Writing & Interdisciplinary Collaborative Design

Prerequisites: No Prerequisites.

Description: This course is required for all Living ArtsEngine students and fulfills the First-Year Writing Requirement (FYWR), with an emphasis on argument-based, college-level, multi-modality writing. It helps students explore collaborative creative and design processes while being introduced to the skills needed to write successfully at the college level. A team of four faculty members from different disciplines work with students to illustrate how thinking and working together creatively produces greater productivity, accomplishment, meaning, and richness to one’s academic, professional, and personal life. Work towards the final project is supported by two essays as well as creative exercises, tutorials, workshops, readings, discussions, and research activities that encourage students to hone existing skills and experiment with unfamiliar disciplines. Assignments help students to a) explore the relationship between architecture, music, engineering, writing, and art, and b) use elements from each field to make complex, nuanced arguments that matter. All assignments are closely connected to students’ creative practices and making persuasive arguments. This course emphasizes connections between writing and other forms of making. As with other creative activities, writing is a process of inquiry. This class teaches students to cultivate curiosity and ask good questions in order to make genuine discoveries and explore fascinating processes and questions.

Frequency: This course is typically offered in the fall term of every academic year, though scheduling may vary according to future term circumstances.