Welcome to the MA in ENG – Writing Studies | ENG 5020: Writing Theory & Practice

Welcome to grad school!

I have had the pleasure of knowing some of you before the start of this Fall semester. I have worked with a few of you in some capacity before this moment. But for others, this is a truly fresh start and you are joining a new community from scratch. No matter the circumstance, in this foundation course you will discover a special chemistry. Together, you all make up a truly diverse and talented new cohort in our English Department’s MA in Writing Studies program. Writing Theory & Practice (ENG 5020) will serve as a foundation as you begin your graduate studies and you embark on your academic journey towards the MA degree. During this class, you will learn more about the field of Writing Studies, you will establish an academic foundation for your future coursework, you will consider what it means to be a writer in the 21st century.

One factor that often leads to a lack of energy in the traditional classroom is the way that learning might be perceived as a passive activity—a thing that happens to students. Sometimes it has been the case that what you may have learned (and how you learned it) has been decided entirely by someone else (without considering what you care about, or what you might have experienced). I hope this old paradigm will change from this moment onward. Part of the idea of an open class comes from giving you the opportunity to influence the course. As we build a foundation for Writing Theory & Practice and consider what it means to write in a globally interconnected world, I want to place value on the interests and ambitions that each of you brings to this course. What do you want to learn during our time together? What do you want to create? I invite you to reflect on these key questions throughout our shared time together this autumn season. There will be flexibility and choices along the way as you determine some of your own learning outcomes for this course. Through discussion and negotiation, we will identify shared-purpose and a mutually beneficial learning agenda, we will read and write (both individually and collaboratively), and we will embrace peer-to-peer cooperation and learning.

We will balance our time together – both traditionally with in-person classes on campus, a field trip or two to other divisions on campus, and some hybrid/online time together at certain points. All of this will support the independence most graduate students seek in their advanced degree experience.

I sincerely look forward to getting to know each of you some more. And I know that through our collaboration we will lay foundations of knowledge which will no doubt influence your future practice.