final Draft

After receiving feedback on your preliminary draft, you will have time to consult with me and revise prior to submitting the final draft of your project.

Reflection Essay 

Each of you will compose a short essay (3-5 pages) detailing your experiences working on your final project over the course of this year. You should discuss (at minimum) what you've learned about your working habits, what skills you feel like you've improved on, how you feel about the final version of your project, and how your project reflects on your experiences as an English major.