Course Syllabus
George_English 199 F Fall 2023.docx
English 199 F: Writing in Environmental Studies
Details
Time and location: M/W/F, 2:30-3:20, Savery 158
Instructor: Dr. Emily George
Email: ecg136@uw.edu (Note: please email me from your UW email address to help ensure that your email does not get filtered as spam. UW has an aggressive spam filter!)
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1-3 or by appointment (Office Hours are on Zoom unless otherwise arranged)
Office Hours Zoom Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/99625371204
Course Description
Welcome to English 199 F! In this composition class, we will practice writing within and about the discipline of environmental studies in different contexts. Our course is structured around the theme of how we shape, and how we are shaped by, our environments. We will approach this theme from many angles: personal geographies, cultural histories, small- and grand-scale environmental impacts, and human and non-human experience.
We will study and practice a variety of forms and genres of composition within environmental studies, taking an interdisciplinary approach that includes environmental science, user experience design, anthropology, history, geography, cultural studies, and museum studies. Throughout the quarter, we will pay careful attention to different forms and genres of composition within academic and public contexts. How do we best communicate complex, urgent ideas to different audiences, in both academic and public-facing work?
English 199 F is a composition course linked to ENVIR 100: Introduction to Environmental Studies. Although the two courses complement each other, they have distinct goals, activities, and assessments. Your grade in English 199 F is separate from your grade in ENVIR 100.
All readings for this class are available for free on Canvas.
Course Goals
In this course, you will:
- Practice composition as a process. You will approach composition, in its many forms, as a process of questioning, researching, discussing and developing your ideas, planning, drafting, getting feedback, revising, and reflecting. The purpose of this goal is twofold. First, while there is no way to become an expert in all forms of writing in the ten weeks of this course, this process-based approach will better prepare you to do new kinds of writing in different fields and contexts. Second, practicing this process means practicing ways of thinking that will be useful to you in any course and beyond academia: asking questions, using analysis, recognizing nuance, changing and developing your arguments as you learn more about a topic, and reflecting on your own assumptions.
- Utilize reading strategies to interpret, summarize, analyze, and synthesize texts. You will demonstrate critical reading strategies such as the ability to separate assertions from evidence, evaluate the accuracy and validity of a specific perspective or argument, recognize and evaluate underlying assumptions, read across texts for connections and patterns, and identify and evaluate chains of reasoning in texts.
- Practice good research and argument habits. You will develop lines of inquiry—genuine, complex questions you want to explore—to guide your research. You will also practice finding effective, flexible approaches to finding sources, and practice assessing the reliability and relevance of those sources. Finally, you will practice putting your sources into conversation (intertextuality) and synthesizing them in order to come to conclusions and form arguments that develop from what you have discovered through research and use appropriate citations to credit those sources. You will practice effective ways to begin researching a topic, learning how to persevere or adapt when you encounter difficulties or barriers in research, learning how to make judgments about whether and how to trust a source, and learning how to form arguments that emerge from discovery.
- Practice thinking about the context of what you read and write. You will study a variety of texts and consider things like the text’s purpose, its audience, and the constraints and affordances of its genre and mode. You will also practice considering the context of your own work: what is your purpose? Who is your audience? What genre and mode are you working in? What are the expectations of working in that genre/mode? How can you write most effectively for your purpose, to reach your audience? How might you take advantage of the genre and mode you’re working in? You will practice being adaptable—assessing a situation and deciding how you can communicate most effectively in that situation.
Course Materials
- Readings will be posted to the Canvas website
- Regular (daily) access to the Canvas website and to your UW email.
Grading
In this course, we are using a grade contract system so that grading is transparent and values your labor and learning. You can find the full grade contract on Canvas in the Week 1 module, and it is your first assigned reading of the quarter, followed by a quiz. If you ever have questions about the grade contract, or about your individual grade in the class, please let me know!
Class Expectations and Guidelines for Discussion
You will be working within small groups, peer review pairings, and the whole class throughout the quarter. Disagreement can be productive, and scholars in all fields depend on disagreement to strengthen their arguments, discover errors, and challenge their own thinking. You may find that some of the topics and discussions in this class will cause you discomfort. This is normal, expected, and, in fact, crucial to your learning. Engaging with complexity is a difficult labor, and difficult labor is often uncomfortable.
