Requirements

College/School Eligibility:

  • Agriculture and Life Sciences
  • Architecture, Art and Planning
  • Arts and Sciences
  • Computing and Information Science
  • Continuing Education
  • Engineering
  • Graduate School
  • Human Ecology
  • Industrial and Labor Relations
  • Law
  • SC Johnson Business - Dyson
  • SC Johnson Business - Hotel
  • SC Johnson Business - Johnson
  • Veterinary Medicine

Class Year Eligibility:

  • N/A

Open to:

  • Cornell Graduate/Professional Students

The application should include:                                     

  • a description of the proposed seminar’s focus, the applicant’s interest and background therein, and the applicant’s conception of its place in the Institute and of its appeal to undergraduates (particularly first-year).
  • discussion of the integration of the study of writing and reading.
  • discussion of the kinds of writing assignments the applicant plans to give.
  • copies of student evaluations, if the applicant has taught a First-Year Writing Seminar or any other course before.
  • any other information about the seminar and its place in the Institute that the Committee may find helpful and interesting.
  • a vita.
  • supporting letter(s) of recommendation (please have recommendation letters e-mailed directly to Amanda Munson, anm94@cornell.edu).

The Committee seeks applications that integrate writing into the study of a discipline.

Seminars that fill gaps in the current set of offerings have been the strongest contenders in previous years. Applicants may consult the Institute’s web site for listings of the Institute’s current offerings:

https://knight.as.cornell.edu

The primary purpose of the proposed seminar should be to help students write good English expository prose—prose that, at its best, is characterized by clarity, coherence, intellectual force, and stylistic control.

The seminar should adhere to a program-wide set of guidelines that includes the following:

  • At least five—and at most eight—formal essays on new topics, totaling about 25 pages of polished prose.
  • No fewer than three of the 5–8 required essays should go through a process of development under the instructor’s guidance (e.g. revision, peer review, responses to readings, conferences).
  • All seminars should spend ample classroom time on work directly related to writing.
  • Reading assignments in the course subject should be kept under ca. 75 pages per week to permit regular, concentrated work on writing.
  • All students should meet in at least two individual conferences with the instructor.

Applicants who have not taught a First-Year Writing Seminar before should expect to take Writing 7100, “Teaching Writing,” in either the summer or fall of 2024.