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Travis J Sands
B CUSP 134
Bothell Campus
Offers an interdisciplinary approach to composition, including generating a compelling topic; the articulation of a thesis; the development of supporting evidence; the ability to draw conclusions from the evidence, clear organization of the essay, correct mechanics; awareness of audience, and knowledge of resources for research. Prerequisite: may not be taken for credit if previously earned a minimum grade of 2.0 B CUSP 101, B CUSP 114, or ENGL 131. Offered: AWSp.
Class description
Common Sense, Critical Sense, and the Differences They Make: What is "common" about common sense? What does it mean to "sense" communally? Why is common sense regularly celebrated as the guide for right action and what happens when we refuse to abide by it? How are our understandings of racial, gender and sexual differences shaped by common sense, and what are the consequences of these understandings for the ways we interact socially, politically and economically? How do both vernacular and formal types of knowledge produce the difference that they claim to merely describe? In this course we will begin to answer these questions by reading, thinking and writing about the relationship between common sense and the critical practices that serve as the touchstones of interdisciplinary inquiry. As we work through sequences on common sense formations of race and gender/sexuality, our goal will be to develop critical understandings of how common sense tacitly organizes practices of citizenship and belonging. Conversely, we will query the extent to which the critical sense encouraged by interdisciplinary studies is useful for project of social justice and transformation. Along the way we will work to develop the skills necessary for uncommonly good academic writing—skills that will serve you well throughout your educational and professional careers. By the end of the course you should expect to be familiar with: practices of close reading and critical analysis; generic and rhetorical distinctions between texts produced in different disciplinary, historical, social, and cultural settings; argumentative strategies suitable for academic contexts; and strategies for substantive revision.
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