First-Year Writing Seminar Selection

Our First-Year Writing Seminar selection process is a guided activity that empowers first-year students to select an Academic Inquiry Seminar that best suits their needs as a new college writers and thinkers. This activity is part of the Roadmap, and it asks students to choose which kind of course will best support their development. Students will be provided with materials to help them make this decision, including course descriptions and other information.

During the First-Year Writing Seminar Selection process, students will be asked to:

• read a brief essay,

• write a response to the reading,

• assess their own response according to specific criteria typical of Academic Inquiry Seminar writing, and

• complete a questionnaire about their reading and writing experiences before coming to college.

After completing these activities, students will reflect on their needs as new college writers and indicate the kind of writing seminar that will best support their development. Students will choose from among:

• Foundations Seminars - for students who need or want support while developing strong writing habits and acclimating to college-level writing;

• Seminars for Non-Native Speakers of English - for students who are not completely confident in their academic skills and/or are interested in more intensive support in academic English with faculty who know how to help them appropriately;

• Topical Seminars - for students who need or want to apply their writing to explore scholarly areas of interest.

ALL three kinds of Academic Inquiry Seminars have the same learning objectives and meet the same requirements, but they each foster academic writing in a different environment.

The Academic Inquiry Seminar's defining feature is its small size: with enrollment limited to 16 or fewer students, every Academic Inquiry Seminar promotes active engagement and discussion, allows students to learn from one another, and offers a vigorous introduction to academic inquiry. Academic Inquiry Seminars have a topic of study, consistent with CWRU’s general education mission, and they also involve instruction in academic writing. In addition to the Topical Seminars, CWRU also offers Foundations Seminars and Seminars for Non-Native Speakers of English, which are designed to provide more direct writing support to students who need more experience and/or confidence in writing at the college level.

Topical Seminars have a topic of study, consistent with the Writing Program’s general education mission, but they also involve instruction in academic writing. These Seminars have a variety of topics. The majority of first-year students take a Topical Seminar. 

AIQS 100: Academic Inquiry Seminar Course Description
This course develops the habits of mind and writing/communication processes that characterize academic discourse. Students engage with questions and topics from multiple perspectives, and they establish effective writing processes (including planning, drafting, responding to feedback, revising, reflecting, and self-assessing). 

Note: Each AIQS 100 course has a specific topic; students who select Topical Seminars through the First-Year Writing Seminar Selection process will have an opportunity to indicate their choices as part of the first-year registration process.

Some recent examples of Topical Seminars include the following:

AIQS 100: The Sound of the City - The Local and Global in Cleveland Popular Music

For all its celebrated connection to rock and roll, Cleveland is home to a wide variety of musical genres: jazz, polka, hip-hop, punk, R&B, blues, pop, among many others. Cleveland is also a home on the move, a city of immigration and outmigration, and a city of waterways, bridges, and commuter rails. Yet Cleveland is a city of enclaves, borders, and social distance despite geographic nearness. In this seminar, we will ask a fundamental question: is music like a bridge that connects different people in the city or is it a border that structures divisions? To answer this question, we will explore recordings, obituaries, journalism, and archival material to understand the sound of the city over time. We will examine the links between dominant and subcultural music, analyze music’s relationship to tourism, and reflect on how music defines Cleveland’s place in the global imagination. Music, at once rooted in identity and as rootless as radio waves, presents an alternate lens for understanding the routes and rifts shaping urban life.

AIQS 100: Global Food Challenges - Climate, Health, and Equity

In this seminar, we will examine the environmental, social, and health consequences of our food choices. Among other topics, we delve into the history of agriculture and industrial agriculture; the impact of the global food system on climate change; food insecurity; environmental racism in the food system; Black and Indigenous ecologies; and food waste. We look at the food system as both a significant cause of ongoing social, health, and environmental issues and a crucially important lever to optimize environmental sustainability and human health through community-centered regenerative and transformative solutions. Students will also engage with food and sustainability initiatives on campus and in our Cleveland community and visit a farmer’s market nearby.

AIQS 100: High Art & Guilty Pleasures

How, and why, do we draw distinctions between art and entertainment? Lowbrow and highbrow? A crowd-pleasing *flick* and a critic-approved *film*? This seminar will explore the logic of this common sorting process, as well as its consequences. After all, such distinctions have historically been linked with other forms of discrimination—often amplifying or silencing certain voices on the basis of gender, race, or class. In this course we will investigate these connections between critical evaluation and broader social dynamics, while also engaging critically with our own tastes, values, and received ideas. What makes *The Great Gatsby* so great? Is there any value in keeping up with the Kardashians? Who determines the criteria that make one work a *classic,* the other a *guilty pleasure*? Traversing a range of artworks, novels, comics, and movies, we’ll work both the high and the low ends of the cultural spectrum, paying special attention to works that seem to blur or combine the usual categories—compelling us to ask whether great art and guilty pleasures can sometimes be one and the same.

