Fall 2024 Writing 101 Courses

Writing 101s Connected to the What Now? Network of

First-Year Seminars:

The rst grouping of Writing 101 courses are part of the What Now? network of rst-year

seminars. What Now? courses contain a shared “wellness lab,” oering opportunities to

engage with faculty and students in other participating seminars. Register for this .5-credit

component of the program by adding Ethics 189 to your schedule. Scroll down for a full listing

of Fall 2023 Writing 101 oerings.

WRITING 101.09-10

TAYLOR’S VERSION

Instructor: Lisa Andres

TUTH 10:05AM - 11:20AM- TUTH 11:45AM - 1:00PM

Dear Reader…

When it comes to Oscar nominations, there are always snubs and surprises. But this year, the

biggest talking point came from the fact that while Ryan Gosling was nominated for his role as

Ken (well deserved) in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film, neither the director nor Barbie herself,

Margot Robbie, received nominations. Maybe we could overlook this…that is, if the film hadn’t

been nominated for Best Picture, which seems to imply, at best, that a film which grossed over a

billion dollars at the box office ($1.4, to be exact), directed itself.

But what does this have to do with Taylor Swift? Moments like this in pop culture, far from

being innocuous and irrelevant, serve as a cultural mirrorball, reflecting back and magnifying our

own struggles navigating what the world expects of us. This course, then, proposes to examine

some of those struggles through the lens of Taylor Swift. Over the semester, we’ll move through

The Eras, applying Stuart Hall’s theories of “encoding” and “decoding,” and examining Swift’s

discography through various intertextual lenses (narrative, lyrics, cultural). We will also seek to

trace thematic developments and evolving life lessons in her songs, as well as the media

narratives which surround her and her Reputation. Finally, we’ll look at pieces of the Miss

Americana documentary where Time’s 2023 Person of the Year poses the same question we’re

asking of you: What now?

We'll explore the answers all too well through (1) weekly readings and album streamings; (2)

seminar discussions which will be led by you & your peers in small groups; (3) a series of low-

stakes writing assignments designed to complexify what you know about the writing process &

practice essential skills including a lyrical analysis and a literature review; and (4) the

development of a capstone podcast project, which will ask you to work in small groups to

synthesize arguments into a cohesive & coherent conversation.

…[are you] Ready For It?

This course is best suited for those who are interested in the intersection of media studies with

critical analyses of race, gender, sexuality and identity. Do not be fooled by appearances: this

course is not just listening to Taylor Swift songs. You will be expected to critically engage with

the texts, visual, auditory, and written. Prior knowledge of Taylor Swift is not required; all levels

of Swifties are welcome.

No textbook will be required; you will be asked to stream albums via Spotify.

*Part of the What Now Network for first-year students.

WRITING 101.12-13

BIOPHILIC CITIES

Instructor: Lindsey Smith

TUTH 11:45AM-1:00PM-1:25PM - 2:40PM

In the 1980s, biologist E.O. Wilson popularized the concept of “biophilia,” that humans

have an innate desire to connect with the living world. Yet, 60% of the global population now lives

in urban areas, and a recent Pew survey found that 31% of U.S. adults report being online “almost

constantly.” Humans are increasingly disconnected from our biophilic nature, and that shift is

impacting our health and well-being. Rates of anxiety and depression are on the rise, particularly

among urbanites. Doctors are now prescribing a daily dose of nature to treat high blood pressure

and anxiety, and people are turning to the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing,”

to de-stress and recharge. The concept of biophilia has also extended to urban planning as

initiatives like rooftop gardens, bird-friendly building design, and green beltways seek to reconnect

humans with nature and increase biodiversity in cities.

In this course, we will use seminar-based discussions, research, and writing projects to

examine nature’s health and wellness benefits and explore what it takes to design thriving biophilic

cities. Our course materials will come from environmental science, urban planning, psychology,

and conservation journals, popular magazines and books, and documentaries. In your final project,

you will work collaboratively to propose an initiative that seeks to integrate nature into an urban

space of your choosing. Throughout the semester, you will also take part in a fundamental element

of academic writing: reading each other’s work and providing feedback for revisions. And, of

course, we will get our dose of nature by holding class outside as much as possible, including

taking several class visits to the Duke Gardens.

WRITING 101.21

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

Instructor: Rhiannon Scharnhorst

MW 11:45AM - 1:00PM

We Are What We Eat

Mark Menjivar’s photo essay “You Are What You Eat” (Gastronomica, Fall 2012) is a

collection of twelve photographs depicting the inside of various refrigerators. Accompanying

each photograph is a short, two-sentence biography of the household, a nod to Jean Anthelme

Brillat-Savarin's famous quip, "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are." Food—

and by extension cooking, ingredients, and personal eating preference—are all shaped by an

individual's history and culture. In this course, we will use food as our lens to explore how

personal identity gets expressed and shaped by one's food history. How might our own food

stories shape our understanding not just of ourselves, but of others and even our entire planet?

Our exploration through the multidisciplinary field of food studies, which includes scholarship

from disciplines like anthropology, history, literature, and environmental science, will push us to

consider how food—symbolically and rhetorically—defines who we are (or who we are not).

To accomplish our work, we will read diverse selections from a variety of popular food experts.

In seminar discussions, we will focus on their use of personal voice and their research practices

to guide us through two semester-long projects. The first will consist of regular contributions to a

class writing project which will necessitate practice in writing, editing, and revising. The skills

and knowledge you learn through this process of co-creating the text will feed into our second

major project of the course, an individual narrative essay that draws upon field research to

analyze a personal food history. Finally, we will close our course by compiling a community

class cookbook to share with the larger Duke Community.

Throughout the semester, we will have deeply considered the work of others, including our

peers, as well as learned how to conduct primary research, revise our writing, and shape work for

specific contexts.

Sample syllabus from Fall 2022 available here

WRITING 101.28-29

COMING OF AGE & HAPPINESS

Instructor: Sheryl Welte

WF 1:25PM - 2:40PM- WF 3:05PM - 4:20PM

College is one of the many turning points in your coming of age. It is a time when you separate

from your family of origin, and thus are in a unique position to be able to reflect on your identity.