However, in order for conflict to be productive, it must be respectful. Personal attacks, disrespectful language, and disrespectful behavior have no place in the class, and will not be tolerated. If debates or discussions get intense or heated, remember that it is difficult to know the backgrounds, experiences, emotions, and beliefs of others in the room, and be sensitive to that. Be generous with others and try to assume good intentions. Keep your responses specific to the topic under discussion. You are expected to use language and action that shows respect for gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, and ability in order to create a safe and welcoming class.
Guidelines for Class and Small Group Discussion
- Listen carefully to others, and do not attempt to respond before they’ve finished what they have to say.
- When someone else is talking, try not to focus on how you disagree or the way you want to reply. Instead, focus completely on what they’re trying to communicate until they finish.
- Stay on topic and connect what you have to say with the readings and/or with what others have said.
- Write down your thoughts so you can return to them.
- Ask follow-up questions of others, and try to repeat your understanding of what they’ve said as part of that follow up.
- Speak up with a willingness to discover you're wrong.
- Try not to dominate conversations. Make sure everyone in your group is included, and invite others to speak.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism, or academic dishonesty, is presenting someone else's ideas or writing as your own. In your writing for this class, you are encouraged to refer to other people's thoughts and writing—as long as you cite them. As a matter of policy, any student found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will be immediately reported to the College of Arts and Sciences for review.
If you are confused or unsure about whether or not something you want to do would be considered plagiarism, please talk to me about it! I won’t penalize you for not knowing. Sometimes plagiarism is something obvious, like copying someone else’s essay, but sometimes it can get trickier, like incorrectly paraphrasing, forgetting to cite information/ideas and not just quotes, etc. Likewise, if you are feeling so much pressure or confusion that you’re thinking about plagiarizing, talk to me. Plagiarizing can have huge consequences for your grade and your academic future, and we can come up with a solution that’s better than taking that risk.
On the use of “Artificial Intelligence” and ChatGPT
Artificial intelligence is a subject with tons of branches, and sometimes, the results of AI research and projects are useful, creative, and ethically well-thought-out. However, this is not true in many instances. ChatGPT and other forms of “AI” have repeatedly been shown to provide you with misleading or outright false information; to unethically scrape the labor of creators (artists, writers, researchers, programmers, engineers, and other workers) and use it without compensation or permission; and even, on occasion, to “hallucinate,” providing nonsensical responses. All of these are important reasons for being wary of using AI for research, writing, or fact-checking. But in the case of this class, the most important thing to remember is that English 199 is a class designed to guide you through a particular process of thinking, making judgments, coming to conclusions, and revising your conclusions. A machine might be able to produce an essay that is coherent, follows “standard English grammar,” and addresses a given topic. It cannot, however, demonstrate how your ideas have changed over the course of reading and discussing a topic, or how your argument has been revised to accommodate new information, or how you have read and researched different sources and made your own judgments about their reliability, their usefulness, their connections to one another and to your own thinking. Therefore, because those are habits and skills we are focusing on in English 199, submitting work produced by AI instead of written by you is considered a form of academic dishonesty and falls under the plagiarism clause described above.
Keep in mind that since we are using a grade contract, no amount of plagiarizing—even if you are never caught—can get you a higher grade than turning in your own work would. But plagiarism can get you an automatic failing grade.
Religious Accommodations
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form: https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request.
Accommodations clause
If you need accommodation of any sort, please let me know so that I can work with the UW Disability Resources for Students Office (DRS) to provide what you require. This syllabus is available in large print, as are other class materials. More information about accommodation may be found at http://www.washington.edu/students/drs/.
English Departmental Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Justice
The UW English Department aims to help students become more incisive thinkers, effective communicators, and imaginative writers by acknowledging that language and its use are powerful and hold the potential to empower individuals and communities; to provide the means to engage in meaningful conversation and collaboration across differences and with those with whom we disagree; and to offer methods for exploring, understanding, problem solving, and responding to the many pressing collective issues we face in our world—skills that align with and support the University of Washington’s mission to educate “a diverse student body to become responsible global citizens and future leaders through a challenging learning environment informed by cutting-edge scholarship.”