Foundations Seminars are designed to provide more direct writing support to students who need or want more experience with the writing process. These seminar experiences will provide students with opportunities to develop their own writing processes and their confidence about their ability to perform college level writing.

AIQS 110: Academic Inquiry Seminar - Foundations of College Writing Course Description

This course develops the habits of mind and writing/communication processes that characterize academic discourse. Students engage with questions and topics from multiple perspectives, and they establish effective writing processes (including planning, drafting, responding to feedback, revising, reflecting, and self-assessing). This seminar provides attention to the personal aspects of writing including processes, habits, and skills as well as to the social aspects of writing including types of writing, persuasion/argument, and conventions.

The course structure of this section allows for us to spend more time and attention on your individual needs and goals as writers. You will learn academic writing conventions, rhetorical techniques, and various processes that you might apply in new writing situations.

Note: Each AIQS 110 course focuses on writing and communication as a topic of study; students who select Foundations Seminars through the First-Year Writing Seminar Selection process will be placed into a seminar that fits their schedule as part of the first-year registration process.

Seminars for Non-Native Speakers of English are designed for students whose first language is not English and who need or want direct support in reading and writing in academic English. Seminars for Non-Native Speakers of English provide classroom support for students who are not comfortable reading and/or writing in English. They have the same course outcomes as other Academic Inquiry Seminars, but extra time is devoted to grammatical and rhetorical concerns. These classes are composed of students whose first language is not English (including students who have attended high school in English-speaking countries) and a teacher who has special training in teaching English as a second language.

Note: There are two kinds of Seminars for Non-Native Speakers of English (please see below for additional information.) Students who select a Seminar for Non-Native Speakers through the First-Year Writing Seminar selection process will be placed into a seminar that fits their schedule as part of the first-year registration process.

Students who select a Seminar for Non-Native Speakers of English through the First-Year Writing Seminar selection process will enroll in either AIAE 100 or AIQS 120 in their first semester.

AIAE 100: Academic English Course Description
This course is designed to improve the fundamental reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills of students for whom English is not their first language.

AIQS 120: Academic Inquiry Seminar Course Description
This course, specifically designed for non-native speakers of English, develops the habits of mind and writing/communication processes that characterize academic discourse. Special emphasis is given to critical reading and writing in academic English by focusing on rhetorical and linguistic concerns specific to non-native speakers of English. Students engage with questions and topics from multiple perspectives, and they establish effective writing processes (including planning, drafting, responding to feedback, revising, reflecting, and self-assessing) as well as language acquisition habits.

Will taking AIAE 100: Academic English in my first semester and AIQS 120: Academic Inquiry Seminar in my second semester delay my academic progress or put me behind other students?
No, this will NOT delay the sequence of your general education communication requirements and will NOT put you behind other students. Opting for AIAE 100: Academic English in your first semester and AIQS 120: Academic Inquiry Seminar in the second semester will still leave you ample time to complete your other general education writing requirements. Instead, you will have an advantage as AIAE 100: Academic English will prepare you to be more successful not only in your Academic Inquiry Seminar and communication intensive courses, but also in all other courses at CWRU by developing your academic skills.

Are Seminars for Non-Native Speakers of English ESL courses?
Seminars for Non-Native Speakers of English are not English language courses. AIAE 100: Academic English is a course that develops students’ academic skills needed to be successful in their Academic Inquiry Seminar as well as other courses at CWRU. AIQS 120: Academic Inquiry Seminar has the same student learning objectives as Topical Seminars, but offers additional support to students in areas specific to non-native speakers.

If my preference is for a Seminar for Non-Native Speakers of English, am I missing out on interacting with native speakers?
You will have abundant opportunities to interact with native speakers in all your other courses during your first semester as well as in future courses at CWRU. A Seminar for Non-Native Speakers of English will be beneficial for you as it is taught by professors trained to attend to specific needs of students for whom English is not their first language in the same seminar format and with the same learning outcomes as Topical Seminars.

I am not sure which Seminar for Non-Native Speakers of English is best for me. What should I do?
During the First-Year Writing Seminar Selection process you can select the option to have a Writing Program faculty member teaching these courses decide the option that would benefit you most. The faculty member will read your responses to the questionnaire as well as your response to the reading & writing task to consider the best course for you.
 

