WRI 101 - Course list for Writing in the Liberal Arts

Fall 2025 Sections

WRI 101 [A]: The Science of Happiness
MW 8:05 - 9:20
Sockol
What does it mean to be happy? Why do we value happiness? And how can individuals, groups, and institutions promote human flourishing and growth? In this writing seminar, we will focus on how these themes have been framed and investigated in the field of positive psychology - as empirical questions that can be answered through systematic observation of the world. You will learn about this research and develop your critical reading skills by engaging with a range of texts, including scientific articles, journalism, podcasts, and other forms of media. Along with our discussions of existing research, we will engage in experiential learning activities, exploring different “positive interventions” designed to promote happiness and well-being. You will develop your ability to write for different purposes and audiences through three major writing projects. For each project, we will go through a process of drafting, peer feedback, and substantive revision. 

WRI 101 [AA]: Race on Film
TR 12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
McCarthy
Recent Oscar-related controversies have highlighted the representation of race on film. This course will provide students with analytic tools for approaching this topic from a variety of angles. Just as some films depict racial strife, whether historically known or obscured, they also draw on familiar categories that we may or may not recognize. The “white savior” model, for instance, has received its share of critique. But how should we think about scenarios that turn the historically oppressed into characters with magical or superhero powers? Equally important, what racial assumptions underpin films that seem, on the surface, to tell stories about what we perceive as a universal norm? And finally, how do the various facets of our own, individual identities filter our perceptions of what we see on film? This course will hone writing skills, foster critical thinking, and encourage collegial discussion of a perennially controversial subject. Assignments will consist of three majors projects, each with stages of drafting, peer critique, and revision.

WRI 101 [B]: Arab Prisons and Cultural Production
TR 8:15 - 9:30
Bader Eddin
Prisons, the cultural sphere, and their internal and external domination constitute a tripartite strategy utilized by Arab authoritarian regimes to assert control over public spaces, strengthen order, and consolidate their power through various forms of violence. This course undertakes an in-depth examination of the prison system within Arab culture and countries, scrutinizing specific instances of prison cultural practices, theories, methodologies, and literary and artistic works. Additionally, it delves into prisons as a manifestation of performative violence, aiming not only to subjugate prisoners but also to exert dominance over the social, political, cultural, and economic landscape surrounding the prison itself. While the course revolves around prisons, its primary focus is on studying how cultural production shapes perceptions and controls, demonstrated through diverse cultural products such as films, music, literature, and everyday language.

 Although the course is centered on Syria, it remains open to exploring broader Arab prisons through various case studies. These case studies not only enrich our understanding of the region but also deepen our comprehension of prison structures, domination, and the cultural production within this field. The course will address several critical questions, including: How do cultural actors produce art in repressive environments? What strategies can be employed to subvert authoritarian regimes? Can we effectively write about pain and interpret it? How can we approach academically and ethically such topics? Throughout the course, students will undertake three projects: writing a film critique, comparing two key articles on prisons in the MENA region, and crafting a final paper on prison cultural production. Each project will undergo three phases: drafting, peer critique, and revision.

WRI 101 [C]: Constructing the Caribbean
MWF 8:30 - 9:20
Gill-Sadler
The mere mention of the Caribbean produces a range of iconic, and sometimes contradictory, images. Some representations of the Caribbean boasts of the most beautiful beaches in the world while others highlight some of the most devastating scenes of climate disaster. More, representations of the Caribbean feature, at once, iconic histories of revolution, i.e., the Haitian Revolution, and some of the most harrowing, carceral abuses in the contemporary period, i.e., Guantanamo Bay. This introductory writing course explores the history, production, and circulation of the range of representations of Caribbean in genres like poetry, personal essays, travelogues, film, and print and digital advertisements. We will analyze representations of the Caribbean from authors situated in the Caribbean, its diasporas, and throughout the world. In examining these texts, we will answer the following questions: 1) Who produces these representations of the Caribbean and why? 2) What do these representations of the Caribbean tell us about the writer’s fears, desires, and values?  3) How do certain representations of the Caribbean gain prominence over others and why? 4) How might we engage representations of the Caribbean more critically as readers and writers? 