As a department, we begin with the conviction that language and texts play crucial roles in the constitution of cultures and communities, past, present, and future. Our disciplinary commitments to the study of English (its history, multiplicity, and development; its literary and artistic uses; and its global role in shaping and changing cultures) require of us a willingness to engage openly and critically with questions of power and difference. As such, in our teaching, service, and scholarship we frequently initiate and encourage conversations about topics such as race and racism, immigration, gender, sexuality, class, indigeneity, and colonialisms. These topics are fundamental to the inquiry we pursue. We are proud of this fact, and we are committed to creating an environment in which our faculty and students can do so confidently and securely, knowing that they have the backing of the department. We acknowledge that to study and engage the English language is to grapple with its imperialist and colonialist history, its relationship to power and whiteness, its involvement in the spread of globalization and in perpetuating inequity, as well as its creative uses to imagine and bring into existence a better world.
Towards that aim, we value the inherent dignity and uniqueness of individuals and communities. We acknowledge that our university is located on the shared lands and waters of the Coast Salish peoples. We aspire to be a place where human rights are respected and where any of us can seek support. This includes people of all ethnicities, faiths, gender identities, national and indigenous origins, political views, and citizenship status; nontheists; LGBQTIA+; those with disabilities; veterans; and anyone who has been targeted, abused, or disenfranchised.
Complaints
If you have any concerns about the course or your instructor, please see the instructor about these concerns as soon as possible. If you are not comfortable talking with the instructor or not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact Megan Callow, Director of the Program for Writing Across Campus, at mcallow@uw.edu. If, after speaking with the Director, you are still not satisfied with the response you receive, you may contact English Department Chair, Anis Bawarshi; bawarshi@uw.edu, (206) 543-2690.
Canvas Tips
- Check our course Canvas page every day. Check your UW email every day.
- Set your notifications so that you get alerted whenever I leave you an assignment comment. You can find instructions for this here: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-manage-my-Canvas-notification-settings-as-a-student/ta-p/434
- You can change your name in Canvas by clicking on your profile picture at the top of the far-left menu in Canvas. Click “Edit Profile.” You will then be able to change your name and add your pronouns if you would like.
- You can change your profile picture/avatar in Canvas in the same place. When you’re editing your profile, hover over your picture and click the pencil icon. You can then upload a new picture.
- To send a message to a member of the class (including me), first click on your Canvas inbox in the far left menu. Then click the “compose a new message” button on the top right of the screen. Choose our course and then choose either “Teachers” (if you want to send a message to me) or “Students” (if you want to send a message to one or more students in our class). You will then be given the option to select specific recipients.
- Use Modules to navigate our course. The first module contains course information and resources. All of the other modules are organized by weeks. Always start with the “Overview” page for each week, which lists all reading, viewing, and writing assignments and includes an overview of the material we will cover that week.
English 199 F Fall 2023 Calendar
Our class is broken up into Weekly Modules, which consist of participation assignments, homework assignments, and essays. Modules are not all open at once, but will be opened at least two weeks in advance. This calendar is an overview of the focus of each module, not a complete list of assignments. Participation assignments will usually be assigned to complete during class. Always check Canvas modules for up-to-date assignments and deadlines.
Module 1: Welcome to the Class, Wednesday, Sept. 27-Sunday, Oct. 1
Monday: No class
Wednesday: First day of class
Participation: read the Syllabus and Grade Contract; complete the Syllabus and Grade Contract Quiz before Friday’s class.
