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2000-2001 Catalog |
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University Colloquium
Central 008
Sandra Coyner and Tonette Long, Co-Directors
541-552-8160
The Colloquium is required for entering freshmen who do not have the equivalent of Wr 121, 122. The University Colloquium (Core 101, 102, 103) is a required yearlong course. It is a component of the general education curriculum that combines speaking, writing, and critical thinking for all newly admitted first-year students.Students and faculty form a cohort and remain together for the entire year. The faculty instructor serves as the first-year faculty advisor for students who have not chosen a major. Students are asked to register for a time slot, which remains their meeting time for the entire year. All students read many of the same materials across sections, attend events with other student cohorts, and are encouraged to carry on class discussions and activities outside of the individual cohorts. However, students experience the course in a variety of ways because of inevitable differences between sections.
Learning to use speaking and writing as modes of inquiry, reasoning, and communication forms the academic foundation of the course. Through a structured sequence of experiences, students build the fundamental academic skills required for successful performance in college, and they progress beyond unsupported assertions to reasoned argument and dialogue. Critical writing and speaking and small group communication are also emphasized.
In comparing the Colloquium experience with traditional communication and writing courses, the following guidelines may be useful: (1) successful completion of Core 101 with a C- or better is equivalent to three credits of introductory writing and one communication credit; (2) successful completion of Core 102 with a C- or better is equivalent to three credits of introductory writing and one communication credit; (3) successful completion of Core 103 with a C- or better is equivalent to three credits of introductory writing and one communication credit. Only upon completion of the whole sequence do students receive the equivalent of 12 credits in writing and communication. The communication credit is equivalent to Comm 210 or 225 at Southern Oregon University.
The course does not divide the academic instruction in speaking and writing into modes. Instead, students focus on speaking and writing in terms of rhetorical purpose, with attention to audience, assertions, and reasons. Traditional modes such as narration, exposition, and argument are presented as means to achieving the overall purpose of writing or speaking. Students focus on persuasion and audience during term one, complete a substantive collaborative research project in term two, and practice argumentation in writing and speaking in term three.
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This
material is from the 2000-2001 |