About
Course Details
Course Description
The cumulative effects of Anthropocentric climate change are both material and rhetorical. Not only do experts in all fields struggle to redress the environmental degradation caused by warming, emissions, deforestation, acidification, desertification, and pollution, they also endeavor to communicate the consequence, scale, and complexity of these processes to expert and nonexpert audiences and initiate change. Because of the unique technical communication challenges that climate changes poses, in this class students will learn how to communicate effectively in workplace genres using sustainability as a vehicle for that communication practice. This course builds on the competencies students developed in English 1101 and 1102, with a special emphasis on communicating in scientific, business, and technological fields. Students will learn to create workplace genres, ranging from traditional print documents such as reports, proposals, and white papers to electronic forms such as podcasts and websites. Each project affords students the opportunity to skillfully assess the rhetorical situation underlying risk communication, so they can communicate their expert, technical knowledge and skills to stakeholders. In addition to the pragmatic fundamentals of business and technical communication, LMC 3403 will help students learn how to assess audiences in order to create documents, webtexts, and visuals that are accessible, comprehensible, and usable. When students complete the course, they will have learned how to evaluate and respond to a variety of complex communication situations in professional settings. ENGL 3403. CS6 and 3403.CS1 will meet on Bluejeans every Wednesday. ENGL 3403.CS7 is fully remote and asynchronous.
Course Goals
| Category |
Definition |
Outcome |
| Rhetoric |
Rhetoric focuses on the available means of persuasion, considering the synergy of factors such as context, audience, purpose, role, argument, organization, design, visuals, and conventions of language |
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to compose artifacts that address the exigencies of diverse contexts, and exhibit effective persuasive strategies, tact, and sensitivity to theoretical, ethical, and legal concerns. Additionally, students will be able to collect, craft, and present technical information to convey a clear purpose to a specific audience |
| Process |
Processes for communication—for example, creating, planning, drafting, designing, rehearsing, revising, presenting, publishing—are recursive, not linear. Learning productive processes is as important as creating products. |
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to construct, select, craft, revise, and repurpose information to reflect individual, cultural, and/or organizational values. Additionally, students will be able to collaborate on artifacts that meet the needs of the specific audiences. |
| Modes/Media |
Activities and assignments should use a variety of modes and media—written, oral, visual, electronic, and nonverbal—singly and in combination. The context and culture of multimodality and multimedia are critical to effective communication. |
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to create WOVEN (Written, Oral, Electronic, and Nonverbal) artifacts—such as memos, emails, proposals, reports, instructions, manuals, websites, and presentations of varying lengths—that display strategic uses of generic and stylistic conventions. |
| Design |
Documents and other artifacts should arrange visual elements according to consistent, efficient, and effective principles. |
Upon successful completion of this course, students should implement principles of document design to create and present accessible, comprehensible, and usable artifacts. Additionally, students will integrate graphics to achieve maximum clarity in print documents, presentation slides, websites, and other artifacts. |
