Spring Break
URI English department offers new spin on summer courses
Brenna McCabe
Issue date: 4/11/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
04/11/07 - In high school, summer school was for kids that failed a couple of classes and needed to get into gear in order to graduate.
At the University of Rhode Island, participating in the 2007 summer program could mean a second chance, an opportunity to get ahead and a chance to get the real South County summer experience.
This year, some URI summer courses are offering a little bit more than in past years.
URI is offering more than 550 summer courses along with new residential accomodations. The English Department is also trying something new for the first summer session.
The department is hosting the Ocean State Summer Writing Conference on June 22 and 23, which will include workshops and discussions with professional writers from far and wide.
The conference is also intertwined with five classes being offered in the summer, including ENG 205 Creative Writing: Poetry, ENG 205 Creative Writing: Fiction, ENG 305 Advanced Creative Writing, ENG 499 Senior Seminar in Creative Writing and Publishing and ENG 601 Seminar in Creative Writing.
Three of the five courses will be offered as online courses. English Department Chairwoman Jean Walton explained that the conference will offer the chance for students enrolled in online courses to meet their instructors face-to-face, as well as learn from guest writers who have published a variety of different works.
"Our online summer courses are all at the undergraduate level, but as with the low residency [master of fine arts] programs, these students will also meet with their instructors in person for an intensive workshop situation at the conference," Walton said. "They will also, of course, get the opportunity to attend panels, round-table discussions, and readings with other writers - not only their instructors."
Though the English Department recently announced its plan to end English WebCT courses, the summer session will be the exception for now. Walton said summer WebCT courses might be a possibility in the future if the program is successful. The three creative writing courses fall in with more than 70 online courses being offered by the university during the summer.
At the University of Rhode Island, participating in the 2007 summer program could mean a second chance, an opportunity to get ahead and a chance to get the real South County summer experience.
This year, some URI summer courses are offering a little bit more than in past years.
URI is offering more than 550 summer courses along with new residential accomodations. The English Department is also trying something new for the first summer session.
The department is hosting the Ocean State Summer Writing Conference on June 22 and 23, which will include workshops and discussions with professional writers from far and wide.
The conference is also intertwined with five classes being offered in the summer, including ENG 205 Creative Writing: Poetry, ENG 205 Creative Writing: Fiction, ENG 305 Advanced Creative Writing, ENG 499 Senior Seminar in Creative Writing and Publishing and ENG 601 Seminar in Creative Writing.
Three of the five courses will be offered as online courses. English Department Chairwoman Jean Walton explained that the conference will offer the chance for students enrolled in online courses to meet their instructors face-to-face, as well as learn from guest writers who have published a variety of different works.
"Our online summer courses are all at the undergraduate level, but as with the low residency [master of fine arts] programs, these students will also meet with their instructors in person for an intensive workshop situation at the conference," Walton said. "They will also, of course, get the opportunity to attend panels, round-table discussions, and readings with other writers - not only their instructors."
Though the English Department recently announced its plan to end English WebCT courses, the summer session will be the exception for now. Walton said summer WebCT courses might be a possibility in the future if the program is successful. The three creative writing courses fall in with more than 70 online courses being offered by the university during the summer.
