universal design

Last week, the UD English Department was extremely fortunate to host Jay Dolmage, Associate Professor of English at the University of Waterloo and scholar of disability, rhetoric and writing. In addition to his fantastic talk, “From ‘Disabled Upon Arrival’ to Academic Eugenics,” and the many other ways he gave his time, Jay led the first Composition Program Brown Bag session of the year on Universal Design.

As a substitute for those who missed the excellent session, or as a supplement for those who attended, you can download the notes from Jay’s Brown Bag here.

Also, as promised, Jay has shared his Tipsheet for Universal Design for UD writing teachers to use in their classrooms. This document has also been posted as a permanent link under the “Resources” tab of the Composition Program website.

Our gratitude goes out to Jay for his sheer generosity in sharing his expertise, ideas, and time with all of us at UD. Thanks, too, to those who attended the first Brown Bag and came with thoughtful questions and comments for Jay. Don’t miss our next Brown Bag session on “re-mediation” this Wednesday, October 8 at 11:15 am (Memorial 3^rd floor lounge)!

Fall 2014: Writing Program Brown Bag Series

All sessions held in the Memorial Hall 3^rd-floor lounge. Light snacks and beverages will be provided.

Places to Start: Moving Towards Universal Design in the Classroom

Tuesday, September 23^rd, 11:00-12:00

For the first brown bag of the 2014-15 academic year, Jay Dolmage, professor of rhetoric, composition, and disability studies at the University of Waterloo, will facilitate a conversation about the concept of “Universal Design” (UD) as a means of creating more accessible and inclusive ways to move pedagogically. The starting point of the conversation will be a “list” of Universal Design suggestions across teaching modes and student engagements.

Don’t Wait: Remediate!

Wednesday, October 8^th, 11:15-12:15

Over the past few years, “remediation” assignments have sprung up in first-year composition courses, both at UD and nationally. Such assignments challenge students to rewrite their research papers in new modes and genres and for new audiences. This brown bag lunch will be run as a roundtable, in which Michael McCamley, Janel Atlas, and Caitlin Larracey talk about their remediation assignments, how they engage students in multimodal writing, and what E110 course outcomes these assignments support. Come learn about “rewriting” research papers as video projects, magazine articles, and Tumblr posts, and share some of your own ideas and experiences!

Teaching in the Internet Age: What’s On (the) Line?

Tuesday, November 11^th, 11:00-12:00

In this era of rapidly evolving internet and communication technologies, online learning in higher education is booming. In this brown bag session, Lauren Hornberger will lead a discussion about online writing instruction in particular. Topics may include why and how writing is currently being taught online, available technologies for delivering course content and facilitating interaction, types of assignments and activities that work particularly well in the online environment, and strategies for ensuring student engagement. We will also explore possibilities for implementing the best of traditional writing instruction in the online classroom as well as how online teaching strategies may inform our approaches to face-to-face instruction.

Any questions, thoughts or suggestions for brown bags? Contact Jane Wessel (jwessel@udel.edu) or Kiley Dhatt (kileynd@udel.edu).