The questions - “Who am I?”, “Who do I want to be?”, & “What do I want?” – are often daily

challenges as you navigate being more independent and living a good life. Together, we will

explore your personal and academic identity development, especially in relation to your

happiness. In particular, we will reflect on emerging adulthood & student development theories,

as well as scientific research on happiness, to help us understand how various factors - such as

socioeconomics, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, and culture - shape the development

of your authentic self.

By using a variety of texts, videos, observations and interviews about coming of age and

happiness, we will engage with the work of others, learn to articulate a position, and situate our

writing within specific contexts. To begin, we will read, discuss, and write about our classroom

treaty and student learning and other identity profiles using both our personal experiences and

existing theories on coming of age and happiness (2-3 pages). Informed by these theories, we

will engage in case study research, which involves in-depth descriptive and analytical writing.

The final project will be an exploration in the form of an in-depth personal narrative & analysis

of some issue(s) significant to your coming of age and happiness (10-12 pages). The topic, and

the related additional readings, will be carefully chosen by you so that each personal narrative

will be relevant & meaningful as you continue your coming of age journey at Duke. Throughout

the course, we will write self and peer evaluations (2 pages) of our academic writing, and thus

collaboratively strengthen our ability to improve our works in progress.

If you are interested in and willing to learn about yourself & others through personal writing,

discussions, readings, along with some yoga & mindfulness, then this Wr101 class might be a

great opportunity for you.

WRITING 101.30 & 101.49

AFRICAN AMERICAN POETICS

Instructor: Crystal Smith

WF 11:45AM - 1:00PM- WF 8:30AM - 9:45AM

All the Songs We Sing: An Exploration of African American Poetry & Song

Black Arts Movement founder, Amiri Baraka, remarked, Thought is more important than art. To

revere art and have no understanding of the process that forces it into existence, is finally not

even to understand what art is.

Through the concepts and ideas of African American poets, this course offers a multidisciplinary

perspective on the different ways poetry and song shape our thinking about race. Black poets

have long traditions of amplifying their voices during historical resistances and inspiring

humanity through the power of language. One crucial facet of this aesthetic exploration is the

confluence of oral traditions like folk, spirituals, blues, and rap with contemporary black poetic

production. Approaching both song and literature as diverse and parallel concepts, the primary

focus of this course will be to examine the historical implications as well as the social, political,

and economic impacts of black art and poetics.

We will hold close readings of works by black poets to explore various meanings of these works

in both scholarly and creative ways. Required course assignments will consist of poetic analyses

and reflective writing. Further, we will examine the works of major figures in black songwriting

as diverse as Marvin Gaye and Tracy Chapman. Students will produce two major writing

projects, a critical analysis that considers the agency of black voices as reflections of the social

status and conditions of African American people and a research paper that examines the

versatility of voice as communication, cultural exchange, and social change. The final

assignment will include one creative project reflective of our inquiries. Prepare to engage in

scholarly discussions and critique.

WRITING 101.33-34

NEUROSCIENCE & SOCIETY

Instructor: Emily Parks

TUTH 10:05AM - 11:20AM- TUTH 11:45AM - 1:00PM

Can brain scans identify a "criminal mind?" Do we have free will, or can we blame the brain for

our moral shortcomings?

Can we harness brain power to build a happier, healthier self? Are humans wired for social

connection?

Will artificial intelligence unlock the secrets of the brain?

This course will introduce you to the goals and practices of academic writing as we evaluate how

neuroscience can inform ethical, legal, and medical questions of our time. We will reflect on

themes both ancient and modern: How can neuroscience inform our understanding of our own

minds? And how can that understanding, fueled by cutting-edge advances in brain imaging,

impact our modern society? Along the way, we explore scientific inquiry – the process by which

scientists work together to build and communicate ideas. You will experience this process first-

hand, taking on several roles along the way – the scholar learning to respond to scientific texts,

the ambassador deciphering complex research for a public audience, and the researcher working

in collaboration with other scientists (your classmates!).

Across the semester, you will write two major projects: a scholarly perspective piece (4 pages)

and a scientific literature review (~12 pages), both of which will synthesize neuroscientific

research to address a societal problem of your choice (e.g., racial bias, disease treatment, juvenile

sentencing, drug addiction). For the latter project, you will work on a team of 2-3 students, co-

writing the literature review.

This course is ideally suited for students interested in neuroscience, psychology, biology, or the

law. The course is built on three principles. First, writing is a vehicle for critical thinking. It is

the tool by which you will bridge the classroom and the real world. Second, good writing

depends on revision. Thus, you will have many opportunities to practice giving and receiving

meaningful feedback amongst your peers. Third, scientific innovation requires collaboration. By

joining this Writing 101, you agree to be a contributing member of a team.

WRITING 101.36

SPORTS AND THE WRITTEN WORD

Instructor: James Holaday

WF 1:25PM - 2:40PM

For well over one hundred years, sports have played an important role in American (and world)

culture. And as long as there have been sports, people have written about them. From game

reports in newspapers to biographies to autobiographies to predictions for the future to pure

fiction, writings related to sports run the gamut. They often cross the line from journalism to

literature or even poetry.

In this class we will examine how writing about sports has changed over time before students

embark upon several sports-related writing projects of their own. First, students will produce a

memoir-type paper on their experiences with sports. Athlete or fan, success or failure, funny or

sad–everyone has a story!

Secondly, students will produce a paper on an element of sports history. Sports have helped

shape society (think Jackie Robinson’s integration of baseball) or been shaped by them (think

performance enhancing drugs or Olympic boycotts). For this paper, students will go beyond the

obvious and do some research to examine a bit of sporting history.

A large part of writing about sports involves telling stories about others, often using the words of

those people. The next project will consist of interviewing a sports personality. To do this

successfully, students will do any necessary research so that relevant questions can be asked of

their subjects.

