Writing about Public Problems

Catalog description

This mini or half-semester course (one of two minis students can choose to fulfill their FYW requirement) centers on introductory professional writing and offers students the opportunity to develop a proposal for change; students will examine a public problem of their choice, conduct primary and secondary research, and create a public-facing presentation. This course asks students to recognize that many problems we encounter in our communities require an invested stakeholder, like ourselves, to conduct a careful investigation of perspectives and constraints before proposing a feasible solution that considers diverse stakeholders' values and viewpoints. Students will learn how public problems are defined and argued in the proposal genre by reading a range of expert texts and analyzing a variety of sample proposals. Students will conduct various forms of social research (email, interview, survey, and/or observation) to gain perspective on a problem and develop a solution mindful of others' expertise and experience. Students will also synthesize relevant secondary research to rhetorically frame a proposal in ways that will compel their intended audience to take action. By the end of the course, students will write and present their own change proposal that identifies a community-based problem, proposes a thoughtfully-researched solution, and recommends a feasible plan for change in one of their own communities. Because the course emphasizes authentic stakes and purposes for communicating with professional and academic audiences, students will regularly share their work with their peers in oral and written forms within an interactive and collaborative classroom environment. Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/english/academic-programs/writing-and-communication/index.html