Courses Courses

Writing & Inquiry I

Course No. WR 101  Credits: 3.0

A composition-intensive course that emphasizes basic composition skills, while introducing basic research and documentation skills. Along with cultivating the concomitant skills in critical reading and thinking, this course also introduces an explicitly theoretical approach to contemporary culture. Twenty pages of student expository writing will be required. 3 credits.

Writing & Inquiry II

Course No. WR 102  Credits: 3.0

An intermediate writing and research course based in readings on the western intellectual and cultural heritage and their global contexts. The course will emphasize the basic research skills involved in both academic writing and studio processes. Twenty pages of student expository writing will be required. 3 credits. Prerequisite WR 101.

Writing & Inquiry III

Course No. WR 203  Credits: 3.0

This course continues to build students’ skills in writing, research, critical thinking, and argument, while introducing a survey of narrative forms and critical methods based in narratology to be used in the analysis and understanding of narrative. Prerequisites: WR 101 and WR 102. 3 credits.

Writing for the Sciences

Course No. WR 313  Credits: 3.0

This course introduces the basic written discourse forms of the sciences. It gives an overview and rationale of scientific reports describing the results of original research. It provides students with an opportunity to develop competency in the discourse model that has evolved over centuries of scientific practice. Students will learn the specific lexical, grammatical, and stylistic conventions that comprise the accepted written format, in addition to the components of a scientific report; i.e., the Introduction (including the Literature Review), the Methods, the Results (including their display and documentation), the Discussion, and the References. The term project for each student will be focused on the preparation of a full written report of that student’s individual inquiry into an area of scientific research relevant to their particular studio work and/or interests. Class meetings will center on discussion of readings, research, and on class critique of written drafts that students prepare as they work toward the final versions of their reports. Offered yearly. Open only to BMA seniors; juniors may request written permission from instructor. Prerequisite: WR 203. 3 credits.

Screenwriting

Course No. WR 318  Credits: 3.0

A screenwriter's job is to put the spoken word, visual scenes, and a strong narrative on the page, while still leaving room for interpretation by filmmakers. In this course, we will learn about the elements of good storytelling, such as character, narrative, and dialogue, and learn to format and create an industry-standard screenplay. We’ll study short and long screenplays (sometimes while watching the actual films), and review a wide variety of narrative short films, both animated and live action, and from different countries and cultures. Students will also interact with professional independent and Hollywood filmmakers, do writing exercises, collaborate and brainstorm with colleagues, and workshop their screenplays-in-progress. Students will be graded on: attendance, class participation, the midterm, and final â€" a “conventional short,â€� which is a 7-12-page screenplay. Prerequisites: WR 203. 3 credits.

Multimodal Composition

Course No. WR 351  Credits: 3.0

This course will allow students to develop the skills and understanding necessary for literacy in our information-saturated times. Facilitated by growth in electronic technologies, more and more types of written texts, in both print and online media, have fused with images and other graphics. Literature producers and consumers of these emerging hybrid texts will need awareness of and competence in the complex communicative strategies that they engage. While this course offers valuable knowledge to any developing artist, it is particularly suitable for students studying in the visual communications majors; i.e., Communication Design, Illustration, Biomedical Art, Film, Video and Photographic Arts, Digital Arts. Prerequisites: WR 203. 3 credits.

Lit/Lang/Comp Independent Study

Course No. WR 498  Credits: 3.0

Independent Study. Prerequisites: WR 203. 3 credits.

Art Journalism

Course No. WRHC 305  Credits: 3.0

In this elective course, students will study various forms and stages of writing about art for publication. In addition to reading and discussing effective examples of published writings on art, students will produce a total of 20 pages of writing throughout the semester in the form of reviews, interviews, profiles, and feature stories. Students will alternately function as writers and editors as they produce written work that is expressly conceived and shaped for publication. Prerequisite: WR 203. 3 credits.