This course is designed for incoming international students who would like to reflect on their first year in the United States while exploring U.S. academic writing formats, the philosophies of liberal arts education, their own bilingual identities, and other topics related to U.S. academia. Assignments will involve keeping a journal, reading and writing a variety of essays, pre-writing activities, academic vocabulary exercises, and advanced grammar analysis. The reading will focus on essays about immigrant experiences. Authors such as Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Alain Mabanckou, and Ariel Dorfman will be included as examples of excellent essay writing and to provide materials for discussion. The workshop-style format of the class will encourage academic exchanges, critical analysis, and peer editing. The course is recommended for international students, students who immigrated to the U.S. after middle school, and students whose dominant language is not English. |