About this course
This course examines features of style and rhetoric in creative writing (fiction and non-fiction prose), professional writing (including AI-assisted writing), and academic writing (published articles, academic blogs, and research-informed social media). A series of questions will frame course themes and concepts. What are the rhetorical effects of the strategies of storytelling observable in the non-fiction prose of fiction writers? What are the unspoken rules and observable patterns in the products of those who write in the professional workplace? What is the impact of AI on the production and reliability of knowledge in the research setting and beyond?
What you’ll learn
- Experience plants and trees up close through local field trips.
- Learn how plants enable us not only to survive but thrive.
- Trace humans’ changing understanding of and interactions with plants over time and place.
- Analyze and write about plants from different perspectives — rhetorical, aesthetic, and political.
Course highlights
If you’re interested in different ways to think, write, and talk about the environment, especially plants, then this course will speak to you. Whether you are a science student seeking a fresh view of plants or a humanities or social science student interested in paying closer attention to the natural world, you’ll come away with a deeper understanding of and a renewed appreciation for plants. You will deepen your knowledge about plants and the environment, and develop your ability to communicate that knowledge through a research project of your own choosing.
A personal note from your instructor
