GHD Sem in Public Writ in Dev

1.5 Credits · Level: Graduate

This seminar focuses on developing students’ writing skills for external audiences. The course will be modelled on the "Calderwood Seminars" at Wellesley College, which have become among the most popular courses in many departments at the school. This course emphasizes public writing—writing that appeals to a general readership rather than to an audience of specialists. As a result, it will follow a pedagogical model different from that of most other courses. Instead of being organized around reading lists, chapters in a textbook or sequential topics, the seminar will be organized around discrete assignments. In a 1.5 credit course, each student will complete about 3 such assignments. Depending on the class interests, these may include blog posts or short essays on articles found in professional journals or in public reports; coverage of public lectures; book reviews; Op-eds; interviews and profiles of professionals; text boxes that might appear in an undergraduate textbook; and mock proposals for grants. Students complete each assignment once as a writer and once as an editor. Each writer’s 1st draft is workshopped in class; the final draft, reflecting the comments of the entire seminar, is generally due one week after class discussion.