Over the course of the semester, students will produce three major writing projects. Each of these projects will incorporate multiple drafts, peer review, and revision opportunities. Outside of these major projects, the course will provide regular opportunities for a range of writing including, but not limited to, annotations, free writing, and word mapping to build students’ confidence in their ability to write with regularity and process their ideas in written form. 

WRI 101 [D]: From Scroll to Screen
MWF 8:30 - 9:20
G. Snyder
Where do “sacred books” come from? How do they grow and change over time? How does their form-handwritten, then printed, and now digital-affect their meaning? These questions lie at the heart of the course, and we’ll explore them by looking at the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible, and the Qur’an. Along the way, we’ll create our own handwritten manuscript with papyrus and reed pens; we’ll set type and print documents in the letterpress shop in order to understand the printing revolution, and work with artifacts in the Rare Book Room. In the course of exploring the use of images in scripture, we’ll go to the Visual Arts Center and make woodblock prints.  Finally, we’ll consider what happens when scriptures are digitized and move into “the cloud.” How do these new digital forms influence the meaning, interpretation and authority of scripture?

WRI 101 [E]: Justice and Piety
MWF 8:30 - 9:20
Shaw
The course offers students a chance to investigate a venerable question of political life: What is the relationship between political justice and religious faith? While most of us in twenty-first century liberal democracies assume that politics and religion have nothing in common-and that they should have nothing in common-political philosophers have long acknowledged their intimate and mutually implicative relationship.

We’ll explore this relationship by reading and discussing writings that span several genres (philosophy, epic poetry, historical narrative, rhetoric, and dramatic dialogue) by four ancient Greek authors: Homer, Thucydides, Sophocles, and Plato. We’ll attempt this task as well by writing often and in a variety of formats. In all assignments students will be encouraged to articulate and defend their own interpretations and points of view. 

WRI 101 [F]: Religion in the Public Square
MWF 9:30 - 10:20
Blum
The role of religion in American society has always been contentious, and in recent years it has reemerged as a matter of dispute. This class poses the question: what role should religion play in American public life? The class will draw on contrasting  perspectives that speak to fundamental questions about the rights, freedoms, and responsibilities that citizens have, and the role that religion plays in those challenging questions. Students will write three major papers, each accompanied by a process of reading, drafting, and revising.  

WRI 101 [G]: Being Human
MWF 9:30 - 10:20
Wertheimer
Being Human:  For millennia, people have asked: What does it mean to be human?  This course excavates this bottomless question using tools borrowed from a wide variety of disciplines: Classics, religious studies, anthropology, biology, psychology, economics, Africana studies, comparative literature, history, and more.  Essays written by members of the Davidson College faculty dominate the reading list.  Authors of several of these essays will visit the class. 

WRI 101 [H]: Bad Art
MWF 9:30 - 10:20
Rippeon
This writing course examines “bad art”: cultural productions that raise questions about censorship and freedom of expression, the ethics of representation, kitsch and camp, and good art made by bad people.  We will consider a variety of cultural forms, including literary texts (poems, fiction); music, television and film; and the visual arts.  We will work to develop criteria for engaging with these forms; to develop these criteria, we will read critical theory, popular journalism, and literary and art criticism.  We will also occasionally make use of the College’s art collection, and our own practices of cultural consumption.  Student writing will include shorter, low-stakes assignments, informal presentations, and a series of essays (four) executed through a sequence of individual and group-oriented activities (e.g. conferences, peer-review, drafting and revision). 

WRI 101 [I]: Race Religion and Representation
TR 9:40 - 10:55
Marti
How do systems of race and religion shape the ways individuals and communities are represented-and misrepresented-in public discourse, social media, and academic scholarship? In what ways have these powerful categories been used to define, divide, or empower across historical and cultural contexts? Students will investigate narratives of race and religion by engaging with a range of materials, including primary texts (such as memoirs, sermons, speeches, essays, and literary fiction) and supplemented by interdisciplinary scholarship from history, sociology, and religious studies. Students will complete three writing projects that may include an analytical essay on public representations of religious/racial identity, a critical review essay that synthesizes contemporary conversations, and a research-based project incorporating social media analysis. The course emphasizes close reading, evidence-based argumentation, and the ethical use of sources, while also developing students’ research strategies, digital literacy, and ability to revise effectively through peer critique and instructor feedback.

