Hi Betsy and others,
The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University has made mandatory a 3
credit (i.e one semester course, 4 hours per week class time) course called
Writing for the Arts. This course is part of the Foundation year requirement
of the 4 year program and is a prerequisite for Art History courses and
other liberal arts and sciences courses.
Jane Milton
-----Original Message-----
From: CASLL/Inkshed [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Betsy Sargent
Sent: October 19, 2004 10:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Quick question about writing requirements
Dear Inkshedders,
Here at U of A some major revisions to the core curriculum in the Faculty
of Arts are being considered. Our department is meeting this Thursday
(i.e., less than 48 hours from now) to develop our response to the current
version of the proposal, and I was hoping to get some very brief input from
as many of you as possible.
Circulating with the proposal has been a cut-and-paste overview of basic
core curriculum requirements for a BA degree from a wide range of Canadian
post-secondary institutions. Skimming through this long and somewhat
patchy, confusing .pdf file, one receives the distinct impression that
hardly any writing, literature or English courses are required for earning
a BA in Canada (with the clear exception of UBC which lists 6 hours
required in English and 6 additional hours in literature--in any
language--though even there, it's unclear if the English course is
primarily writing or something else). A few places do list a required
Writing Intensive course (in any discipline and, as far as I can make out,
at any level).
If you can grab a minute or two to just e-mail what, if any, core
requirement in writing, literature or English exists at your institution
for earning a BA or BS degree, it would help a lot! Here are the main
things I'm looking for:
1. Is there a specific English requirement (or just a requirement for so
many credits to be taken in a humanities course, which would allow English
as one of many possible choices)? And if there is an English requirement,
is it in literature or writing or both? If both, does a certain percentage
of the course have to focus on writing instruction? (at present here, the
first-year lit course has to devote 30% of instructional time to writing).
2. Is there a specific literature requirement? (and if so, can it be in
any language, only in certain ones, only in English, ...)
3. Is there a specific writing requirement? And if so, is it specifically
for a writing course or a Writing Intensive course in any discipline or a
mixture of the two? Can this writing requirement be met at any level or
are there certain sequences or set levels required? (For instance, some
places require a first-year writing course taught in an English Dept or
Writing or Communications Program, to be followed by an upper-level
writing-intensive course in one's major).
4. For all of these, how many hours or credits are required? (6--a
full-year writing course? 3--half-year? something else?)
Please forgive me if this information has been posted on the CASLL list
recently. I've been saving all Inkshed e-mails in a folder since last
January when I sank into a hole and became a little machine that did
nothing but meet publisher deadlines--which I'm still doing now, but only
for going through proof pages, etc., so I get to come up for air now and
then (mainly to teach!). If this info has been circulated since Jan 2004,
maybe someone can give me a rough idea when and I'll go back and go through
my folder of unread Inkshed messages. I apologize for being out of the
conversation for so long--today marks the beginning of my attempt at
gradual re-entry!
Thanks--Betsy Sargent
M. Elizabeth (Betsy) Sargent
Associate Professor
Department of English and Film Studies
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2E5
(780) 492-0457
Office hours Fall 2004: Tues 11-12, Wed 5:30-6:30
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For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
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