Finally, students will get in touch with their creativity. They will craft a short story that is limited

only by imagination. The only requirement is that the story has to include some sporting element.

WRITING 101.52

RACE, SCI-FI, & THE HUMAN

Instructor: Sarah Ishmael

MW 3:05PM-4:20PM

The historical trajectory off Science fiction stories in various media formats is rife with tales and

figures that mirror and challenge the bounds of contemporary and ancient philosophical

definitions of humanity – especially within African American and Black communities.

Moreover, the creation and dissemination of these critical imaginaries in media are linked to

particular histories and theories of what it means to be human. Science fiction in these

communities have a history of creating narratives and imaginaries that specifically counter

hegemonic depictions of humanity and challenge the types of beings/people get excluded from

such depictions.

In this way, science fiction stories from these communities can be understood as educational, as

"hidden" curricula -- discourses that embody sets of norms and values about humanity, race,

gender, class, and authority that "unteach" and serve as critical sites for young people to question

how they understand themselves and their own identities. They provide narratives through which

people come to question the way that they have been classified through other societal structures

including educational framework, judicial systems and economic institutions. They offer spaces

to resist dominant, damaging representations and conceptualize new ones.

In this course, we will engage with various contemporary media formats that engage science

fiction and race (comic books, digital comics, graphic novels, movies, and television shows). A

key purpose of the course is to learn how to investigate the ways these media participate in

creating "hidden curricula" that emphasize differing philosophies and understandings of what it

means to be a human being. Our course texts will include published academic articles, websites

and videos that offer examples of methods/data for researching language use.

We will explore the following questions: how do different science fiction shows/movies like Star

Trek, Star Wars, Naomi, See, and The Orville, as well as Afrofuturistic comics like World of

Wakanda, and early science fiction stories from the African American and Black communities

challenge mainstream assumptions about the desired characteristics of human beings? What

concepts of difference and sameness differentiate people from each other, and how do these

concepts reflect, complicate and shape notions of race in the United States or differ from them

entirely?

To respond to these questions, we will read, watch, listen to, and analyze a variety of media. In

addition, we will produce our own texts such as personal reflections and academic essays.

Students will learn to research, workshop, revise and edit their own ideas in form and content. In

addition, they will learn how to analyze and develop their own arguments from various points of

view, articulate and support their positions with research in a variety of forms, respond critically

and ethically to other people's ideas, adapt their writing for a variety of audiences, purposes, and

contexts, and develop prose that is thoughtful, organized, precise in diction, and structured.

Perhaps unlike other courses you’ve taken, our course texts will also include the writing you and

your peers will produce in response to these published texts. That is, some classes will involve

peer review and others will revolve around discussions of anonymous samples of your writing.

As we look at the writing you and your peers have done, we won’t be examining it to see what is

“good” or “bad” about it. Rather, we’ll examine it to hone our sense of how readers might

respond to our writing and to learn writing moves from each other.

We’ll start the semester experimenting with and reflecting on strategies for reading challenging

texts. As we read these texts, we’ll also analyze them for writing techniques (for anticipating

readers’ expectations and concerns, representing work with sources, defining and contextualizing

key terms, summarizing texts, and taking a position in relation to others).

In addition to regular weekly writing assignments, the course will involve two major writing

projects, both of which will be reviewed by your peers and me.

This course is part of the What Now? network of first-year seminars.

WRITING 101.01

WOMEN, LEADERSHIP, PURPOSE

Instructor: Jennifer Ahern-Dodson

TUTH 10:05AM - 11:20AM

What does it mean to be a woman leader? How have women leaders navigated the course of their

lives and careers? How might their stories and strategies inspire you to reflect on your own?

Our course will study the ways that women have told their stories about their lives, leadership,

and careers in a range of contexts. In the first half of the semester, we will read selections from

Robin Romm’s edited collection Double Bind: Women on Ambition as well as selections from

writings by Sonya Renee Taylor, Janet Mock, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil. We will delve into

the ways that women have told their stories about their lives and their careers through informal

written responses to the readings and 3 short essays that explore a key course concept related to

women’s leadership: ambition, health and well-being, and “trailblazing.”

In the second half of the semester, each of you will pursue an individual project that helps you

consider your own intentional next steps at Duke that reflect your commitments to what you care

about. You will identify something important to you that relates to your future plans, goals, or

aspirations. You will develop and explore a central research question about it, learn about it, and

resource yourself as you make it a part of your future. Project culminates in a research talk and

essay.

WRITING 101.02 & 101.08

VOICES ACROSS BORDERS

Instructor: Yan Li

TUTH 1:25PM - 2:40PM- TUTH 3:05PM - 4:20PM

Voices Across Borders – Writing for a Global Audience

What’s your understanding of voice? This course prepares students to write for culturally and

linguistically diverse audiences for various purposes. By investigating the similarities and

differences among rhetorical traditions—especially Eastern and Western traditions—and by

reading texts that manifest these traditions, students will learn how experienced writers

navigate different rhetorical traditions as they develop ability to write compelling narratives for

global audiences but also develop the capacity to approach contentious topics with a nuanced

understanding, embracing the richness of multiple perspectives over dichotomies.

During the semester, students will engage in four significant writing projects, each tailored to

enhance their understanding and proficiency in writing for global audiences:

1. Reflective Narrative - My Voice Story (~1500 words)

2. Literature Review (~1000 words)

3. Collaborative Research-Based Intercultural Argument (~ 2500 words)

4. Collaborative Multimodal Presentation (~5 minutes)

Through collaborative learning, students will engage in the rhetorical dynamics of both non-

Western and Western traditions, refining primary and secondary research skills, analyzing

audience expectations, and exploring how voices vary across diverse contexts and cultures.

Additionally, we will explore audio and visual modes of communication to effectively convey

our writing to a global audience. Substantial reflective writing exercises will further deepen our

understanding of adapting writing strategies to resonate with various global audiences we

encounter.