WRI 101 [J]: Science of Studying and Learning
TR 9:40 - 10:55
Multhaup
What can students do to enhance their learning? Why do teachers tell you to avoid cramming for tests? Can tests enhance learning? We will review what cognitive psychologists and scientists in related fields have identified as effective strategies for studying and learning. Readings will include scientific articles, examples of scientists writing for general audiences (e.g., popular press book chapters, magazine articles), and journalists’ communications about scientific findings (e.g., podcasts). In addition to providing relevant content, these sources offer us practice in critically reading a range of sources typically encountered in college courses. There will be three major writing assignments that differ in target audience and purpose, but all will include drafting, peer review, and revision that responds to comments. Ideally students will apply both the writing process we use and the evidence-based study strategies we explore in all their college courses.

WRI 101 [K]: American Dream
MWF 10:30 - 11:20
Roberts
Whether you consider the American Dream to be a promise or a goal, the term is used frequently; one assumes the concept means the same thing to everyone. Today Americans perceive many challenges to this “American Dream,” a belief that upward mobility can result from hard work and determination. Beginning in the 1930s, the phrase “The American Dream” found its way into our political, cultural, and popular discussion. Without a doubt, America’s economic crisis has compromised our “American Dream of Success.”  Many scholars are skeptical about the accessibility of this dream to all Americans. What are consequences of this loss as a centerpiece of our national culture? As sociologist Barry Glassner explains, “You want to hold to your dream when times are hard. For the vast majority of Americans at every point in history, the prospect of achieving the American Dream has been slim, but the promise has been huge.” An analysis of the American Dream allows us to explore a number of different disciplines so as to unpack what political scientist Carl Jilson has called “one of the most evocative phrases in our national lexicon.” Through looking at legislation and political discourse, we will come to understand how the concept has become embedded in our collective psyche.   

WRI 101 [L]: Religion in the Public Square
MWF 10:30 - 11:20
Blum
The role of religion in American society has always been contentious, and in recent years it has reemerged as a matter of dispute. This class poses the question: what role should religion play in American public life? The class will draw on contrasting  perspectives that speak to fundamental questions about the rights, freedoms, and responsibilities that citizens have, and the role that religion plays in those challenging questions. Students will write three major papers, each accompanied by a process of reading, drafting, and revising.  

WRI 101 [M]: Voice, Identity, and Self
MWF 10:30 - 11:20
He
Writing involves the intricate interplay of one’s voice, identity, and self-formation, crucial elements distinguishing humans from chatbots. This course delves into various topics, such as the role of language in shaping identity and how culture and society influence individual voices. It will also discuss ethical concerns regarding generative AI, authenticity, and self-representation in writing.

Through lively discussions and insightful readings, you’ll gain a nuanced understanding of how language molds our voices and shapes our perceptions of self. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your own voice through writing assignments. Major assignments include a literacy narrative, a critical analysis, and a collaborative research report, which will comprise the final project, the digital portfolio.

By the end of the course, you’ll gain a deeper appreciation for the transformative influence of language, the complexities of identity, and the dynamic nature of voice. 

WRI 101 [N]: Bad Art
MWF 11:30 - 12:20
Rippeon

This section of WRI 101 examines criticism as writing that deepens our understandings of cultural texts-literature, theater, visual art, film, and more. Some cultural texts will be linked to campus events, such as the dedication of a new artwork; others will be selected by students. Like other sections of WRI 101, this section will focus most consistently on students’ own writing, including three major projects, each with drafting, peer critique, and revision, as well as some lower-stakes writing.

By the end of the semester, students can become astute critics of their own prose, confident in their distinctive insights and excited by their many options for expressing those insights.