Homework for over the weekend: Owen Oliver, Indigenous Walking Tour at the University of Washington & Discussion Board
Friday: Reading academic articles: a primer
Homework for over the weekend: Owen Oliver, Indigenous Walking Tour at the University of Washington & Discussion Board
Recommended: Read Ana Codjoe, “This Land Was Made”
Module 2: Anthropocene/Plantationocene, Monday, Oct. 2-Sunday, Oct. 8
Skills focus: strategic reading and annotation
Monday: Reading academic articles: a primer
Homework: read and annotate Simon L. Lewis & Mark A Maslin, “Defining the Anthropocene,” before Wednesday’s class
Wednesday: Genre assessment: academic articles
Homework: read and annotate Sophie Sapp Moore, Monique Allewaert, Pablo F. Gómez, and Gregg Mitman, “Plantation Legacies,” before Friday’s class
Friday: Genre assessment: public-facing scholarly essays
Recommended: check out The Land and the Refinery project
Homework: Discussion Clusters—Initiators
Module 3: Climate Change and Misinformation, Oct. 9-Sunday, Oct. 15
Skills focus: evaluating information
Monday: Evaluating online sources
Homework: read and annotate Harvey et al., “Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy” before Wednesday’s class
Wednesday: Genre assessment of an academic article—biology/policy/education
Homework: read and annotate Licker et al., “Tracing Fossil Fuel Companies’ Contribution to Climate Change and Ocean Acidification”
Recommended: check out Inside Climate News’s “Exxon: The Road Not Taken” nine-part series
Friday: Genre assessment: scientific advocacy essay
Homework: Discussion Clusters—Responders
FLEXIBLE ASSIGNMENT OPTION 1 CAN BE HANDED IN ON SUNDAY, OCT. 15
Module 4: Rubric Creation, Topic Selections, Conferences, Oct. 15-Sunday, Oct. 22
Skills focus: assessing and developing academic writing
Monday: Major Writing Assignment 1: Rubric Creation and Topic Brainstorms
Homework: complete topic brainstorms; prepare for conferences
Recommended: check out “Reviving traditional Coast Salish food knowledge” from the Burke Museum
Wednesday: Regular Class Meeting: Primary, popular, and scholarly sources: a primer
Friday: Conferences
Homework: Discussion Clusters—Initiators
FLEXIBLE ASSIGNMENT OPTION 2 CAN BE HANDED IN ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22
Module 5: Finding and Assessing Sources, Monday, Oct. 22-Sunday, Oct. 29
Skills focus: using UW library databases and synthesizing sources
Monday: Conferences
Homework: work on major writing assignment
Recommended: check out the Waterlines Project and the Thornton Creek Alliance
Wednesday: Asynchronous, online class: Database and Search Skills Library Module
Homework: complete 2 source assessments before Friday’s class time
Friday: Asynchronous, online class: Major Writing Assignment 1 outlines
Homework: work on Major Writing Assignment 1, due Monday before class (2 PM)
Module 6: The Birds and the Humans, Monday, Oct. 30-Sunday, Nov. 5
Skills focus: Analysis and reflection
Monday: Major Writing Assignment reflection; composition beyond academic writing
Homework: read and respond to Kaylene Kau, “Play as Diplomacy”
Watch “Become a Bird!”
Wednesday: Conferences and peer responses
UX Design and writing for public audiences
Homework: listen and respond to Lulu Miller, “The Seagulls”
Friday: The Seagulls discussion; podcasts
Homework: Discussion Clusters—Responders
FLEXIBLE ASSIGNMENT OPTION 3 CAN BE HANDED IN ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Module 7: Burke Museum Visit; Sound Projects, Monday, Nov. 6-Sunday, Nov. 12
Skills focus: developing lines of inquiry
Monday: Environmental Sound Art
HW: work on lines of inquiry brainstorms
Wednesday: Meet at Burke Museum for “We Are Puget Sound”
Homework: “We Are Puget Sound” Reflection
Friday: No class; Veterans Day
Homework: Final Discussion Clusters (EVERYONE); Lines of Inquiry
Recommended: Check out Anna-Sophie Springer and Etienne Turpin, “Vestiges of
125,660 Specimens of Natural History”
Module 8: Final Project Work, Monday, Nov. 13-Sunday, Nov. 19
Skills focus: finding and assessing sources, redux
Monday: Working with primary sources
Homework: find a primary source relating to your line of inquiry and complete a source assessment
Wednesday: Working with popular sources
Homework: find a popular source relating to your line of inquiry and complete a source assessment
Friday: Working with scholarly sources
Homework: Find a scholarly source related to your line of inquiry and complete a source assessment
FLEXIBLE ASSIGNMENT OPTION 4 CAN BE HANDED IN ON SUNDAY, NOV. 19
Module 9: Final Project Work, Monday, Nov. 20-Sunday, Nov. 26
Skills focus: developing your purpose through research findings; refining stakes
Monday: Turning research into action
Homework: prepare project pitches for Wednesday
Wednesday: Project Pitches
Homework: Work on full project proposals in preparation for Project Group Conferences
Friday: No class, Thanksgiving/Native American Heritage Day break
Module 10: Project Group Conferences, Monday, Nov. 27-Sunday, December 3
Skills focus: using feedback to refine and develop ideas
Monday: Project Group Conferences
Wednesday: Project Group Conferences
Friday: Project Group Conferences
Homework: Work on Final Project
Module 11: Final Project Work and Presentations, Monday, December 4-Friday, December 8
Skills focus: revision and discussion
Monday: Final project work/instructions for Friday
Wednesday: Final class discussion and reflections; course evaluations
Friday: Final Project Presentations
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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