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Overview

Course Prescription

Explores theories and practices of writing and criticality in academic, civic, and artistic contexts. We consider some of the scripts that organise literate social practices and how to perceive and extrapolate their principles. We explore how we are affected by, how we navigate, and how we transform our immersive world of signs.

Course Overview

This course explores theories and practices of writing and criticality in academic, civic, and artistic contexts. We consider some of the scripts that organise literate social practices and how to perceive and extrapolate their principles. We explore how we are affected by, how we navigate, and how we transform our immersive world of signs. We explore how writing functions in paper and digital environments and how we construe and read literary and non-literary texts for different purposes. We’ll engage critically with your writing and reading practices and we will also practice creative alternatives for recoding what we encounter. This is a critical skills class as well as an opportunity to study new writings and modes.

Readings are from multiple nations and regions such as Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada, China, Japan, Oceania, Russia, Sweden, the UK, the US and transnational identities and border sites. Our critical thinking blends Euro and Anglo-American-Australasian modes with Oceania epistemology and digital knowing. We are studying the transgenre, translingual, and transplace of writing among identities, genres, codes, & places. 


This course will help you understand how writing and critical thinking creates and records individuals and societies; articulate underlying assumptions about writing, mind, and identity in textual practices; perceive how texts reproduce and/or swerve dominant discourses; perceive how becoming literate and making texts means more than acquiring a set of linguistic, technical, and genre skills; situate literary texts in other and wider fields of discourse; reflect on what being an active, critically aware writer and reader means for you as an individual, a collaborative maker, and a member of social groups.

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course: students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course in which they are enrolled. For this course, you can expect per week 1 hour of lectures, 1 hour of active learning interactions, selectively scheduled 1 hour tutorials, 7 hours of reading and thinking about the content and working on assignments and test preparation.

Course Prerequisites, Corequisites and Restrictions

Prerequisite
Restriction

Locations and Semesters Offered

LocationSemester
City

Teaching and Learning

Campus Experience

Attendance is requisite, to foster the ideas and questions we will consider in relation to our learning. If you are not present, you are not part of this co-creation of the class environment. If you are present, you will have a stronger chance of success with class materials. If you miss class let me know what’s making it difficult for you to be present. For illness and similar emergencies you will need official documentation of the circumstances in order to have an excused absence or late hand-in. 

Attendance is expected at scheduled activities including lectures and tutorials.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including tutorials will Not be  available as recordings.
Attendance on campus is required for the test.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Teaching and Learning Methods

The course platform blends Stage 3 and Stage 2 learning. Lectures, of the modular and interactive kind, will be our focus in Hour 1. We will examine the differing assumptions, techniques, contexts, and implications of the assigned readings. Hour 2 will typically include group work that responds to the considerations of the first hour as well as to other aspects of the readings and assignments. One ENGL 305 and one ENGL 223 tutorial will be held separately, in selectively scheduled times, from the two-hour shared class. 
You co-create and participate in the learning environment and skills practice indicated above. To prepare for class, read the assigned texts and compose any assigned writing beforehand. In class, be prepared to volunteer questions and responses and to be called on to do so. Be ready to work with peers in groups and to report back to the class about that group work. Be ready for in-class writing activities. 

Learning Resources

Taught courses use a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas to provide students with learning materials including reading lists and lecture recordings (where available). Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Copyright

The content and delivery of content in this course are protected by copyright. Material belonging to others may have been used in this course and copied by and solely for the educational purposes of the University under license.


You may copy the course content for the purposes of private study or research, but you may not upload onto any third-party site, make a further copy or sell, alter or further reproduce or distribute any part of the course content to another person.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Similarly, research students must meet the University’s expectations of good research practice. This requires:

  • Honesty - in all aspects of research work
  • Accountability - in the conduct of research
  • Professional courtesy and fairness – in working with others
  • Good stewardship – on behalf of others
  • Transparency – of research process and presentation of results
  • Clarity - communication to be understandable, explainable and accessible

For more information on the University’s expectations of academic integrity, please see the Academic Conduct section of the University policy hub.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about taught courses is made available to enrolled students in Canvas.

Students may be asked to submit assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.


Assessment and Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

CLO #OutcomeProgramme Capability Link
1
2
3
4
5
6

Assessments

Assessment TypeAssessment PercentageAssessment Classification

Assessment to CLO Mapping

Assessment Type123456

Student Feedback, Support and Charter

Student Feedback

Feedback on taught courses is gathered from students at the end of each semester through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions. Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students. In addition, class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Additional Information on Student Feedback

Student responses are an ongoing and valuable component of this course. Opportunities to differentiate between attentive listening time and active contribution time are factored in by presenting modules of instructor commentary, including the first hour lecture, interleaved with expectations of student questions and interpretations. Students have expressed appreciation for the active learning pedagogy of this course as well as for the timings that take into account the human need for breaks and reflection time. This pedagogy has been developed in response to numerous opportunities for student response as well as in response to best practice pedagogy for active learners and collaborative benefits. 

Class representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Tuākana

Tuākana is a multi-faceted programme for Māori and Pacific students providing topic specific tutorials, one-on-one sessions, test and exam preparation and more. Explore your options at Tuakana Learning Communities.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website.

Wellbeing

We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - please see the Support Services page for information on support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed work is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due. If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page. This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter.

Student Academic Complaints and Disputes

Students with concerns about teaching including how a course is delivered, the resources provided, or supervision arrangements, have the right to express their concerns and seek resolution. The university encourages informal resolution where possible, as this is quicker and less stressful. For information on the informal and formal complaints processes, please refer to the Student Academic Complaints Statute in the Student Policies and Guidelines section of the Policy Hub.