All three Academic Inquiry Seminar experiences award academic credit and meet the General Education learning outcomes; students’ transcripts will reflect that they have taken an Academic Inquiry Seminar, regardless of which seminar experience they choose. None of these courses is remedial nor a prerequisite for a Topical Academic Inquiry Seminar.

If you have questions about the First-Year Writing Seminar selection process or Foundations Seminars, you can contact Martha Schaffer, Director of First Year Writing, at martha.schaffer@case.edu or 216.368.1890.

If you have questions about writing for students whose first language is not English or Seminars for Non-Native Speakers of English, you can contact Gusztav Demeter, Director of Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English, at gusztav.demeter@case.edu or 216.368.2452.

It is very important that you complete the First-Year Writing Seminar Selection Process as soon as possible after it opens on your Roadmap. You will not be able to register for classes in your first semester until this activity is complete. 

Some students will take their Academic Inquiry Seminar in their first semester, while others will take it in their second semester.

When you begin to register in SIS, you will see a "placeholder" course in your schedule. This lets you know when you are scheduled to take your Academic Inquiry Seminar.

• If you are scheduled to take your Academic Inquiry Seminar in the fall, you will see AIQS 850F (0 credits) in your schedule. 

• If you are scheduled to take your Academic Inquiry Seminar in the spring, you will AIQS 850S (0 credits) in your schedule.

These placeholder courses will be removed from your schedule once the registration process (see below) is complete.

How will I select my specific seminar course?

During the First-Year Writing Seminar Selection activity, you indicated the kind of AIQS that would best support your development as a writer. Depending on this choice, you will be enrolled in a specific course as part of the course registration process:

• If you selected a Topical Seminar, you will register for AIQS 100 or AIQS 130 during registration–either Fall or Spring as your schedule placeholder indicates. You will choose from among the diverse topics that are available each semester. You can review these in SIS using “Class Search.” After you select a class from the list, you can read a detailed description of the topic by clicking on the Comment Icon under “Notes.”

• If you selected a Foundations Seminar or a Seminar for Non-Native Speakers of English, you will be placed into a seminar in your first semester that fits into the rest of your schedule after you register for your other courses during First-Year Registration. These courses have limited availability.

Note: If you are scheduled to take your AIQS course in your second semester, all you need to do is complete your self-selection as part of your Roadmap and then wait for additional instructions on registering for your course in the next semester. You will be prompted to enroll in an AIQS when you register for your second semester. 

Some students will take their Academic Inquiry Seminar in their first semester, while others will take it in their second semester.

When you begin to register in SIS, you will see a "placeholder" course in your schedule. This lets you know when you are scheduled to take your Academic Inquiry Seminar.

• If you are scheduled to take your Academic Inquiry Seminar in the fall, you will see AIQS 850F (0 credits) in your schedule. 

• If you are scheduled to take your Academic Inquiry Seminar in the spring, you will AIQS 850S (0 credits) in your schedule.

These placeholder courses will be removed from your schedule once the registration process is complete.

How will I select my specific seminar course?

During the First-Year Writing Seminar Selection activity, you indicated the kind of AIQS that would best support your development as a writer. Depending on this choice, you will be enrolled in a specific course as part of the course registration process:

• If you selected a Topical Seminar, you will register for AIQS 100 or AIQS 130 during registration–either Fall or Spring as your schedule placeholder indicates. You will choose from among the diverse topics that are available each semester. You can review these in SIS using “Class Search.” After you select a class from the list, you can read a detailed description of the topic by clicking on the Comment Icon under “Notes.”

• If you selected a Foundations Seminar or a Seminar for Non-Native Speakers of English, you will be placed into a seminar in your first semester that fits into the rest of your schedule after you register for your other courses during First-Year Registration. These courses have limited availability.

If you have AIQS 850S (for spring) in your schedule, you will register for a breadth course for the fall. Then, when it is time to register for spring, you will register for AIQS 100 or AIQS 130 along with your other spring courses. Please note, we offer similar Topical AIQS courses in the fall and spring semesters, so regardless of when you are assigned to take your AIQS, you will have the same opportunities for topics.

Students matriculating in Fall 2023 and later will be enrolled in a new set of Unified General Education Requirements (UGER) and be required to complete the following sequence of courses:

• An Academic Inquiry Seminar (3 credit-hours) during their first year of enrollment;
• Two Communication-Intensive Courses (at least 3 credit-hours each);
• A Disciplinary Communication Course (3 credit-hours); and
• A Capstone Project Course (at least 3 credit-hours).

For more details, please see the General Education Writing webpage.