All students at the University of Tampa are required to take a two-course sequence in Academic Writing, usually in their first two years. These courses prepare students for a wide variety of writing situations they will encounter in future college course by emphasizing careful reading skills, evaluating sources and using the writing of others to construct one's own ideas. Courses in this sequence are taught by faculty members in the Department of English and Writing, but teach skills foundational to all college-level work.
Contact
Kyle McIntosh
Associate Professor and Director of Academic Writing
·¡³¾²¹¾±±ô:Ìýkmcintosh@ut.eduÌý
Phone: (813) 257-3017
Location: Department of English andÌýWriting, Plant Hall, Room 450AÌý
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Outcomes and Goals
AWR 101
- Course Description
- Learning Outcomes
- Course Goals
AWR 101Ìýis a critical reading, writing, and information literacy course that, in small classes of around 22 students, introduces students to the ways that the University of Tampa is linked to a broader network of global concerns and contexts. Students read a number of texts chosen by their instructor, and they analyze, discuss, and respond in writing to those texts as a means of evaluating elements of form and content. Equally important, they study the relation between texts and contexts that reveals students’ place in an increasingly globalized environment. Lastly, students learn how to properly find, evaluate, and ethically cite research sources through an academic library.
Assignment Sequence
Students will submit three major assignments in this course:
- Summary Paper:Ìýaccurately describing a difficult text in detail (3 pages).
- AnalysisÌý Paper:Ìýidentifying the significance of details in and making a claim about a text (4 pages).
- Synthesis Paper:Ìýmaking an original argument in relation to multiple texts (6 pages).
- Identify the elements that make up a text, including its audience, purpose, genre and context.
- Identify an argument and the strategies used to create it.
- Demonstrate the ability to analyze written, oral or visual forms of communication.
- Demonstrate that they can make decisions about content, form and diction relating to a given writing situation.
- Document sources in an appropriate bibliographic style
Goal 2: Students will demonstrate effective oral and written communication by analyzing issues within their local community and the world
- Objective 2.2 Students will write effective documents
- Objective 2.3 Students will demonstrate effective critical reading strategies
Goal 3: Students will evaluate information using appropriate analytical and technological tools to solve relevant problems within their local and global communities
- Objective 3.4 Students will analyze and evaluate complex issues through rhetoric, logic, and argument
Outcomes and Goals
AWR 201
- Course Description
- Course Themes
- Learning Outcomes
- Course Goals
AWR 201Ìýbuilds upon the skills and concepts learned in AWR 101 by inviting students to examine their relation to the community and the world. It teaches the conventions and expectations of academic research writing, guiding students through their own extended research project. The course teaches project discovery, annotation of source materials, processes of drafting and revision, delivery of a polished final product that adheres to the standards of citation style, and conversion of the essay into a clear oral presentation for an audience of peers.
Assignment Sequence
Students will submit three major assignments in this course, all in support of a single major research project:
- Bibliographic Essay:Ìýlocating, summarizing and making use of multiple sources.
- Final Research Paper:Ìýmaking an original argument in relation to multiple sources (8 pages).
- Oral Presentation:Ìýpresenting a research argument about multiple sources orally to an audience.
Cultural Studies
This section of AWR 201 explores customs, behaviors, norms, literary traditions and important historical events and figures across cultures to pursue a research project. Students will consider the interconnectedness between collective and individual identities and how society shapes our values and rhetoric. Some course options center around topics of food, Florida, philosophy and transcultural narratives.
Disciplinary Research
This section of AWR 201 focuses on research within a discipline or field selected by you, the student. The emphasis of the class will be on fostering curiosity in your research and thinking, pursuing multiple answers to your research question, understanding the research conventions of specific academic disciplines, and providing research methods and strategies that are applicable across multiple fields and majors.
Genre
This section of AWR 201 hones in on a key component of understanding rhetorical situations: genre. Each student will learn to navigate the given genre's conventions and constraints to expand the term's meaning as more than mere categorization, but rather as a tool for social response and change. Some areas of focus may include satire, dystopias, speculative fiction, poetry, personal essays and graphic novels.
Leadership
This section of AWR 201 explores leadership. We cast a wide net in addressing leadership by addressing concepts such as emotional intelligence and growth mindset. Students may undertake activities such as preparing a leadership TED.
Pop Culture and Media
This section of AWR 201 uses popular culture artifacts (e.g., films, television shows, music) as a jumping-off point for a research project, either as something to be researched or more broadly as inspiration for a research project of the student’s own devising. Different instructors use different texts; possibilities may include a historical look at cinema, documentaries, sitcoms, rap music or adaptations.
Race, Gender, Sexuality and Disability Studies
This section of AWR 201 employs either a race, gender, queer and/or disability lens to explore issues of marginalized and intersectional identities. For example, students will learn about histories of patriarchy, colonialism, war, migration, etc. to understand systemic oppression and hierarchiesÌýthat disenfranchise "othered" groups in the present moment. Some areas of focus may include social justice initiatives, LGBTQ+ narratives and Blackness alongside the occult.
Science, Technology and the Environment
This section of AWR 201 reflects on the intersections of scientific, technological, medical and environmental issues and how they impact society. With increasing anxieties about ecological crisis, AI and automation, students will use research to grapple with the relationships between humans, science/technology and nature. How do human intervention and innovation shape the future? Students may write about the impact of technology on society, science in history or politics, or popular culture texts such as films or TV.
Visual Rhetoric and Digital Forms
This section of AWR 201 will deepen students’ understanding of visual and digital rhetoric across mediums, modalities, and spaces. Building upon the concept of rhetorical situation and design strategies, students will shift focus toward internet culture and digital screens by adapting to new and accessible materialities.
- Recognize and appropriately define a research topic related to the local and the global.
- Identify, locate, and distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate academic sources.
- Document sources in an appropriate bibliographic style.
- Select and defend an extended research project.
- Communicate research in multiple modes, written, oral and multimedia
Goal 1: Students will become engaged, responsible citizens of their local community and the world
- Objective 1.1 Students will recognize the importance of their role within a diverse global community
Goal 2: Students will demonstrate effective oral and written communication by analyzing issues within their local community and the world
- Objective 2.1 Students will prepare and deliver effective oral presentations
- Objective 2.2 Students will write effective documents
- Objective 2.3 Students will demonstrate effective critical reading strategies
Goal 3: Students will evaluate information using appropriate analytical and technological tools to solve relevant problems within their local and global communities
- Objective 3.3 Students will employ appropriate technology to solve problems
- Objective 3.4 Students will analyze and evaluate complex issues through rhetoric, logic, and argument
