Professor Kieran Reichert
Email: kreichert@citytech.cuny.edu
Course Site: openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/reicherteng1101spring21-ol87/
Weekly Office Hours: Mondays 3-4PM & by appt.
Zoom Links: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9431409993 (same for office hours/class meetings)
Contents
Welcome
We are living through a very difficult time in our city, country, and world, and trying to adapt. In our class, we will prioritize intellectual nourishment, community, and humanity. If you have any concerns about the course or college, or if there is any situation preventing you from participating, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Know that I am here to work with you.
Course Description
Every City Tech (and CUNY) student takes Composition I, which features reading and writing assignments that will help prepare you for college and beyond. Together we will work on communicating effectively, building an argument, adapting your writing for different needs and situations, interpreting and responding to a text, incorporating and citing secondary source material. We will be reading pieces both for their inherent literary value and also as models for our own writing projects. Sharing your own ideas and experiences and adding your voice to our discussions will enrich our class community.
Prerequisite:
CUNY proficiency in reading and writing
Course Meetings:
This course will meet once/twice a week online for an hour and fifteen minutes on Zoom. I have emailed you the Zoom info, and it is also available here and on the OpenLab sidebar. This meeting is REQUIRED.
I will post all the work for each week by noon each Monday. It will include reading, formal/informal writing, note-taking, discussion, and/or peer review. Many times, I will ask you to respond to each other’s writing. We will work on developing community both in our Zooms, and in our online written community– by writing. This work is also required!
Course Website:
This course will take place online. Our homework and messages from me will be on this website and via email, and once/twice weekly in our class will meet on Zoom. It is extremely important that you familiarize yourself with our website and find out where everything is. This is where you will find your assignments and post your homework as well as finished units. This is how we’ll keep in touch, so please check in on the website daily! You are responsible for being up-to-date and knowing what is on our course site. You are also responsible for checking your CityTech email daily. Please contact me if you are having trouble!
Course Tools and Required Materials
- Computer folder dedicated to this class. The folder will house your assignment drafts and portfolio (collected writing).
Grading
Unit 1 20%
Unit 2 20%
Unit 3 20%
Final Reflection 10%
Participation (OpenLab posts/attendance) 30%
Note: Units 1,2 (and if there’s time, Unit 3) can be revised for better grades)
Participation/ Homework:
You’ll see that your participation and homework count for 30% of your grade in this class. What does this mean? How is this calculated? Why is this such a high percentage?
Let’s look at that last question first: in this class, you’re graded almost as much on your weekly low-stakes assignments as you are on your high-stakes essay assignments. This is because in this class, you’re not learning how to write one particular paper, or how to do one particular thing, you are learning about the process of writing (and reading—and researching) and all of those things are the behind-the-scenes work, the homework.
How will participation/ homework be graded?
More or less, if you do it, you’ll get the credit. You have to do it thoroughly and thoughtfully, and you have to do it in a timely manner. (If you’re having trouble with getting things done on time, please let me know.) Writing is largely about discipline and routine, so this is a good way to learn that– and to earn 30% of the credit for this course.
Major essays are due on Fridays by 12 PM. If you are having difficulty completing a major assignment, please talk to me before it is due.
Attendance:
One thing you may not know is that, in face-to-face classes, we take attendance for your sake as much as for our own. If someone isn’t coming to class, we worry they won’t succeed in a writing class– and that’s because, as I said above, writing is more about work and learning your own process than it is about magical talent. Even in an online class, you have to show up. Remember to just check in every day (or almost every day) to see what you need to catch up with. And, by the way, we do take attendance in online courses– we do it by checking you’ve done the daily assignments.
University Policies:
Accessibility Statement:
City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies, and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, you can leave a voicemail at 718-260-5143, send an email to: Accessibility@citytech.cuny.edu, or visit the Center’s website at http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility/ for more information.
Academic Integrity:
Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the catalog.
Support Resources
College Writing Center: citytechwritingcenter@gmail.com (tutoring available in all subjects)
Advisors: The transition to college is challenging for everyone. It is helpful to periodically reflect on how you are doing in your classes, and how your anticipated area of study (major) is progressing, as well as to plan next steps. Academic advisors are able to help you navigate these paths. If you are in SEEK or ASAP or have declared your major, you have an assigned advisor with whom to schedule appointments. Others should seek out appointments with Dr. Julian Williams, Director of Liberal Arts & Sciences, jwilliams@citytech.cuny.edu.
1101 Learning Outcomes
It is expected that at a minimum, students in ENG 1101 will:
Read and listen critically and analytically in a variety of genres and rhetorical situations: Identify and evaluate exigencies, purposes, claims, supporting evidence, and underlying assumptions in a variety of texts, genres, and media.
Adapt to and compose in a variety of genres: Adapt writing conventions in ways that are suitable to different exigencies and purposes in a variety of contexts, including academic, workplace, and civic audiences. When appropriate, repurpose prior work to new genres, audiences, and media by adjusting delivery, design, tone, organization, and language.
Use research as a process of inquiry and engagement with multiple perspectives: Learn to focus on a topic and develop research questions that lead to propositions and claims that can be supported with well-reasoned arguments. Persuasively communicate and repurpose research projects across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media. Demonstrate research skills through attribution and citation gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing both primary and secondary sources. Learn how to use appropriate citation styles depending on disciplinary and situational requirements (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).
Use reflection and other metacognitive processes to revise prior assumptions about reading and writing and transfer acquired knowledge into new writing situations. Students write reflections of their own reading and writing process from the beginning and throughout the semester with the intention to transfer their acquired knowledge about genre and composing practices into new writing situations.
Demonstrate the social and ethical responsibilities and consequences of writing: Recognize that first-year writing includes academic, workplace, and civic contexts, all of which require careful deliberation concerning the ethical and social ramifications concerning fairness, inclusivity, and respect for diversity. Write and revise for academic and broader, public audiences accordingly.
Compose in 21st– Century Environments: Learn to choose among the most current and effective delivery methods for different composing situations. Students learn to compose in new media environments, including alphabetic texts, still and moving images, sonic, and mixed media compositions. Use digital media platforms appropriate to audience and purpose.
Microsoft Office:
The City University of New York provides Microsoft Office 365 for Education to students at participating colleges, including City Tech via the Microsoft Office in Education program. You sign in using your Blackboard credentials (this is different than your regular CityTech email) and have online access to MS Word, Powerpoint, Excel and other programs in the MS Office Suite. You may also be eligible to download the Suite to your computer. For more information, see THIS LINK .