WRI 101 [O]: Humanizing Monsters
MWF  11:30 - 12:20
A. Smith
Greek and Roman mythology includes some of the greatest heroes of all time, yet ancient people were not always convinced that every hero should be venerated blindly. In a similar vein, monsters and villains at times were cast in more sympathetic lights. Even the gods were not beyond criticism! In this writing course, we will compare traditional and subversive versions of mythological narratives, including those of Medusa, the Minotaur, Medea, and more. Ancient authors, including Ovid, Euripides, Pseudo-Apollodorus, and ancient art will act as our primary source material, while modern scholarship will aid in our understanding of how ancient people viewed and were surrounded by mythological narratives. In our three major writing projects, which will be drafted, peer critiqued, and revised, you will be tasked with exploring several questions. How are certain heroes cast as antagonists of their own narratives? How do different versions of well-known villains and monsters aid in questioning the status quo of ancient societies? How can Greco-Roman art evoke alternate emotions towards certain mythological characters that we do (and do not) find in ancient literature? Like Theseus, come journey through the intriguing and often contradictory labyrinth of Classical Myth.

WRI 101 [P]: Race Religion and Representation
TR 12:15 - 1:30
Marti
How do systems of race and religion shape the ways individuals and communities are represented-and misrepresented-in public discourse, social media, and academic scholarship? In what ways have these powerful categories been used to define, divide, or empower across historical and cultural contexts? Students will investigate narratives of race and religion by engaging with a range of materials, including primary texts (such as memoirs, sermons, speeches, essays, and literary fiction) and supplemented by interdisciplinary scholarship from history, sociology, and religious studies. Students will complete three writing projects that may include an analytical essay on public representations of religious/racial identity, a critical review essay that synthesizes contemporary conversations, and a research-based project incorporating social media analysis. The course emphasizes close reading, evidence-based argumentation, and the ethical use of sources, while also developing students’ research strategies, digital literacy, and ability to revise effectively through peer critique and instructor feedback.

WRI 101 [Q]: Medicine and Otherness
MWF 8:30 - 9:20
Vaz
In this course, we will explore how cultural perceptions of otherness and difference emanate from or infiltrate medical conceptualizations of illness and disease. We will use fictional and nonfictional texts to explore a variety of questions like:  

·       What is “otherness”? What does it mean to be different?   

·       What is the normative?  

·       What is the function of difference or otherness in society?

·       What are the socio-political ramifications of such binaries? 

·       What assumptions of otherness inform our treatment of “others”?  

·       How does the medical gaze inform our treatment of difference?  

WRI 101 [R]: Philosophy of Sex
MWF 12:30 - 1:20
Studtmann
There is significant and politically charged disagreement over many important questions concerning sex and its consequences. For instance, some have thought that homosexuality is morally impermissible, while others have thought that homosexuality is no more and no less morally problematic than heterosexuality.  Some think that abortions are morally permissible under any conditions, while others think that abortion is never morally permissible.  In this course, we approach several topics concerning sex and its consequences by reading essays written about them by prominent philosophers as well as important Supreme Court cases.  In addition to reading and discussing the assigned essays, we also discuss the many facets of writing.  This will include special attention to sentence structure, argument construction, essay structure the principles of good rhetoric and good reasoning.

WRI 101 [S]: Writing Criticism
TR 1:40 - 2:55p.m.
Ingram
This section of WRI 101 examines criticism as writing that deepens our understandings of cultural texts-literature, theater, visual art, film, and more. Some cultural texts will be linked to campus events, such as the dedication of a new artwork; others will be selected by students. Like other sections of WRI 101, this section will focus most consistently on students’ own writing. By the end of the semester, students can become astute critics of their own prose, confident in their distinctive insights and excited by their many options for expressing those insights.

WRI 101 [T]: The Linguists’ Dilemma
TR 1:40 - 2:55 p.m.
Fernandez
Since Aristotle, philosophers, theologians, and scientists alike have assumed that language is a uniquely human trait. When Descartes famously declared je pense, don je suis (I think, therefore I am), he suggested that only humans applied, as only they were believed to possess the tool through which humans demonstrate their ability to think-language. Centuries later, in the 1960s, the father of modern linguistics, Noam Chomsky, advanced this assumption by centering his research on the notion of Universal Grammar (UG), which holds that only humans are genetically endowed with the cognitive capacity for language. Animals, in contrast, were thought to possess neither the physiological nor the cognitive capacity for language.

