I have designed & frequently teach courses in academic writing, as well as professional & technical communication. My courses foreground multimodality & often engage students in empirical research. Below are some sample syllabi.
My template for a liberal arts-style first-year writing course. It’s based on the University of Pittsburgh model in which students produce critical essays in response to academic texts.
An advanced humanities course centered on digital media production. Students learn about the relationship between humans & their tools, research their own digital environments, & compose a variety of multimodal documents.
An undergraduate professional writing / business communication course. It draws on classic rhet-comp scholarship to help students think critically about the writing they do at work.
A graduate-level professional writing course. Students read & debate important works of business & management theory & create a range of multimodal business documents.
A two-course sequence designed to introduce STEM students to the basics of scientific & technical communication. The sequence deploys a “spiral” approach in which students revisit the same topics in increasingly complex instantiations.
To learn about the specific skills & assignments involved, click here.
An undergraduate tech comm elective. Students hone their technical writing skills and use industry-standard tools like Blender & Adobe Illustrator to create infographics, scientific illustrations & 3D models.
MATTHEW OVERSTREET 