English 212, Business Writing

   This course is designed to introduce students to strategies used in writing functional, useful letters, memos, and reports in business. My goal is to help students learn to communicate effectively and efficiently on the job. Classroom discussions and assignments will emphasize critical thinking skills in analyzing various rhetorical situations in business, and responding to these situations in writing through style, content, and form.
   This is a computer-intensive course. In addition to working with a variety of letters, memos, reports, and a significant collaborative research project, students have a chance to become familiar with wordprocessing, desktop publishing, as well as drawing and electronic mailing programs. It's fun, demanding, memorable. Check it out.
   For more information, see the full course description. Click here to see the syllabus.

English 212, Business Writing (In Healthcare)

   This course is offered off campus through University Extension at a local health care institution primarily (but not exclusively) to serve the needs of students enrolled in the School of Nursing's BSN completion program. Consequently, this course emphasizes writing in the health care fields. However, any student with 60 credit hours can enroll in this course.
   Students in this section of English 212 typically work with letters, memos, and reports relevant to the health care industry. They learn to write policies and procedures, deal with sexual harassment, persuade superiors, peers, and employees, and prepare effective resumes and cover letters. They also participate in a group inservice project, which enables them to do library research, learn APA documentation methods, as well as develop skills in collaboration and oral presentation.

English 213 Technical Writing

   English 213 is designed to work toward two purposes: 1) to help junior and senior level students learn to communicate technical information rapidly and accurately to the readers in business and industry, and 2) to help students learn to understand and to negotiate the complex rhetorical situations in which they find themselves. Because these situations are so diverse, this course focuses on developing critical thinking skills, and on learning various production and rhetorical strategies while strengthening basic skills in style and compositional arrangement.
   This is a computer-intensive class. It is fun, and very practical. We learn about the computer-based tools writers use, and how to use them effectively to improve technical communication. We learn how to use email and wordprocessing for basic electronic and paper communications. We also explore the possibilities of communicating through the use of desktop publishing, imaging programs, and Internet publishing. Students who are interested will have the chance to build home pages for the World Wide Web.
   For more information, see the full course description.

English 313 - Advanced Business and Technical Writing

   English 313 lets students explore some useful aspect of business and technical writing in depth and then apply that knowledge to a substantial project. In Fall, 1998, students will investigate a variety of issues related to writing and doing business on the World Wide Web. The emphasis will be on learning how to use the Web to communicate a client's desired message to a specific audience in order to achieve the client's goals.
   Students will explore the Web, identify standards for analyzing the rhetorical, aesthetic, and technical value of the sites they find, and then and then use what they learn to produce a functional Web site for a client on or off campus. In addition to the Web site project, series of short written and oral analytical reports will be required.
   This is a computer-intensive course. Previous computer experience is not required, but is helpful. Please see the full course description for more details.