First off…I’m on break. That means that I have been sleeping as late as possible, staring at the computer screen to make words magically appear, watching TV because I can, getting my ipod up and running again with the new software install, hiding from everyone that I don’t have to deal with, and petting the cats because they need pet.
Oh…and I’ve been knitting on a number of different UFOs in an attempt to knit down as much yardage as possible before MDSW this spring. And thinking about my plan for the next semester–EN102 students? You’ll be learning about many X-Files related things…enjoy that. I know I’ve been really enjoying the reruns.
What I haven’t been doing could fill volumes. One of those things that I haven’t been doing is coming up with all of the inane bells and whistles related to course rationale for “the other class.” When I first saw the request for my course rationale, my response was a very natural “WTF?” And even as I sit here and compose a one line rationale for why I am teaching a class on professional writing, I still don’t even remotely understand why I need one. It’s writing. It’s for business/communications students who are about to enter the real world. They’re going to need to have a working idea of what it is that they’re going to be asked to do when the boss comes up and says something along the lines of “I need a press release for next Saturday’s event. And I need it yesterday.” the newly hired employees will have a good idea of what it is that they’ve just been asked to write.
So while the departments think it’s necessary (read required) for business and communications students to have a theoretical as well as a practical understanding of the numerous rhetorical situations they will face in the arena of professional writing, I apparently have to come up with some sort of justification for the course’s existence.
And though the response to my “Why are you here…in this class?” question is generally met with a deadpanned “Because it’s required for graduation,” I suspect that a shrugged response of “Because it’s required.” isn’t going to fly with the folks who like to toss around words like praxis and discursive.
Really…I’d rather be knitting…