Discussion posts and several in-class writing workshops are designed to support the longer

projects, which will evolve over weeks of study. As students write for global audiences, they will

also amplify underrepresented voices. In essence, the course will foster an intellectual

community dedicated to public exploration, embodying the ethos of inclusive discourse and

global engagement.

WRITING 101.03

MEDICAL DRAMAS AND WRITING

Instructor: Jessica Corey

TUTH 11:45AM - 1:00PM

Anatomy of a Text: What Medical Dramas Teach Us About Writing

Medical dramas offer a captivating blend of human experience and scientific intrigue, playing on

audience members’ aspirations and emotions. Through critical analysis of shows like St.

Elsewhere, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, House, Transplant, and The Good Doctor,

this course explores the conventions, tropes, and narrative structures of the medical drama genre;

the sociocultural significance of medical dramas as reflections of healthcare practices and

societal attitudes towards health and wellness; and the potential impact of medical dramas on

medical decision making, health behaviors, and health policies. More specifically, this course

poses the questions: What are the lines between fact and fiction in medical dramas’ portrayal of

physician, caregiver, and patient experiences; medical institutions; and social systems? How do

medical dramas engage rhetorically with ethical principles such as patient autonomy,

beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice? How do these shows account for diversity and

inclusion and what are the implications of their representations?

We will examine not only medical dramas themselves but a variety of genres in order for

students to learn to identify, articulate, and reflect on the rhetorical choices informing any text;

analyze and develop their own arguments from multiple points of view; articulate and support

their positions with research in a variety of forms; respond critically and ethically to others’

ideas; adjust their writing for multiple audiences, purposes, and contexts; and develop prose that

is thoughtful, organized, exact in diction, and structured in a clear manner.

Students will practice the above skills in homework assignments, conferences, and collaborative

workshops. In addition, students will take up this work in the following major assignments:

Multimodal Analysis—This is a rhetorical analysis of an episode of a medical drama. The

analysis should respond to the following questions: What ‘arguments’ does the episode make?

Which messages are communicated explicitly and which are communicated implicitly? How do

genre; rhetorical appeals; Kairos; and design elements such as dialogue/diction, tone, music and

other sounds, gesture, clothing, timing, and setting/scenery function rhetorically in the episode?

Your analysis should also be presented in a multimodal form (a screencast, video presentation,

visual mapping of elements, etc.) (length dependent upon mode).

Research Portfolio—The portfolio consists of an annotated bibliography (summary and

analysis) for 6 sources (3 scholarly, 2 popular, and 1 primary) (6 pages), a synthesis paper (2-3

pages), and an op-ed about a social issue raised in a medical drama series/episode of your

choosing (2 pages).

Reflective Essay—This is a narrative detailing the student’s experiences with the course, how

they as an individual may have changed as a reader and/or writer, and how they will or might

transfer what they learned in WRT 101 to other contexts (4 pages).

WRITING 101.04

ATTENDING TO ATTENTION

Instructor: David Landes

TUTH 11:45AM - 1:00PM

Attending to Attention - The Secret Method of the Liberal Arts

A revolution is occurring in the ways we pay attention, demanding that we learn, unlearn, and relearn

ways of attending across most aspects of contemporary life. To our aid, a liberal arts education trains

students’ attention--liberally and liberatorily--to “cultivate and practice the kinds of attention that will

make them intelligent observers, diligent critics, and thoughtful actors on the stage of human life”

(Sullivan). This academic writing course teaches critical research and writing skills through exploring

how different kinds of attention shape our various ways of knowing, thinking, and doing.

Our inquiry-driven writing within the liberal arts tradition will organize our survey of various conceptions

of attention and will aid our building of cutting-edge vocabularies for attention’s situational dynamics

from the experiencer’s point of view (e.g., the kind of attention you’re using while reading this). Guiding

texts will span the humanities, sciences, arts, and the technological frontier, providing theories and case

studies to help us ask: What are the means by which attention is formed in any given situation? How is

attention constructed, structured, and variably reconfigured? Students will select situations of their

interest where the type of attention used determines differences in outcomes. Writing and research

assignments will scaffold the process of conducting attention analyses. The final essay culminates your

work as a participant-researcher analyzing and creating modes of attention optimized for goals in a given

situation. Ultimately, students will be learning two interrelated fundamental methodologies of the liberal

arts: 1) the conventions of academic reading, writing, and researching, and 2) the foundational skills of

attention that are implicit to all academic work, disciplinary knowledge, and social action.

WRITING 101.05

RHETORIC OF COMEDY

Instructor: Benjamin Hojem

TUTH 11:45AM - 1:00PM

Rhetoric of Comedy: Humor, Culture, and Composing Funnily

E. B. White, an author best known for writing a sad book about sentient barn animals

confronting their mortality, once said, “Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies

in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.” Was he

right? Was he even serious? And on a scale of 1 to 10, how funny is the word “innards”?

While explaining the joke rarely earns a belated laugh, both fans of comedy and comedians are

usually full of opinions about what’s funny and what isn’t. This course aims to take both

perspectives, that of joke appreciators and joke tellers. We will look at theories of humor (from

seminal, if not particularly funny thinkers such as Aristotle and Sigmund Freud) as well as

popular criticism on the role of humor in our discourses and in our culture. In doing so, we will

try to understand why we find humor where we do, how we use humor, and what our humor says

about us. This investigation will take the form of weekly brief critical responses (~500 words) to

comedic works, either assigned or of your own choosing, and will culminate in an in-depth

analysis (~2100 words) of a work that helps you define your own sense of humor.

Meanwhile, we will also investigate the practices behind different comedic forms, such as stand-

up, improv, writers rooms, and screenwriting. Utilizing some of these practices, you will create a

comedic work of your own, either as an individual or as a group. Through a composing process

you’ll develop, you will practice writing and rewriting, giving constructive feedback and

responding to an audience. In addition to this creative composing, you will write a reflective

piece (~2400 words) that doesn’t dissect (or explain) the humor of your comedic work but does

examine the process that created it.

