Introduction to Writing, Identity, and the Moab Experience

I will produce a syllabus for a 3-credit semester-long introductory class on writing at the Utah State University "Education Center" in Moab, Utah. This course will be for freshmen who either live in Moab or in outlying areas like Blanding or even Grand Junction. USU Moab has many online and broadcast courses, but I would like to initiate a face-to-face writing course.

I hope to move to Moab after my house in Sandy sells, so this will hopefully pave the way for my career goal of teaching writing to adults.

I'm calling my course "Introduction to Writing, Identity, and the Moab Experience." Identity is such a primal part of a writer's perspective that I want to pay special attention to gender, ethnicity, birth order, and whatever the student wishes to cite as influencing a sense of self. Moab is a special, remote, frontier-like setting, and it attracts unique people to actually set down roots there. Plus, "the frontier classroom" reference in Bartholomae caught my attention and is something I'd like to explore with students.

I disagree with Jonathan that putting together a syllabus is easy, that you just use a template. A class syllabus involves deciding on a teaching philosophy; understanding young adult developmental issues; choosing books, movies, articles, and other materials; helping students set goals and timelines; planning time for revision and peer review; and wrapping up your presentation and completing any evaluative tools in about 14 weeks.

There are many movies that feature writers (such as Stand By Me, Finding Forrester, Field of Dreams, that Chevy Chase one about writing a novel in New England) that I'm hoping to offer these as discussion points and perhaps as social get-together opportunities with students. I love the ambience of small towns and home-grown fun and take Parini's explanation of his "open-air," outside-of-class teaching interactions seriously. There are two comic book stores in Moab, so perhaps I could involve graphic novels somehow.

I have contacted someone at USU Moab about designing such a course, but I welcome your feedback and suggestions on helping 18-20 year olds explore writing and the self.