Existing Reflections

Writers Statements in creative writing classes: how we fit into the tradition, the processes, key elements of the field? Who am I as a writer and where am I going? What have you learned about yourself and your habits, your own and others theoretical biases?

Joan Didion’s “Why I Write?” and other examples of people seeing why they do what they do.

Grad. school personal statements.

Geography has a Senior Board – why seniors majored in geography and what they want to do? (All the sciences do.) How do we deal with the size of the department in making this practical?

Turning Senior reflections into Alumni Relations (before they get too busy).

Conversations are happening all the time in informal settings

CDWG group discussion

Oral discussion of what we’ve learned, how it fits in with other classes, where we’re going

 

Current Self-Advisement Prompts

1. Looking ahead (before first advisement meeting)

Before your first meeting with your adviser in English, add some thoughts in the space below about your plans and aspirations. What are you hoping to get from a major in English? Are there career goals that you think the major will help you advance? Are there particular topics you’re looking to learn about or discuss? Are there particular skills you’re looking to develop?

2. Checking in (from time to time — no later than pre-grad check meeting junior year)

Come back to this section periodically. In the space below, add some thoughts, as they occur to you, about what you’ve been getting from the English major. Can you make any connections among the courses you’ve taken? Have you developed any new interests or skills since beginning the English major? New career plans?

What’s the major adding up to for you?

3. Looking back (before graduating — degree will not be awarded if left blank)

Sometime in your senior year, add some thoughts below about what you’ve gotten from the English major. Have any meaningful patterns or connections emerged from the courses you’ve taken? What do you plan to do after graduation and how might the skills you’ve developed and ideas you’ve encountered in English help you accomplish your goals?

Reflecting on Self-Reflection – Wed 25th Oct.

This post provides the hub for the English Department’s discussion of the Self-Reflective assignment required of all majors. In attendance are [TK].

We will
– compile in-class activities that allow students to link course work to their Wiki page
– devise questions that link advising meetings to the self-reflective advisement criteria
– brainstorm alternative spaces to host the self-reflective advisement
– share effective examples of self-reflective advisement
– troubleshoot pedagogic/practical/ideological problems with self-reflective advisement so we can stress test and improve the system