By taking a rhetorical approach to comedy, this course treats comedy as seriously as any other

art or any other communication. The result will, hopefully, not kill the joke, but rather help us

understand why it’s funny and how to make any writing or any communication more effective at

hitting its mark.

WRITING 101.06-101.07

EDUCATION IS LIFE

Instructor: Benjamin Hojem

TUTH 3:05PM - 4:20PM- TUTH 4:40PM - 5:55PM

“I believe that education is a process of living . . . and not a preparation for future living.” As one

of the most influential figures in American education, John Dewey—an educator, philosopher,

and psychologist—remains an inspiration for teachers of all levels, but how well do these words,

first published in 1897, reflect the ambitions of 21st century students? Much has changed in the

American educational landscape over the past century, yet the purpose of education is hardly a

settled question. As new college students, you have greater agency now than ever before to

decide what you want from your education. At the same time, you’ll encounter institutionally

constructed paths that place limits on those possibilities, just as you likely did in your

educational upbringing. Whether you’re career-oriented and goal-driven or idealistic and

intellectually curious, this course is intended to help you grow as a writer while you develop the

self-knowledge and institutional knowledge necessary to plot your educational path and take full

advantage of your undergraduate years.

To begin this investigation, we’ll be looking outward and inward. Weekly readings by historical

and contemporary teacher-scholars will provide challenging, interdisciplinary perspectives on the

purpose of education and its history and role in society. While these readings will encourage you

to think about education more broadly, you’ll also be considering how they apply to your own

experiences as a learner through weekly informal mini-essays (~500 words), building up to a

(1500-word) personal narrative that responds to one of the assigned texts. You’ll also be

analyzing your experiences alongside those of your classmates to create a collaborative narrative

that examines education from your generational perspectives. Following this focus on personal

accounts, your investigation will conclude with a research paper (2400 – 3600 words) on a field,

department, or major here at Duke. This research will help you become acquainted with the

history and/or present state of the work, knowledge, and culture of a potential course of study.

Throughout the course, by experimenting with various approaches to structure and process, you

will develop your writing as a personalized method of thinking and a tool of investigation,

culminating in a final reflection on the course (1200 words). Through regular reading,

discussion, and continual feedback from both your instructor and your peers, you will be

challenged to expand, revise, re-envision, complicate, and deepen your ideas about life, learning,

yourself, and the world. As advocated by Dewey, you’ll approach education “as a continuing

reconstruction of experience.”

WRITING 101.11 & 101.55

RADICAL MAGIC

Instructor: Cheryl Spinner

TUTH 3:05PM-4:20PM-TUTH 4:40PM - 5:55PM

"We are the weirdos, mister."

— Nancy, The Craft

"I leap from the gallows and

I levitate down your street."

— Taylor Swift, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me”

"Time cast a spell on you, but you won’t forget me."

—Fleetwood Mac, “Silver Springs”

The past decade has witnessed the renaissance of the witch, which last had its height amidst the

“goth weirdos” of the 1990’s. Currently, patches, t-shirts, and pins pepper Etsy with statements

like “Hex the Patriarchy” and “‘We Are the Granddaughters of the Witches You Could Not

Burn.’” Books and think-pieces have been published about this current phenomenon by popular

tarot readers, astrologists, and witches, all of whom address the feminist, queer, activist potential

of these practices. Most recently, performing powerhouse Taylor Swift has been accused of

witchcraft on stage during her record-breaking concert, “Eras,” and Swifties are experiencing a

real psychological condition known as “post-concert amnesia.”

Did you manage to snatch tickets to Eras and can’t remember anything about the show? Why is

Miss Americana being accused of a witch now, at the height of her popularity? We will address

such questions and more over the course of this semester by surveying the ways in which magic

and the supernatural have been coded as feminine, irrational, and sinister. We will begin with the

Salem Witch Trials, traverse the 19

-century spiritualist and occultist movements, pivot to

witches and second-wave Feminism in the 1960’s and 70’s, spend some time in the grungy 90’s,

and end with witchcraft in our current moment. We will explore the feminist and queer

communities who have gravitated towards spells, incantations, and Tarot decks to provide a

greater insight into a dominant world that was not made for them. We will examine the literary

qualities of Tarot, spells, and incantations, and question the distinction between writing and

magic. Is there really a difference between a poem and an incantation? Can the lyrics of a rock

song be a hex?

As a totality, the course is an alchemy of disciplines. You might think of it as the following

equation:

RM = (W+L+H+R+A)

Radical Magic = Writing + Literature + History + Religion + Art

Expect to produce quite a bit of writing over the course of the semester, which will include:

1. Weekly Blog Posts

2. Digital Archival Research Project

3. Literature Review

4. Grimoire

These assignments are intended to teach you varying techniques of writing genres, which range

from traditional academic writing, writing for the general public, and magical writing. Weekly

blog posts will clock in at around 250-500 words and will be informal responses to the reading of

the week, and/or be a space to complete short assignments in response to a prompt. For the

Digital Archival Research Project, you will learn how to conduct advanced academic research in

David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University. You will choose an

object from the treasures of Duke’s extensive collections related to magic and the supernatural

and provide a 1,000 word description of the piece and why it is important for an exhibit on

magic, feminism, and the supernatural. Collectively, we will gather the artifacts each of you have

chosen and present them in a virtual exhibition. The archival project is intended to give you an

opportunity to engage in writing that is not academic but intended for a more public facing

audience. The literature review will train you in traditional academic writing. You will choose

your topic of interest and write a literature review requiring a minimum of 10 peer-reviewed

sources that outlines the major debates in the field. For your final project, you will create your

own personal grimoire, or spell-book. Yes, you read that right—a spell book! This non-

traditional assignment challenges the distinctions we often put between writing, crafting, art, and

magic, and it will provide a space to try new things. Your grimoire will likely be playful, at times

somber, but ultimately the tenor of your book will be defined by what excites you.

