Betsy and others --
A quick answer from U of T Arts and Science: No, we don't require
English courses or writing courses (definitely not the same thing here)
for graduation. A few years ago the Arts and Science Faculty Council
resolved that departments should integrate writing instruction within
their programs so that all graduating students would have taken at least
one course in their major or specialist program that included practice
and instruction on writing. That is, we laid requirements on departments
before doing that to students.
A number of departments did develop or adapt (more or less)
writing-intensive courses. The most suitable were core second- or
third-year courses focussing on the construction and communication of
disciplinary knowledge. There are still many interesting experiments
taking place in these and other courses (see
www.utoronto.ca/writing/lessonsartsci.html), but resources such as TA
time for marking written work are just too tight to allow for widespread
success.
Now we're about to start developing new structures in Arts and Science
to connect the college writing centres (full of writing experts) with
the departments in Arts and Science (full of courses that try to include
writing assignments). Maybe in a few years we will be able to say that
the resolution is closer to being fulfilled.
Margaret
--
Margaret Procter, Ph.D.
University of Toronto Coordinator, Writing Support
15 King's College Circle, Toronto ON M5S 3H7
416 978-8109; FAX 416 971-2027
[log in to unmask]
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing
Betsy Sargent wrote:
> 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,
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> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
--
Margaret Procter, Ph.D.
University of Toronto Coordinator, Writing Support
15 King's College Circle, Toronto ON M5S 3H7
416 978-8109; FAX 416 971-2027
[log in to unmask]
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
[log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]
For the list archives and information about the organization,
its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
