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University
Colloquium
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SOU CATALOG HOME : COLLOQUIUM : COURSES
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 year-long course that combines speaking, writing, and critical thinking for all newly admitted first-year students. Successful completion of the twelve credit course meets all requirements for Goals 1 and 2 of the general education requirements at Southern Oregon University.Students and faculty form a cohort and remain together for the entire year. The full-time 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 much 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. And yet, because of inevitable differences between sections, students experience the course in a variety of ways.
The academic foundation of the course is instruction on learning to use speaking and writing as modes of inquiry, reasoning, and communication. Through a structured sequence of experiences which begin to build the fundamental academic skills required for successful performance in college, students progress beyond unsupported assertions to reasoned argument and dialog. Critical writing and speaking and small group communication are also emphasized.
To equate the Colloquium experience to traditional communication and writing courses, the following guidelines may be useful: (1) successful completion of Core 101 with a C- or betterequivalent of three credits of introductory writing and one communication credit; (2) successful completion of Core 102 with a C- or betterthree credits of introductory writing, and one communication credit; (3) successful completion of Core 103 with a C- or betterthree 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 Comm 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. In each term, students focus on audience, assertions, and reasons. Traditional modes such as narration, exposition, and argument are thought of as means to achieve the overall purpose of writing or speaking. Students focus on persuasion and audience during term one, are introduced to research techniques in term two, and during the third term are required to complete a substantial collaborative research project.