Session 1: Follow Up Links

It was wonderful meeting everyone today in person!

Please post your free write on our discussion board before our next class. The link to the discussion board is here: Who are You, Writer? You can edit your writing before you post if you wish, or just post. Remember, you have to be logged into the OpenLab to post.

Resources used in today’s discussion:

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ video On Creative Breakthroughs
Joan Didion’s essay about “shimmering memories”: “Why I Write”
Alyssa Lukats story about the determined 8 year old writer featured in today’s New York Times: “An 8-Year-Old Wrote a Book and Hid it on the Library Shelf. It’s a Hit.”

Remember, finding the creative spark means: we take risks and learn to keep trying to “grow new muscles” and realize potential we didn’t know we had (Ta-Nehisi Coates); trusting and recording those memories that “shimmer” in our memory and writing to find out what we want to say (Joan Didion); we often have creative impulses as children–creativity is “natural” but we get in our own way by deciding the creative impulse is impractical or has no future for us (Lukats).

Write on! Email if you have questions: jsears@citytech.cuny.edu

First Day: Tues., Feb. 1, 2:30 pm in Namm 521

Writers,

This may be a bit of overkill, but I know some students are finding their way around City Tech’s campus for a first time, so here are some tips for coming to our ENG 1141 class on Tuesday, Feb. 1.:

Make sure to download your vaccination pass for the day before you come to campus. You might want to screenshot it on your phone for easier access.
If you have a student ID, also bring that. If you do not have a student ID, download a screenshot of your SP 2022 class schedule as well as a photo ID.
Come to campus well before the day’s first class! There is always a line even without the added vaccination check, so be prepared. Of course, wear masks.
Our classroom is in the Namm Building, fifth floor, room 521. Access to the Namm Building is on Tillary Street. Another entrance into the Pearl Building on Adams Street should also be open. The Namm Building, Library Building, and the Pearl Building are all connected. There is a 3D interactive map for Namm Hall. Click on the fifth floor to find 521: https://www.citytech.cuny.edu/3dmap/
There is a very helpful website on the City Tech website with vaccination information, mask guidelines, and much more. If you haven’t been there, please check it out. There may be answers there to questions you didn’t know you had: https://www.citytech.cuny.edu/studentinfospring2022/
I went to our classroom last week to make sure the media equipment was fired up. (It is!) Here are some pictures so you can see where you will be going:

End of the fifth floor hall. If you are coming from the direction of the elevators, Namm 521 is on your right.

Namm 521, our lovely classroom. For COVID reasons, I’ll have some windows open.

Our working video equipment! And me, very excited to be in the classroom again.

Reminder: we’ll review the syllabus in class, but you can also see it last week’s ENG 1141 Welcome Post.

As always, feel free to email me with questions: jsears@citytech.cuny.edu

More about accessing campus from the President’s Office:

To facilitate your access to campus, please be aware of the following:

If you have an active City Tech ID and a Cleared4 Pass, your ID should work at the turnstiles
If you do not yet have a City Tech ID, be prepared to show to Public Safety a photo ID and your daily Cleared4 Pass with the current date visible, either on your phone or via a printout
To avoid any WiFi issues, consider downloading your daily pass and screenshotting it in advance of arrival
If you do not have a Cleared4 Pass, please search your email for no-reply@cleared4work.com . This email will contain your personal clink to your Cleared4 Pass. Clicking on this link will give you your pass.
For more information, visit https://cuny.service-now.com/csp?id=kb_article_view&sys_kb_id=c35a1b781bb63cd06f9821be6e4bcb33

ENG 1141-D307 Spring 2022 Course Agenda

Here is the Course Agenda, which we will discuss at our first in-person meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 2:30 pm. . Feel free to email me if you have further questions! See also the class syllabus: Syllabus

The agenda is subject to change due to course progression. Students will be told in advance of changes. The Syllabus will remain the same.

05 May Update ENG 1141 Course Agenda SP 2022

Welcome to ENG 1141-D307: Introduction to Creative Writing

Course Welcome Post

Welcome! In this class, we will explore the process of writing and developing a creative habit. We will do a lot of writing and reading with a focus on craft and technique. Readings will include the work of professional writers and the work of your peers. We will also consider how writing influences our lives and how we can make our own writing better.

Throughout this class, you will produce poetry, fiction, and a memoir/creative-non-fiction projects as well as participate in class activities and writing workshops.

When and Where

Tuesdays and Thursdays: 2:30-3:45 pm
Namm Building, Room 521. See a post on the space in this post: First Day, Feb. 1
First class date: Tuesday, February 1
Wear masks!

Join our OpenLab Site

I was able to import some of your emails into the course on OpenLab. If you are not a member of this course yet and have a City Tech OpenLab account, please join our class site by accessing the profile page and selecting “Join.” The profile page is here:

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/eng1141-sears-sp2022 /

If you have not made an OpenLab account, you will need to that before you can join the site. To do that, register here:
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/register/

Course Syllabus

We will go over our course syllabus and agenda during our first class; however, you can also take a look at it now on the OpenLab:

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/eng1141-d307-intro-to-creative-writing/syllabus/

Instructor Contact Information

Feel free to email me with questions before our first Tuesday meeting. I look forward to meeting you and to reading your work this semester!

Prof. Jennifer Sears-Pigliucci: jsears@citytech.cuny.edu

Author: Jennifer Sears