The Same But Different: Theming First-Year Writing Courses to Build (Rhetorical) Programmatic Consistency

Abstract

In 2017, the FYC teaching cohort at UHWO researched national best practices and examples of two-semester composition course sequences and collaboratively decided to adopt a themed CORE model (Curricular Outcomes-Based Rhetorical Explorations): all sections of ENG 200 at UHWO now have their own unique theme but share an aligned project sequence based on a remix of Stuart Selber's model of multiiteracies. In their first projects, students are functional users or consumers making personal connections to the course's theme/topic in an array of forms (personal narratives, creative pieces, analyses, multimodal pieces, etc.). In their second projects, students are critical analyzers creating formal, academic research papers that require them to critically investigate, analyze, and make an argument about concepts/topics encompassed within the course's theme. Finally, in their third projects students are framed as rhetorical producers composing their own unique messages about the course's theme and creating (multimodal) texts that communicate those messages. This roundtable will discuss the historical context/exigence for this programmatic transition; the major tenets of UWHO's CORE model; and examples of different course themes and their assignment sequences.