Course Description
English 302 will help you understand how knowledge is created and transmitted in your field of study or discipline; understand key methods and conventions of scholarly research in your field of study or discipline; articulate and refine your own question for scholarly inquiry; situate your investigation in an ongoing context or conversation in your field; and design a final project that adds new perspectives to the conversation. Advanced composition will help you engage in academic and non-academic inquiry as you work on narrowing a research question and as you engage with your discipline or field of study.
ENGH 302 Learning Outcomes
- Students will be able to analyze rhetorical situations–audience, purpose, and context–in order to recognize the expectations of readers and understand the main purposes of composing across multiple contexts relevant to their fields of study.
- Students will understand the conventions of academic and non-academic genres, to include usage, specialized vocabulary, format, and attribution/citation systems.
- Students will be able to apply critical reading strategies that are appropriate to advanced academic and non-academic texts of relevance to their fields of study.
- Students will identify and synthesize multiple perspectives in articulating and refining a research question relevant to their fields of study.
- Students will engage in a recursive process of inventing, investigating, shaping, drafting, revising, and editing to produce a range of academic and non-academic texts of relevance to their fields of study.
Students as Scholars (SaS) & Mason Impact
English 302 participates in the Students as Scholars and the Mason Impact programs. The learning goals for these programs are integrated into English 302. See the Students as Scholars page for for more information.
Prerequisites
All students, regardless of their discipline, who register for ENGH 302 must
- have completed a minimum of 30 credit hours; 45 credit hours strongly recommended
- have earned credit (or been exempted from) ENGH 100, ENGH 121/122, or ENGH 101, & ENGH 201 (or its equivalent)
- have earned credit for the Mason Core literature requirement
The College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) has specific requirements for which version of English 302 its students must take:
- English 302N: students in Computer Science, Applied Computer Science, and Statistics
- English 302N or English 302M: students in Bioengineering, Civil Engineering, Cyber Security Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, and Systems Engineering (note: Systems Engineering students should take 302N if possible; 302M is permissible if it relieves a scheduling conflict.)
Mason Core
This course is part of the Mason Core (General Education) Program, which is designed to help develop “a Mason Graduate [who is] an engaged citizen, a well-rounded scholar, and someone who is prepared to act” (Mason Catalog). It fulfills the Mason Core Upper Division Written Communication requirement. For more information on the Mason Core, visit the Provost’s Mason Core page.
Textbook and materials
There is no required textbook for this class. We will use several online texts, including
GMU Writing Center Resources
GMU Library Tutorials
UNC Writing Center Handouts
Purdue OWL
Students as Scholars
Method of Instruction
Sections N19 & N20 are hybrid sections, with one face-to-face meeting each week and one asynchronous lesson on BlackBoard. Each Weekly Content folder contains two lessons: the first is for the face-to-face session; the second should be completed on your own.
See Tech Policy for technology requirements
Course readings, assignments, and notes will be posted to the Weekly Content Folders in BlackBoard every Monday. Do not share or post these materials online, as this would be an Honor Code violation ("Providing, using, or attempting to benefit from unauthorized academic material and/or assistance: This includes but is not limited to the posting or enabling of posting of homework assignments and/or exams or solutions on websites").
All course assignments will be submitted via Blackboard. Assignments should be uploaded as Word, PDF, or OpenOffice formats (doc, docx, pdf, odf).
In addition, we will have weekly BlackBoard discussions or journal entries. The discussions and journals are generally due on Wednesdays, but I also expect everyone to post and comment on other students' posts throughout the week if comments are required.
You should check the BlackBoard site regularly. The course assignments will be explained on BlackBoard, as will any clarifications and changes to the assignments and course schedule.
Assignments
The Major Assignments are described on BlackBoard
- Research Logs & Reflections (15%)
- Literature Review (20%)
- Issue, Audience, and Genre Analysis (20%)
- Advocacy Letter & Reflection (15%)
The Minor Assignments are the Discussion posts, journals, in-class exercises, and peer review groups. These assignments will not be graded individually, but they make up 30% of the final grade.
Important dates
| First day of classes | Jan 16 |
| Last day to add classes– all individualized section forms due | Jan 23 |
| Last day to drop with no tuition penalty | Jan 30 |
| Unrestricted Withdrawal Period (100% tuition liability) | Feb 7 – 20 |
| Midterm progress reporting | Feb 12 – March 15 |
| Selective Withdrawal period | Feb 21 – March 25 |
| Spring Break | March 4 –10 |
| Last Day of classes | April 29 |
| Reading Days Reading days provide students with additional study time for final examinations. Faculty may schedule optional study sessions, but regular classes or exams may not be held. |
April 30 and May 5 |
| Exam Period | May 1 – 8 |
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