In recent decades, this linguistic orthodoxy has been challenged by the bourgeoning field of animal studies. Research on creatures as different as bees to whales have offered evidence of rich communicative repertoires, complicating assumptions about the nature of language and prompting some not only to reconsider what it means to be human but also to consider new ways of engaging with non-human species. As it considers this central problem of contemporary linguistics-the nature of language, its evolution, and whether it is unique to humans-this first-year writing course will give students an opportunity to hone their skills as intellectual writers: to become yet more practiced at close and critical reading of others’ public and scholarly arguments, to fashion independent positions in response to those arguments, and to craft prose that both evokes their own signature style and reaches powerfully to interested readers. 

WRI 101 [U]: War and Memory
MWF 12:30 - 1:20 p.m.
Jensen
Description: Over the last decade, conversations about what to do with Confederate monuments and memorials have grown in scale, importance, and intensity. In the aftermath of such acts of violence as the massacre of Black worshipers in a South Carolina church in 2015, a white supremacist rally in Virginia in 2017, and the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in 2020, statues have been removed, schools have been renamed, and street names have been changed across the United States. Now, we see some of those names returning. The question of how to remember the American Civil War is not a new one, and the collective memory of that war–and other American wars–has been contentious for well over a century. 

What does it mean to remember war? What is the importance of individual memory and collective memory? How does war memory shape culture, history, politics, art, and society in America in 2025? How do rhetoric, writing, and communication impact the ways in which we remember war? What issues pertaining to war and memory do we see in conversations today?

In this course, we will examine the relationship between war, memory, writing, and rhetoric, exploring the ways war has been represented, discussed, and commemorated in America from the Civil War to the present. We will analyze memoirs, memorials, literature, art, film, and other media supplemented with scholarly material. In studying representations of war, we will familiarize ourselves with issues of war and memory, including the intersections of war and history, popular culture, politics and policy, and identity. 

Students will draft, peer-review, and revise three major writing assignments. Students will also engage in frequent, low-stakes writing to practice skills, think through ideas, and respond to sources.

WRI 101 [V]: Violence and Abrahamic Religions
MWF 1:30 - 2:20 p.m.
Swenson-Lengyel
This class will explore ethical, theological, and historical/sociological questions regarding violence and peace in Abrahamic religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). Over the course of the semester, we will read writings by theologians, ethicists, poets and novelists, historians, and sociologists of religion. The class will be organized into three main sections, aligned with these three approaches to the questions of peace and violence in religions. In the first section, we will ask: is violence ever justified ethically? Here we will examine religious ethical debates around pacifism and just war. In the second section, we will ask the theological question: how are we to understand the goodness of God in the face of worldly violence? In this section, we will engage post-holocaust theology, along with other work on evil, both literary and theological. And in the final section, we will ask: how should we understand the historical and contemporary phenomenon of ‘religious violence’? Here, we will examine case studies such as the rise of American Christian nationalism and the phenomenon of Islamic extra- and intra-state political violence to consider the historical and sociological linkages between religious commitments and violent political action. The three sections will each be accompanied by a writing project, all three of which will proceed through lower-stakes, scaffolded writing assignments, as well as peer discussion and revision. By the end of the course, you will have developed your skills as a careful reader, as an analyzer of diverse kinds of scholarship, and as an academic writer and communicator.

WRI 101 [W]: War and Memory
MWF 2:30 - 3:20 p.m.
Jensen
Description: Over the last decade, conversations about what to do with Confederate monuments and memorials have grown in scale, importance, and intensity. In the aftermath of such acts of violence as the massacre of Black worshipers in a South Carolina church in 2015, a white supremacist rally in Virginia in 2017, and the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in 2020, statues have been removed, schools have been renamed, and street names have been changed across the United States. Now, we see some of those names returning. The question of how to remember the American Civil War is not a new one, and the collective memory of that war–and other American wars–has been contentious for well over a century. 

