Course Description: Introduction

Research in the Disciplines is a research writing course required of students in some colleges and majors. Check with your Dean to determine whether you must take 355:201 (or some equivalent) after completing Expository Writing I. Every student who has successfully completed 101 has the basic writing skills to succeed in 201. The purpose of English 201 is to teach students to do extensive research, analysis, and writing within an area of their interest (i.e., Popular Culture) or within their potential major field (i.e., Justice Administration and The Law). Together, 101 and 201 prepare students for the kinds of writing they will be expected to do in upper-level courses and in their careers.

The Challenge of 201 - Sustained Engagement amid Independence
Research in the Disciplines is more than an extension of English 101. Though the early papers for English 201 provide some review of the skills developed in 101, students are expected to work independently of their instructor to choose, evaluate, and analyze texts for a research project of their own design.

The independent, individualized nature of research project in 201 presents students with particular challenges. While the instructor establishes an environment (in the classroom, the library, and in conferences) that supports and encourages the completion of the students' research projects, success in 201 is largely dependent on the motivation and discipline of the individual student.

The structure of 201 is very different from most classes with which the student will be familiar. For example, once the individual projects are under way there are weeks in which no specific reading is assigned. This is because students are expected to be reading the material relevant to their particular projects and no single class assignment can meet that need for everyone. The student who interprets the absence of a specific reading assignment as freedom from any reading or "homework" puts his or her success in 201 very much in jeopardy.

201 requires a sustained level of independent engagement with an individualized research project. The 201 student must choose a research topic within the broad outlines of the topic for the section in which she or he is registered. The student must commit time and effort to library and internet research (outside of class and often in the absence of specific research assignments). The student must read, evaluate, and interpret sources uncovered in the research - again, in the absence of a particular reading assignment and without class-wide discussion of the sources.

The instructor facilitates this process by requiring several drafts of the research essay, scheduling library visits, holding conferences with students, dedicating class time to peer group discussion, discussing sample student writing in class, and designing assignments that encourage students to remain engaged in their research.

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