WRITING 101.14, 101.18-19

GEN & SEX THROUGH LAT AM FILM

Instructor: Sandra Sotelo-Miller

WF 8:30AM - 9:45AM- WF 11:45AM - 1:00PM- WF 1:25PM - 2:40PM

Latin America is a region filled with contradictions in terms of gender and sexuality. It has seen

more female presidents than any other part of the world. It is also is a region that has written many

new laws protecting the LGBTQIA+ community, such as equal marriage for same-sex couples,

the right to adopt, and the right to officially change one’s gender. It is also, however, home to 7

out of the top 10 countries taking the lead in femicide around the world and where the LGBTQIA+

community suffers from violent and fatal discrimination. Issues surrounding gender and sexuality

have long been represented and thought about in literature, art, theater, performance, and film.

This course specifically examines the representation of gender and sexual discourses and

experiences in Latin American film and how they intersect with the political and social life of the

region.¿

In helping us understand the meaning and importance of these films, we will read and engage with

the work of Latin American Studies scholars who reflect on Latin American understandings of

gender and sexuality and how these are represented in popular culture. In coming into conversation

with the work of these writers as well as the work of the directors of these films, we will consider

the following questions: What is the role of Latin American cinema in the formation of the region’s

sexual and gender system? How are Latin American films reinforcing or destabilizing traditional

heteronormative culture? How do gender and sexuality intersect with national, class, ethnic, or

racial discourses in Latin American film? What is the role of film in our understanding of

contemporary gender and sexual violence? ¿¿

Writing will be the primary mode of investigation into the concepts raised by the films and readings

we have in class. Through formal and informal writing assignments, we will practice thoughtful

and practical strategies for responding to the ideas of various filmmakers and scholars as well as

developing our own perspectives on the issues and questions they raise. The core assignments in

this course will include one film review, where you practice effective description and analytical

techniques to present your opinion on a film; a research-oriented film analysis where you practice

coming into conversation with primary and secondary sources; and finally, a personal project in

which you will showcase your knowledge on a topic centering representations of gender and

sexuality in Latin America or the Latinx community in the US. Through multiple writers’

workshops and reflective exercises, you will learn to critique your peers’ work as well as revise

your own. These are invaluable skills, that along with careful observations, gripping descriptions,

and critical analysis will adequately prepare you to articulate your thoughts and ideas in writing

here at Duke and beyond.¿

WRITING 101.16-17

AM I A ROBOT?

Instructor: Michael Dimpfl

MW 3:05PM - 4:20PM- MW 4:40PM - 5:55PM

AM I A ROBOT? The Social Life of Technology in the Age of Connection

How do we develop our skills as writers if our goal is to analyze and understand our experience

of the world? What is an analytical argument and what writing tools are necessary to develop

effective argumentation?

In this seminar, our goal will be to hone our skills as writers by developing a shared analysis of

the shifting relationship between technology and society, particularly as it affects our ability to

understand our past, relate to our present and construct our future.

In contemporary life, we are immersed in a technological landscape. More than half of the

world’s eight billion people own a smartphone, and the numbers grow daily. Our financial,

medical, educational, informational, and social lives are increasingly mediated and managed

through screens, QR codes, the cloud, and AI-enabled chatbots. This has opened tremendous

potential and possibility for connection, convenience, access to information, and more. But, the

technological landscape is not power neutral.

Tech-enabled interactions have produced profound social alienation and are subjected to

surveillance by corporate and governmental actors who are able to intervene in or appropriate

these interactions for purposes -- good, bad, or indifferent -- that might be different than those we

intend or desire. What does this mean for the future of our “information society”? Does the

increasing presence of automation mean that computers will determine our future? Will we, as

many science fiction films suggest, find ourselves subordinated to a world controlled by AI? Or

will technology serve us, creating more productive ways for technology to deliver a “good life”

to increasing numbers of people?

The answers to these questions are central to how we might consider the challenges we face

today. In this class, we will develop a set of critical analytical writing skills to explore them.

Writing practices will be based first in the development of strong reading habits. From here, we

will explore formulating and mobilizing effective claims and the challenges of producing

nuanced engagement with course content. We will develop these skills through an investigation

of the history of our networked technological world, from the origins of the internet in the

department of defense’s counterinsurgency projects to the predominance of so-called “big tech."

We will examine the power technology has in our daily lives, particularly the effects it has on

our psyches, social relationships, politics, and environment.

This is a writing intensive seminar designed to help students develop their facility with writing as

a tool for critical analysis in the tradition of the social sciences. We will draw on a variety of

different texts, from film to journalism, social science to philosophy. Writing projects will

include reading responses to assigned texts, a discussion facilitation project undertaken in

collaboration with classmates, and two essays.

WRITING 101.20

REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

Instructor: Hannah Taylor

MW 8:30AM - 9:45AM

Writing Reproductive Justice, Politics, and Rights

“To obtain Reproductive Justice, we must work on injustices in all arenas: social,

economic, gender, racial, environmental, financial, physical, sexual, disability, and

carceral.” – Loretta J. Ross

The landscape of reproductive politics is an example of the complex interaction between belief,

culture, law, and embodiment. The past year, in particular, has seen seismic shifts in the way that

the United States approaches reproductive rights. But reproductive justice and politics are about

more than just abortion. This course will encourage us to think of the many facets of

reproductive justice– menstruation, reproductive technologies, IVF, birth justice, and chronic

reproductive illness– and how they are written about in a variety of discourses.

This course will discuss through writings– both scholarly and popular– how we got to this

moment in reproductive politics, and what we can do to change it. Using lenses from rhetorics of

health and medicine, disability studies, and reproductive justice, this course will ask students to

consider how writing has shaped the discourses of reproductive health and politics. Throughout

the course, students will be asked to complete weekly reading responses and be expected to share

writing via discussion posts regularly. The course will include two longer writing assignments.

The first, an analysis of the ways that an aspect of reproductive health has been discussed across

mediums, will be between 1,000 and 1250 words. The final project will be a 1,500-2,000 word

research paper on a controversy relevant to the course. Students will also produce a public-

facing, advocacy document based on a reproductive health issue of their choice.

