In order to earn a minor in Writing Practices at the University of Denver I completed the following writing and communication classes. Each course title is accompanied by the official course description.

Rhetoric and Academic Writing - Winter 2016

Almost every aspect of our lives is shaped by a culture of evaluation: book and movie reviews, Yelp ratings, employee evaluations, Twitter live reports, YouTube episode recaps, blog commentary, grades … This section of WRIT 1122 will analyze the rhetoric of a wide range of such texts: who writes them and for whom? How do medium and genre affect the nature of the text? We will compose various types of reviews and revise them by examining our own rhetorical situations. so doing, we will seek to cultivate an awareness of our own creative process, which can then be re-tooled for future writing projects, in college and beyond.

Landmarks in Rhetorical Theory - Fall 2017

This course explores a variety of theories of rhetoric; starting with those developed by Plato and Aristotle in ancient Greece and focusing predominately on contemporary perspectives developed during the 20^th century. The goal of this course is to think critically about rhetoric and its pervasive impact on society and culture. Questions that will be explored in the class include the following: What is truth? What is fact? What is fiction? Does truth actually exist or is everything in the world a product of persuasion? What does it mean to live a good and moral life in world wrought with paradox and contradiction? What is social justice and do we create a socially just society? How does rhetoric produce and organize our social, cultural, political, and economic lives?

Included in this portfolio: Theory Piece

Writing and Research - Spring 2017

Writing and Research is the second course in DU’s First-Year Writing sequence. This course is designed to teach you research, writing, and rhetorical strategies that can be useful in a wide range of situations—in and beyond academics. In this course, we will research and write about some of the most important issues facing the different discourse communities we are a part of today. We will explore and critique multiple research methodologies, and consider what constitutes “proof” in a variety of intellectual disciplines.

Memoir and Personal Writing - Spring 2018

In learning to write memoirs and personal essays, a writer is learning how to analyze memory, select experiences, invent narratives – all while still being “truthful.” Memoirists and essayists also learn the value of inquiry and research, even when the focus of the author’s experience and voice. You’ll distinguish memoir from other forms of writing about the self, including autobiography, diaries and journals, blogs, and letters. You’ll read excerpts of published memoirs and drafts of memoirs that other students write during the course, with a particular interest in how these writers shape and represent their experiences textually: how do people construct the stories they tell about their lives? What is the value of personal writing for writers and readers? And perhaps most importantly, how can we begin to create stories of experiences in compelling ways? Students will complete multiple writing projects, including a couple polished short memoirs or personal essays. The primary focus of this course will be the writing that students do in the course.

Included in this portfolio: Applied Piece

WRIT 2701 - Writing and Digital Media - Winter 2019

Our topic for this section of WRIT 2701 will be Writing and Digital Media. Assignments for the course will include reading responses, social media posts, blog posts on a shared course blog, and a final collaborative grant writing project. The course will also host weekly guest speakers who will share their expertise about specific academic, professional, political, and hobbyist uses of digital media writing. A fuller understanding of writing and the design and circulation of digital media texts will allow you to use digital media writing with greater rhetorical awareness in your academic careers, professional spaces, and extracurricular contexts.

Theories of Writing - Fall 2020

This course introduces a number of theories of writing, providing an overview of complex issues and research into the state and status of writing and writers. It takes up such questions as these: What is writing? Where did it come from? How did it develop – and did it do so the same or differently in other cultures? How do writers develop – and what accounts for differences? What are different types of writing, different situations for writing, different tools and practices – and how do these interconnect? What does it mean to study writing? How have major figures theorized writing, and what tensions emerge among their theories? What are relationships among thought, speech, and writing – and among imagine, film/video, and sound? How do such theories change our notions of what texts are and what texts do? Students will learn how various theorists, historians, and researchers answer these questions, and they will apply that knowledge to their own projects.

Included in this portfolio: WRIT 2000 Piece

Writing Design and Circulation - Winter 2020

The primary goal of this capstone course for the Minor in Writing Practices is to create and present a professional electronic/web-based portfolio synthesizing university writing experiences. The portfolio showcases and offers reflective insight into a student’s writings, demonstrating the writer’s ability to navigate diverse rhetorical situations. Students will learn theories and practices for selecting, arranging, and circulating/publishing written work, culminating in a required portfolio that synthesizes their university writing experiences. In addition to practicing principles of editing and design, students will produce a substantive revision of a previous piece of their own writing and compose a theory of writing that synthesizes analyses of their practices with published scholarship and research. The course covers design considerations and strategies and offers studio time for peer and instructor feedback. It culminates with a public showcase.