Academic Communities/Disciplinary Conventions

Description

Features

• An exceptionally wide range of disciplines-Draws from the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Includes the more traditional fields, such as sociology, literary studies, biochemistry, as well as evolutionary psychology, computer science, genetics, ethnic studies, lesbian and gay studies, social ecology, and cultural studies.

  • Gives students a realistic view of the various approaches taken within academia-and which they are likely to encounter in their own studies-keeping their interest high. Ex.___

• Timely and engaging topics.

  • Addresses issues that both instructors and students are likely to find interesting and relevant. Allows instructors flexibility for adding or modifying material to suit their own interests. Ex.___

• A wider representation of academic genres-Features essays that span a range of genres, audiences, and levels of difficulty. Articles range from those written in a popular and reader-friendly journalistic tone to more difficult, scholarly pieces. Includes the scientific report format as well as the academic essay typically produced by humanists.

  • Introduces students to the different kinds of readings they are likely to encounter in their courses around the university and their lives in general. They will become more adept at recognizing and understanding the purpose and audience of different genres and styles of writing-making them increasingly more sophisticated in reading and writing actual discipline-specific prose. Ex.___

• Interweaving of apparatus with readings-Discusses rhetorical modes and skills as they arise within writing assignments so that their specificity in different contexts is clear, and they don't appear as abstract, overly generalized concepts.

  • Makes curriculum design easier for instructors, and causes less confusion for students. Ex.___

• A variety of questions for each reading.

  • The critical reading questions help students attend closely to the readings and provoke informal writing responses; class discussion questions and a directed freewrite question help them generate ideas for paper assignments and further reflection. Ex.___

• Essay assignments-Each unit ends with four-to-five essay assignments.

  • The range in difficulty of the assignments allows instructors to set up assignment sequences that will develop students' writing skills over the span of a composition course. Students have the opportunity to practice writing using a wide variety of rhetorical modes as well as disciplinary genres. Ex.___

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION.

II. IDENTITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS.

III. GENDER AND SEXUALITY.

IV. CAPITAL ECONOMIES.

V. THE ENVIRONMENT.

Back Cover

ACADEMIC COMMUNITIES/DISCIPLINARY CONVENTIONS is a reader that revolutionizes writing across the curriculum texts by arranging readings around topics rather than disciplines. Each of the text's chapters is organized around a shared topic, such as Gender and Sexuality or Capital Economies, then divided into Science, Social Science, and Humanities section that address the chapter's topic from the discipline's perspective. Additionally, the text contains an array of assignments-all with clear contexts set up for the students.

With over 55 readings, the text represents a wide variety of disciplines, and offers more cutting-edge topics including ethnic studies, evolutionary psychology, and social ecology.

Among its features are:

• Readings that range from journalistic essays featured in popular periodicals to scientific reports and other pieces written for academics and specialists.
• Apparatus accompanying the readings which include critical reading, class discussion, and directed freewrite questions.
• An introduction that outlines a model writing process, and introduces students to important issues of purpose and audience.
• An MLA/APA documentation section.