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Margaret, I think the ideology of our Engineering Communication course is very close to what you describe. I posted the course description to the CASSL/Inkshed list a couple of days ago. Natasha Margaret Procter wrote: > Dear CASLLrs -- > > First-year seminar courses can give some of the advantages of the > small interactive classes focussing on university discourse and having > real content--biochemistry being one version, but also literature, > anthropology, biology, and physics. York had them for years, > and U of T recently reinvented the idea too as an optional course in > first-year Arts and Science, looking south towards Cornell for a > model rather than glancing up Keele Street. They take "issues" or > interesting topics from within one or more discipline, note that > reading and writing are a good thing, and set a faculty member loose > with 20 or so undergrads. About half the incoming students in A&S take > these courses, and most who do value them for just the reasons we'd > hope. They often get lots of practice doing reading, writing, and > talking in meaningful ways. Students usually take courses _outside_ > their eventual field of specialization, thus meeting their > distribution requirement, but some use them as a way to enrich the > bland first-year introductory courses for their programs. They're > popular with students, though some avoid them as too "exposed" in > requiring intensive language use. > > The profs also learn a lot: how well students write when given a > chance, for instance, and how interested many students are in > exploring ideas. The small classes make a fairly expensive way > to show that "U of T cares," but it sure has good effects on > recruitment and the Maclean's ratings.... > > If the new curriculum here goes ahead as planned, students will > be able to meet a first-year writing requirement by > taking one of these courses or another discipline-based writing course > (including some ESL versions). That will be a hard system to > administer, with real problems of consistency and control in terms > of the actual instruction on literacy offered (or not). But at > least it won't be first-year comp, and it will spread the > responsibility for defining and teaching literacy among the full > range of departments. (There will also be upper-year requirements, > to be met through writing-intensive courses in the students' > areas of specialty and/or some specialized writing courses. Much here > to be defined.) > > Do seminar courses happen elsewhere in Canada? Are they inherently > Canadian, or only here by default because there's no first-year comp? > --Comments, warning, and advice gratefully received on the above plans > to make them the foundation of a decentralized writing program. > > Margaret > > -- > > (Dr.) Margaret Procter Room 216, 15 King's College Circle > Coordinator, Writing Support Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H7 > University of Toronto (416) 978-8109; FAX (416) 971-2027 > www.library.utoronto.ca/www/writing/ [log in to unmask] -- _____________________________________________________________ Natasha Artemeva School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies Carleton University Tel. (613)520-2600 ext. 7452 Fax: (613)520-6641 E-mail: [log in to unmask]