WRITING 101.22-23

LEARNING WHILE LAUGHING

Instructor: Cary Moskovitz

TUTH 10:05AM - 11:20AM- TUTH 1:25PM - 2:40PM

We all like to laugh, but can humor actually improve learning? According to “A Review of

Humor in Educational Settings: Four Decades of Research,” there is evidence that humor can

improve retention of information, increase motivation to learn, and enhance enjoyment of

courses. This research also suggests, however, that whether such benefits accrue depend on the

type of humor and how it is employed. This Writing 101 course will interrogate recent research

on the effects of humor on learning.

Through critical analyses of published studies investigating humor as an aid to learning,

students will develop skills in academic reading, writing and research. To begin, students will

learn selected principles of experimental, human-subject research and some basic statistics

concepts. Students will then practice careful, skeptical reading, effective summary, and

thoughtful analysis as they draft, give and receive feedback, and revise written reviews of

experimental research reports on humor and learning. In the second half of the term, students

will produce a research-driven essay on an area of current research on the topic. Audiences for

student writing will include both classmates and those beyond the classroom.

Over the course of the semester, students will develop skills in finding and working with

appropriate sources, identifying and articulating claims, synthesizing and incorporating

evidence, writing structure, and addressing counterarguments and conflicting evidence. Much of

the work of the course will be collaborative, with students coauthoring at least one paper, giving

feedback on others and working in small groups on many occasions. Students should be

comfortable with group work and reasonably available to collaborate with classmates outside of

class time.

While this course is open to all Duke students, those with an above average sense of

humor are especially encouraged to enroll. If you are unsure of your humor level, you can test

yourself at Online Humor Tester.

WRITING 101.24-25

PREVENTING PANDEMICS

Instructor: Miranda Welsh

MW 3:05PM - 4:20PM- MW 4:40PM - 5:55PM

Preventing pandemics: interdisciplinary approaches to preparedness

In 2015, in the wake of SARS, H1N1, and Ebola, the United Nations and the World Health

Organization convened a global team of experts to assess the threat of future epidemics. The

team found that outbreaks are becoming more common for a multitude of reasons and we are

unprepared to deal with them when they occur. They concluded that without better approaches to

prevention and control, future epidemics are inevitable: a prediction that has come to bear.

Where are new outbreaks most likely to occur and why? What ecological, sociopolitical, and

cultural factors contribute to differences across locales in disease emergence, spread, and the

capacity to respond? How have our dominant understandings--or narratives--of disease shaped

our response and preparedness efforts to date? In the first third of our course, we will use an

interdisciplinary case study of a single epidemic to examine these questions together, via guided

readings, writings, and small-group discussions. You will summarize two of the guided readings

independently (1 page each) and compose a written analysis of one of them (2 pages).

In the second two-thirds of the course, you will use your developing interests to form a three-

person research team. Throughout the rest of the course, each team will collaborate to research a

contemporary epidemic (e.g., cholera, Zika, SARS) and compose a review and synthesis paper

about that epidemic (15-20 pages). In the paper, teams will summarize the epidemiology of and

public health response to the epidemic and then present three additional narratives of the

epidemic, each from a different disciplinary perspective:

1) Ecological: specific environmental conditions and human-environment interactions

encourage outbreaks (e.g., climate change, deforestation, agricultural practices)

2) Cultural/anthropological: specific beliefs, values, norms, or customs (e.g., distrust, stigma,

individualism) encourage outbreaks, as do culturally inappropriate interventions

3) Political/economic: specific characteristics of states and sociopolitical systems encourage

outbreaks (e.g., by increasing poverty or inequality, by decreasing security or stability)

Each team member will research one of the three disciplinary narratives and present their

findings in one of three sub-sections of the review and synthesis paper (3-4 pages per sub-

section). Team members will work together to compose: 1) an introduction that summarizes the

epidemiology of and public health response to the epidemic; 2) a conclusion that applies the

results of all three sub-sections to suggest specific improvements to prevention and/or mitigation

efforts (3-4 pages each). 70% of the grade for the review and synthesis paper will be based on

your individual sub-section and 30% will be based on the co-written introduction and

conclusion; 5% of the overall grade will be based on team member evaluations.

As you work on the review and synthesis paper, you will be expected to meet with your research

team outside of class on a few occasions. Throughout the course, we will use guided workshops

and peer review to revise our writing, and you will be expected to consider and incorporate the

feedback you receive from your peers and/or professor before submitting a final product.

WRITING 101.26

AMERICAN MERITOCRACY

Instructor: Laurel Burkbauer

MW 8:30AM - 9:45AM

Do people get what they deserve? How do personal factors like talent and work ethic interact

with contextual ones such as luck and privilege in determining the success of an individual? Do

we live in a meritocracy in the United States, and to what extent is meritocracy a useful concept?

Designed to prepare first-year students for rigorous academic writing across multiple disciplines,

this Writing 101 course combines topics and methods from English and education.

Course texts include classic and contemporary novels alongside long-form journalism, literary

criticism, and social science research. We begin with a foundational text of the American Dream,

Horatio Alger’s Ragged Dick. In this rags-to-riches story, does a 19

-century shoe-shiner rise

above his station due to the force of his own will or the confluence of his circumstances? Next,

selected journalism on American colleges and universities investigates how feasible an

Algeresque ascent would be within the current structures of modern-day higher education. How

do American colleges facilitate and hinder social mobility? Finally, the memoir of a rising

political star explores the factors that cause two men with similar upbringings to end up with

drastically different life outcomes. What circumstances, influences, and pivotal decisions create

their diverging trajectories?

Our first major assignment (1200 words) is an analytical essay on Ragged Dick, which allows us

to focus on essay structure, thesis development, selection and interpretation of evidence, and

MLA format. Our second essay (1500 words) is a research paper on a contemporary issue in

education. This assignment highlights the skills of finding and vetting multiple academic

sources, and it introduces APA format. Your final task (2000 words) combines everything you

have learned along the way. The culminating assignment requires you to select a piece of media

related to the course theme of meritocracy and interpret it through the lens of relevant secondary

sources drawn from the humanities, social sciences, and popular press.