What does it mean to remember war? What is the importance of individual memory and collective memory? How does war memory shape culture, history, politics, art, and society in America in 2025? How do rhetoric, writing, and communication impact the ways in which we remember war? What issues pertaining to war and memory do we see in conversations today?

In this course, we will examine the relationship between war, memory, writing, and rhetoric, exploring the ways war has been represented, discussed, and commemorated in America from the Civil War to the present. We will analyze memoirs, memorials, literature, art, film, and other media supplemented with scholarly material. In studying representations of war, we will familiarize ourselves with issues of war and memory, including the intersections of war and history, popular culture, politics and policy, and identity. 

Students will draft, peer-review, and revise three major writing assignments. Students will also engage in frequent, low-stakes writing to practice skills, think through ideas, and respond to sources.

WRI 101 [X]: Imagining Africa
TR 3:05 - 4:20 p.m.
Wiemers
How has the idea of Africa been produced, contested, and used as a political tool? In this introduction to writing in the liberal arts, we will engage with a series of historical actors-politicians, scholars, and activists-who have used the idea of Africa to build and destroy empires, to create and contest community, and to imagine a world that was different from the one they inhabited. In the late nineteenth century, the concept of Africa emerged as an instrument of imperial power. At the same time, it became the basis for a wide variety of projects for solidarity and liberation by people of African decent in and beyond the continent. Both of these imaginings of Africa have continued, in various forms, to the present. The course centers on a central set of questions: What are the implications of how we imagine and describe the world? How have the categories that governments, activists, and scholars used to describe “Africa” helped them shape and reshape the world? What kinds of politics, interactions, and knowledge were made possible by particular visions? What possibilities were foreclosed? As we work to develop facility with argumentative writing, we will also use these questions to become more critical about the terms of our own analysis.

In the class, you will produce four major writing assignments, each of which will be drafted, peer-reviewed, and revised. You will also complete a number of low-stakes, unrevised, analytical pieces, including reading reflections and brief film and media reviews. Students will spend significant time reading, commenting, and offering suggestions on each other’s writing.

Over the course of the first three essays, you will learn to engage critically with a wide variety of texts, including critiques of the category of African from V.Y. Mudimbe’s 1988 The Invention of Africa to Binyavanga Wainaina’s popular 2006 satire “How to Write About Africa,” as well as the works of scholars and activists who have used the idea of Africa as a platform for critique, community, and social change (including Amy Jacques Garvey, Julius Nyerere, W.E.B. DuBois, and others). We will put these texts in conversation with one another, and use them to analyze primary sources ranging from turn-of-the-twentieth-century West African newspapers to contemporary movies and music videos. In the final project, you will analyze a contemporary imagining of Africa from a popular media source of your choosing. 

WRI 101 [Y]: The Immigrant Self
MW 2:30 - 3:45 p.m.
Cornejo Casares
This course explores the relationship between self and society through undocumented immigrants’ social lives in the United States.

Relying on migrants’ cultural production-including memoirs, art, and film-students will first interpret how the immigrant “self” is both a social product and a social force. Then, students will analyze the relationship between self and power through secondary scholarly texts.

Throughout the semester, students will outline, draft, workshop, and revise three major projects, including a critical review essay, a comparative essay, and a research essay.

WRI 101 [Z]: Sports Betting and Society
MWF 1:30 - 2:20 p.m.
McElrath
Why have states legalized sports betting in recent years? What role does sports betting play within broader social and economic systems? How can we better understand the culture of sports betting using the sociological imagination?

In this writing seminar, we will explore the recent wave of legalized sports betting in the United States through sociological, political, economic and philosophical lenses. We will examine the history of gambling across societies, engage with contemporary social science research that examines the economic and social consequences (both positive and negative) of legalized sports betting, and interrogate political discourse on the topic. This course will focus actively on students’ writing and digesting academic sources. There will be three writing projects in the course, each of which will involve drafting, peer review, and revisions. We will also have smaller writing projects throughout the semester. 

