Writing for the Public Good

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course will engage students in the art and craft of writing for the public. Students will closely analyze works of creative nonfiction (personal essay, memoir, op-eds, columns, and long-form narrative journalism) by scholars and public intellectuals from across the Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM fields that were written not for scholarly, peer-reviewed journals, but for blogs, online newsletters, and general audience magazines. Textual analysis will be undertaken with an eye toward the structural, stylistic, and rhetorical decisions made by the writers, in order for students to expand their own understanding of what is creatively possible for them as scholars and writers, and what is possible when it comes to the real-world impact of scholarly research. Course readings will be treated as literary texts whose intent is to educate, elucidate, and raise awareness in the general public (i.e. those outside of the discipline-specific discourse communities scholars tend to inhabit) about issues that the general reader might not have access to or feel intimidated by. Analysis of the readings will in turn provide models and motivation for students to write their own works of nonfiction connecting their scholarly interests to public concerns.