Course Descriptions
Writing and Research: The Question as Quest
I took this course my spring quarter of my freshman year at DU. This course was the last of my required writing courses for my undergraduate core classes and is what actually made me want to continue my writing journey through the minor. Writing and Research is essentially about using research to create pieces of writing. However, it was more focused on the idea of a “quest.” In this course, I learned how every piece of research begins with a question and is answered in the quest. I used text-based and qualitative and quantitative research to create a research paper of my own. From this research that I collected throughout the course, I was able to create a story. Since this class, I have revised the original research paper that was my final project. I shortened it and turned it into an editorial piece. This revision can also be found on this portfolio.
Introduction to Creative Writing
This course was part of the required Applied Writing section of the Writing Practices Minor at DU. Although there were several courses to choose from, I thought I would be interested in exploring creative writing. This course focused on transforming curiosity into creativity. This course challenged students to experiment with different forms and styles of writing. We read different pieces of fiction and poetry, as well as nonfiction, drama and hybrid work for inspiration. We also created our own work and participated in workshops to respond to other classmates’ work.
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Theories of Writing
This course mainly focused on addressing the question of “what is writing?” While in this class, we explored where writing came from and the different methods of communication. We first began answering this question by doing initial research on writing itself. This course also explored the different methods and tools that have been used to get to what writing is today. The course also involved exploring ourselves as writers. The purpose of this course was to do research on the history of writing and use this knowledge to explore ourselves as a writer. We then took this research to create our own theories of writing and went deeper into exploring how we defined writing. The course also discussed how the concept of writing how changed throughout history and what it means for communication today.
Theory, History, Research
Rhetorical Cities: Athens, Rome, Denver
This course was a required course for the DU writing minor. It examines both the development of cities and rhetorical theory. It involved using research and readings to explore the topic of the mutually constitutive development of cities, specifically Denver. The readings in this course ranged from classical rhetorical theorists to more contemporary urban theorists. We mostly engaged in this topic through readings and group discussion. However, this course also involved using social media and real world events to explore the topic. After digging deeper into the material, this course challenged us to create projects of our own that pertained to a challenge faced by a city of choice.
Strategic Business Communications
Communication is a crucial skill to have when in the business world. Email, texts, memos are all forms of communication that are used everyday. This course was designed to allow extensive time to practice and receive expert coaching. Since communication skills develop over time, we were given the opportunity to develop them through multiple oral and written assignments that increase in rigor and complexity. The assignments gave us individual and team skills that help us be successful in both an academic and professional career. This course is required for my Marketing major and taught the essential skills of communication within the business world. While this course may not have been a writing minor course, it allowed students to explore different aspects of writing that I will need for my professional career.
FSEM: Travel Writing
This course was one of the first classes I ever took at DU. First Year Seminars created for freshmen to transition into college academics. This course focused on the concept of travel and using that to inspire writing. Traveling and writing are two of my biggest passions so I was very eager to take this course. Throughout this class, we read various authors and their traveling accounts. The interesting aspect about these readings is that every writer has their own perception of traveling which was evident in their works. In addition to reading different pieces, the students were able to recall their own experiences of traveling and use that as inspiration for their own writing pieces.
