Graduate Writing Courses

In the world of grant writing, one can imagine grant seekers and grant funders (usually foundations) as two groups with shared values engaging in a discourse about their identities. Ultimately, funders allow grant seekers to accomplish what they want to achieve, while funders will be known by the projects they grant. This course will help students negotiate the discourse of grant writing by teaching them:

• The history, theory, and purpose of foundations
• Practical strategies for matching grant seekers to grant funders
• How to analyze Requests for Proposals
• The mechanics of grant writing, including letters of inquiry, statements of need, budgets, and action plans
• Over the course of the semester, students will apply these concepts in developing their own grant proposal

The purpose of this course is two-fold:

• Provide a practical forum for planning to teach college-level writing at FIU in particular and at other universities in general
• Introduce you to the basics of rhetorical and composition theory and its application to writing pedagogy. In the course, we will attempt a useful blend of the theoretical and the practical.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Write a syllabus for first-year composition that has clear goals & outcomes and that reflects the policies of FIU’s writing program specifically and national standards for writing instruction in general;
• Create effective writing assignments that have clear goals and measurable outcomes;
• Plan a writing course, with daily activities that support project and course learning outcomes and that respect a diverse and multilingual student body;
• Structure a class meeting using pedagogical methods of mini-lecture, discussion, collaborative activities, in-class writing, peer reviews, and conferences;
• Employ various methods (conferencing, end/marginal notes, rubrics) to respond to student writing, including writing completed by ESL or resident ESL writers;
• Learn terminology with which to discuss (and understand) writing and writing instruction;
• Better understand your own writing processes and strengths and weaknesses as a writer.