Spring 2025 Sections

WRI 101 [A]: Untangling Hair
R 8:15 - 10:55
Cho
Shaving and covering head hair, freckled red haired Neandertals, Brazilian wax, Black women and hair, blond hair and IQ. Anthropology is a holistic study of the biological and behavioral aspects of humans from the past and present populations. Its inherent interdisciplinarity facilitates a rich and nuanced understanding of a specific topic such as hair. What is interdisciplinarity? How can transcending the disciplinary walls and the liberal arts better inform us? The class will use the anthropological lens on hair to reveal that 1) its unique distribution in our bodies is due to biological evolution, 2) hair color and hair type reflect environmental adaptations of our ancestors, 3) hair embodies social group identities such as gender and race, and 4) hair is imbued with all sorts of rituals, traditions, and meanings. Students will complete several writing projects that will examine and analyze hair from multiple academic disciplines. Students will discern information in academic or primary sources and popular media sources, provide an analysis of its content, structure the presentation of the analysis, and execute the writing through stages.

WRI 101 [B]: Atheism
MWF 9:30 - 10:20
Blum
Atheism may begin with the denial of God’s existence, but it need not end there. Various thinkers worked to expand and deepen atheism, seeking to develop it into a functional worldview-an understanding of the self and its place in the world that could be meaningful, moral, and intellectually coherent. The task of this course is to assess that attempt: to determine whether and to what degree atheism can be elaborated into a satisfying and livable understanding of the self in the world. Class assignments include three major papers and a number of shorter, lower-stakes writing assignments throughout the semester. 

WRI 101 [C]: Being Human
MWF 10:30 - 11:20
Wertheimer
Being Human:  For millennia, people have asked: What does it mean to be human?  This course excavates this bottomless question using tools borrowed from a wide variety of disciplines: Classics, religious studies, anthropology, biology, psychology, economics, Africana studies, comparative literature, history, and more.  Essays written by members of the Davidson College faculty dominate the reading list.  Authors of several of these essays will visit the class. 

WRI 101 [D]: Violence and Abrahamic Religions
MWF 1:30 - 2:20
Swenson-Lengyel
This class will explore ethical, theological, and historical/sociological questions regarding violence and peace in Abrahamic religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). Over the course of the semester, we will read writings by theologians, ethicists, poets and novelists, historians, and sociologists of religion. The class will be organized into three main sections, aligned with these three approaches to the questions of peace and violence in religions. In the first section, we will ask: is violence ever justified ethically? Here we will examine religious ethical debates around pacifism and just war. In the second section, we will ask the theological question: how are we to understand the goodness of God in the face of worldly violence? In this section, we will engage post-holocaust theology, along with other work on evil, both literary and theological. And in the final section, we will ask: how should we understand the historical and contemporary phenomenon of ‘religious violence’? Here, we will examine case studies such as the rise of American Christian nationalism and the phenomenon of Islamic extra- and intra-state political violence to consider the historical and sociological linkages between religious commitments and violent political action. The three sections will each be accompanied by a writing project, all three of which will proceed through lower-stakes, scaffolded writing assignments, as well as peer discussion and revision. By the end of the course, you will have developed your skills as a careful reader, as an analyzer of diverse kinds of scholarship, and as an academic writer and communicator.

In recent decades, this linguistic orthodoxy has been challenged by the bourgeoning field of animal studies. Research on creatures as different as bees to whales have offered evidence of rich communicative repertoires, complicating assumptions about the nature of language and prompting some not only to reconsider what it means to be human but also to consider new ways of engaging with non-human species. As it considers this central problem of contemporary linguistics-the nature of language, its evolution, and whether it is unique to humans-this first-year writing course will give students an opportunity to hone their skills as intellectual writers: to become yet more practiced at close and critical reading of others’ public and scholarly arguments, to fashion independent positions in response to those arguments, and to craft prose that both evokes their own signature style and reaches powerfully to interested readers.

In this course, we will seek answers to these questions by reading a variety of texts, watching podcasts and YouTube videos, and writing texts of different genres. The major assignments include literacy native, critical commentary, and digital portfolio. These assignments will showcase your writing development and how you have improved your writerly voice over the semester. By the end of this course, you will have a better understanding of what makes a unique voice, how to develop your own, and how to make your writing stand out.