Courses

CW R4B - Reading, Composition, and Research

Summer 2022

Description

This writing seminar satisfies the second half (Part B) of the Reading & Composition Requirement. It offers students structured, sustained, and highly articulated practice in the recursive processes entailed in reading and composing, as well as critical analysis. The seminar affords students guided practice through the stages involved in creating a research paper. Students read five thematically related book-length texts, or the equivalent, drawn from a range of genres, in addition to various non-print sources. In response to these materials, students craft several short pieces leading up to two longer essays—works of exposition and/or argumentation. Students also draft a research paper, developing a research question, gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing information from texts and other sources. Elements of the research process, such as proposals, annotated bibliographies, an abstracts, "works cited" lists, and the like, are submitted, along with the final report, in a research portfolio. Students write a minimum of 32 pages of expository prose during the semester.

Note: Specialized sections are available for multilingual student writers. These sections are marked (MSW) below.

Prerequisites

Satisfaction of the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement and the first half (Part A) of the Reading & Composition Requirement

Units and Format

4 units – Three hours of seminar/discussion per week

Grading Option

Must be taken for a letter grade for R&C credit

Fulfills

Reading & Composition: 2nd half (Part B)

Section

Theme

Time

Instructor

Section 1

Performances of Protest

MWF 10:00am - 12:00pm

Scott Wallin

Class Number: 13253

Meeting time @ place:

MWF 10:00am - 12:00pm @ Dwinelle 89

Section Theme: Performances of Protest

Instructor: Scott Wallin

Section Description:

With the Black Lives Matter Movement, storming of the U.S. Capital, and now the assumed overturning of Roe vs. Wade, these past few years has been an extraordinary time of public protest. As public performances, these protests utilize a variety of language, props, settings, and behavior. How do protests function? What are their effects? In this course, we will emphasize writing that develops through conversation with writers, activists, and fellow students in order to hone our critical thinking, achieve greater ownership of what we read and watch, formulate productive questions and arguments, and write in a clear and engaging manner. Students will also learn about different kinds of research projects, evaluate sources, and access various online campus resources. The semester will culminate with a research project and presentation.

Book List:

Section 2

Race, Gender, and Sexuality in African American Writings

MWF 12:00pm - 2:00pm

Aparajita Nanda

Class Number: 13309

Meeting time @ place:

MWF 12:00pm - 2:00pm @ Internet

Section Theme: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in African American Writings

Instructor: Aparajita Nanda

Section Description:

In this course we will study writings by African American authors. The focus of this course will primarily be on developing your critical thinking, reading and writing skills. Basic rhetorical tools such as description, analysis, explanation, narration, speculation and argument will be used to share your experiences, information and views with others. The emphasis will be on provocative theses, strategies of argument and competent analysis of evidence. It will also introduce you to research techniques that would involve evaluation and synthesis of primary and secondary source material into your argument.

Book List:

Author: Zora Neale Hurston, Title: Their Eyes Were Watching God, ISBN : 0-06-083867-1

Author: Barack Obama, Title: Dreams from my Father, ISBN: 1400082773

Section 3

Race, Gender, and Sexuality in African American Writings

MWF 12:00pm - 2:00pm

Aparajita Nanda

Class Number: 14085

Meeting time @ place:

MWF 12:00pm - 2:00pm @ Dwinelle 189

Section Theme: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in African American Writings

Instructor: Aparajita Nanda

Section Description:

Book List:

Author: Zora Neale Hurston, Title: Their Eyes Were Watching God, ISBN : 0-06-083867-1
Author: Barack Obama, Title: Dreams from my Father, ISBN: 1400082773

Section 4

Research and the Research University

MWF 1:00pm - 3:00pm

Ben Spanbock

Class Number: 14231

Meeting time @ place:

MWF 1:00pm - 3:00pm @ Internet

Section Theme: Research and the Research University

Instructor: Ben Spanbock

Section Description:

Description: This class teaches students to be rigorous and effective investigators. Taking UC Berkeley as a case study, we will discuss the role that the university and its research has played and continues to play in public life. A survey of campus history will be complemented by close examination of primary sources, and discussions on finding and utilizing primary sources effectively. Tracking campus history to the present moment, we will then map our conversations onto current events for a larger discussion on writing research papers using primary and secondary sources. Some of the issues that we will cover in our readings and discussions will include: how and where we find our information, what types of information and what sources of information we find valuable, and what we do with the information we have access to. Over the course of the semester, students will embark on a process of discovery related to a key issue within their chosen topic, to determine where, how, and why their research holds particular relevance to our world today.

Book List:

Available at the Cal Student Store

The Craft of Research, 4th edition (Booth, Wayne C.)

Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era (Levitin, Daniel J.)

Available In Class, Online, or Through the Library

Access to various primary sources, secondary sources, databases, and archives

Varied texts (at least one book length text) related to your discovery project