I’m Prof. Mani (pronounced “money”), and I want to warmly welcome you to ENG 120: Critical Writing. I feel I can’t do so without acknowledging the elephant in the room: the COVID-19 pandemic has not abated, and people from many parts of our city, state, country, and the world are still suffering from the public health crisis. You may be reeling from loss and lack of closure. You may be at-risk and anxious about how to navigate physical spaces. You may feel confused by virtual ones. You may be a freshman worried about and resentful of how the pandemic will alter your college experience. You may be distance learning at home with relatives, saddled with familial responsibilities you wouldn’t have to deal with in a dorm, in an environment unconducive to learning. You may have had bad experiences with remote classes in the past and therefore believe you won’t learn well in online settings. You may be caring for a sick loved one. You may be an essential worker. You may be all or none of the above. I acknowledge this to say that we are learning in unprecedented times, and our learning will reflect the need for flexibility, adaptation, collaboration, and empathy. Together we’ll reimagine what remote learning, writing, and revising looks like for us as a class in this unusual situation while getting to know each other and building community.

I also want to take a moment to say that you belong here. You belong here if you’re an English major or if you’re here to satisfy a requirement. If society has sidelined you and your community or given you empowering experiences. If you are Sikh, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, secular, pagan, atheist. If you’re white, BIPOC, mixed, or “passing.” If you’re documented, undocumented, DACAmented, or an international student. If you’re disabled or able-bodied and neurotypical. If you’re male, female, nonconforming, LGBTQIA, straight, aro, ace, or still learning this vocabulary. If you grew up speaking the King’s English or AAVE, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, or code-meshed multiple languages or dialects. If your parents have PhDs or if you’re the first in your family to graduate from high school. If you work full-time or if you’re fully funded. And if you’re still figuring out who you are, especially as part of the collective endeavor to make classrooms more inclusive, respectful, collaborative, and just.

I’d also like to acknowledge that we gather on the lands of the Lenape and the Wappinger. I ask you to join me in acknowledging these communities, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations. This acknowledgment demonstrates a commitment to beginning the process of working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism, which excludes and erases many Indigenous peoples, including those on whose land this institution is located.

Week 1 Schedule of Work

Even though this is our first week of class, you have a fair amount of work to review. Your weekly tasks are outlined on the Calendar on D2L in the form of a checklist, so you can pace yourself and monitor your progress. In brief, though, this week you’re responsible for:

  • Reviewing and annotating the Syllabus, Calendar, Grading Contract Google Docs linked under Content/Syllabus on D2L
  • Reviewing the guidelines for all of the course assignments and expectations posted to D2L
  • Exploring this course blog
  • Reviewing the Tech Guides on the blog as needed

As we’ll be writing about Reddit communities this semester, you’ll also need to explore Reddit and make a list of 3 subreddits you might be interested in critically thinking and writing about this semester.