Other assignments include a proposal for the final paper, one optional revision of a previous

essay, a presentation, and informal reflective writing assignments throughout the semester. This

course utilizes peer workshops for all three major essays, and each student will participate in a

one-on-one conference with the instructor while writing the final paper.

WRITING 101.27

WRITING PORTRAYED IN MEDIA

Instructor: Sharieka Botex

TUTH 3:05PM - 4:20PM

How does popular media portray writing, reading, communication, and other literacy practices of

various professions and academic disciplines? In what ways is the work of scholars across

disciplines and the research they do portrayed in television shows, music, podcasts, and other

forms of entertainment and media? When and how do media portrayals of writing, reading, and

communication in various fields differ from and/or compare to lived experiences among people

in these professions and scholarly fields? In this class, we will explore scholarly texts and

popular entertainment media to learn how people discuss the writing, reading, and

communication they do in their professional fields. This course requires students to review

television shows, websites, research, news coverage, podcasts, music, and scholarship that

present content on academic and professional paths to better familiarize themselves with the

ways writing, reading and communication transpire in their future majors or careers.

In this class, students are required to complete three main writing projects: 1. Contemporary

Issues Journal entries (see source reference to Bean and Melzer) related to intersections between

popular media and academic disciplines and professions 2. A research paper (8-10 pp. double

spaced) --developed in stages. 3. A media pitch in which you propose an idea about media

content that you believe should be created to inform people about the writing, reading, and

communication in your intended major or future career and persuade them about why literacy

practices are valuable in the field. Your audience for this pitch will be students, faculty, or

professionals in the particular field you are focusing on for the pitch. Through workshopping and

peer-review of these three writing assignments, you will learn about similarities and differences

in writing, reading and communication in different majors and professions.

[1] Assignment descriptions created by Sharieka Botex. Denise Comer provided feedback on the writing assignment descriptions and suggested

phrasing and word choice for assignment descriptions.

In John C. Bean and Dan Melzer’s (108) discussions of contemporary issues journals, they

explain that “The teacher asks students to read current newspapers or online news sites and blogs

to write about how course materials apply to current affairs” (108). Along with Bean and

Melzer’s (108) instructions for students to refer to the news as a source to engage with in their

writing, they explain that the journals are “Especially useful for social science and ethics courses,

as well as for all professional majors, the kind of journal usually generates considerable interest

by revealing the relevance of the course to life outside the academy” (Bean and Melzer 108).

Considering our Writing 101:07 “How Writing is Portrayed in Media and Scholarship” focus on

disciplinary writing and learning more about the writing you will be expected to do in your

future major or future career, a consistent component of your journal assignment guidelines will

be considering your academic and professional fields in relation to the topic you write about. To

help you consider your future academic and professional fields in your writing, I am

incorporating an aspect of another writing assignment that Bean and Melzer’s (107) refer to as

“Guided Tasks.” The component of Bean and Melzer’s (107) “Guided Tasks” that I am

incorporating into the contemporary issue journal assignment is the use of what they refer to as

(Bean and Melzer 107) “subject- specific questions.”

WRITING 101.31-32

DOLLY PARTON FOR PRESIDENT?

Instructor: Leslie Maxwell

TUTH 8:30AM - 9:45AM- TUTH 10:05AM - 11:20AM

During the upcoming United States presidential election, you might notice a different name pop

up on T-shirts as a possible contender: Dolly Parton. A search on Etsy reveals that there are

dozens and dozens (maybe hundreds and hundreds) of Dolly for President T-shirts and other

merch. Of course, Dolly Parton, the famous—dare I say legendary—country singer, pop singer,

businessperson, and philanthropist isn’t really running for president—but clearly there are many

who might at least entertain the notion.

Parton is nearly universally beloved in the United States (and abroad!), and often for different

reasons: some may see her as a savvy businessperson, others love her music, and still others

admire her philanthropy. Sometimes how we see Parton gets more complicated, too—where

some see her embrace of her sexuality as feminist, others see it as decidedly anti-feminist. Some

see her as an icon of and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. At the same time, many

conservative Christians celebrate Parton and her faith. Where some see a high-powered

businessperson, others may see a cog in capitalism’s machine. Some see her embrace of

characteristics stereotypically associated with the South, and even more specifically with

Appalachia, as bringing awareness of Appalachian culture to the mainstream—yet others see this

as exploitative of a culture that is already marginalized in the United States. Some see a public

figure that is outspoken, and others see a public figure that never speaks out (how is this one

even possible? we’ll explore!).

In this course, we will explore these (and more!) complexities. How much does Parton contribute

to the mythology of Dolly Parton, and how much does our culture contribute? How much do we,

as members of the same society, continue to contribute? And if she were running for president,

what would her platform even be? We will explore these questions and more, all the

complications, twists and turns that make Dolly Dolly. Through this investigation, we will hone

skills needed in academic writing and discourse, such as those skills that ask us to look at the

complexities and complications inherent in an academic discipline. This course will use a

multidisciplinary framework to explore these complexities.

We will read books and essays, both in Parton’s words and in the words of others. We will listen

to podcasts, watch movies/films, and, of course, listen to Parton’s music. You will have the

opportunity to lead a class discussion, and you will engage in regular online discussion forums

and posts. Our class will emphasize critical reading and writing, and you will learn about how

and why we use sources and texts in writing. Students will generate three major writing projects:

a close reading of a text, an annotated bibliography, and a creative project. Classes will consist of

small-group, large-group, and individual activities and small-group and large-group discussions.

Engagement is an important part of the course grading components, as well.

Though we’ll work hard, we’ll also have fun, remembering Dolly’s wise advice: “Don’t get so

busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

WRITING 101.35

NEUROSCIENCE & SOCIETY

Instructor: Emily Parks

WF 8:30AM - 9:45AM