Summer Courses

Multimodal Composition Theory and Application Description, Structure, and Major Coursework
Instructor: Katie Krahn
8-10:50 a.m., June 20-July 1

This course will focus on multimodal composition. Students will explore how multimodal compositions create inclusive and equitable classrooms, how multimodal compositions can convey understanding/knowledge that the traditional essay may not, and how teachers can use multimodal assignments - large and small - in the writing and literature classrooms. This course will be divided into three (3) sections:

1. Multimodal Composition Theory
2. Teaching Multimodal Compositions in the First Year Composition/Writing Classroom
3. Teaching Multimodal Compositions in the Literature Classroom

The major coursework includes discussion, applying different theories to low-stakes assignments, a presentation on one (1) muiltimodal composition that is "cool," and a final portfolio of how students can incorporate multimodal composition theory and/or assignments into their classrooms.

Reading Hemingway, Interpreting Literature
Instructor: Laura Gruber Godfrey
1 p.m. to 3:50 p.m., June 20-July 1

Laura Gruber Godfrey will teach "Reading Hemingway, Interpreting Literature." This class will explore several major works of Ernest Hemingway, one of the twentieth century's most influential writers. We'll focus in particular on Hemingway's craft, what he names the theory of omission, examining the ways that the subtle textures of his prose can provide valuable literary experience for students of all ages. Reading Hemingway teaches us to slow down to the crawl often necessary to see the real power and suggestion in the compressed language he uses to tell a story, but it also teaches us to be careful not to invent too much backstory to fill in the spaces (and this may be one of the most valuable lessons students can learn from Hemingway's writing). Along the way we will study some of the major themes in Hemingway's works, including the labor of craft, cultural geography, the natural world and humanities's place in it, courage, vulnerability, loss, and spirituality. We'll try to peel back the layers of mythology, misinformation, and bluster that surround Hemingway the man and the author (many of which he himself helped create). Assigned texts will include In Our Time, The Sun Also Rises, selected short stories, and A Movable Feast.