English 118 - COLQ: THE DOCUMENTARY IMPULSE

Fall
2013
10
4.00
Luke Bloomfield

TTh 01:10-02:30

Smith College
20217-F13
HILLYR 103
lbloomfield@smith.edu
In sections limited to 15 students each, this course primarily provides systematic instruction and practice in reading and writing academic prose, with emphasis on argumentation. The course also provides instruction and practice in conducting research and in public speaking. Bilingual students and non-native speakers are especially encouraged to register for sections taught by Holly Davis. Priority will be given to incoming students in the fall-semester sections. Course may be repeated for credit with another instructor. We rely on dominant media culture to formulate objective representations of our social reality. Yet surely the
truths we learn from newspaper, magazines, radio, and television journalism are not all the truths, nor is the
traditional way information gets presented always the most representative of the story being told. In this class,
students will respond to alternative modes and structures of documentary writing, investigate the range of
subjects oftentimes overlooked by conventional journalism, and explore the creative possibilities of expressing
the world around us in their own writing. Can be repeated for credit with a different topic. Enrollment limited to
15. (E)
Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.