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57154-01 - Course: 111 Words a Day: A Writing Project (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2023 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Andrew Shields (andrew.shields@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | As of 14 February 2023, the course is full. Anyone signing up after 14 February will be put on a waiting list. The title of the course says what it's about: writing 111 words a day throughout the semester. Every day, all the participants will choose a topic and write 111 words in English about that topic - no more, no less, exactly 111 words. Each day's text should make a specific claim about that day's topic. Students can choose their topics from any university course they are taking (or have taken), as well as from cultural, political, or social issues that come up during the semester. While this will involve of a lot of creativity, your focus should be on criticism in a broad sense, and not on creative writing (poetry, fiction, drama). [That's 111 words.] The daily texts will be posted to ADAM for us to read. Class time will involve writing new texts as well as discussions of selected texts. - This course is an experiment. The instructor and the participants will work together to decide what to do with the texts and how to discuss them. The only thing that is set in stone is the project: 111 words a day, from the first day of class to the last. - It was going to be 100 words a day, because one of the course's goals is to work on concision and precision - but 111 is a much cooler number: eine Schnapszahl, but also charmingly arbitrary. [That's 111 words.] Student comments from Spring 2022: A writing course for which there is no theme but we must write a short text once a day, the length of which is given, set in stone, specific as it gets, no way around. A shower thought, a pleasant memory, a fresh opinion, comment on the news, a book review, a breakfast recipe, a sin confessed, a love which did not last, a trauma and its cure, cathartic lines. We write and read what others wrote as well, we meet and talk about it once a week, discuss some issues, commas, style and flow; we glimpse into the minds of those who write a hundred and eleven words a day. Gustavo Grandi, 9 May 2022 Yesterday I realized how little time remains before the end of this course. Two weeks left; 13 texts, 1443 words. I wonder what I will do with those 1443 words, what sentences they will form and what topic they will enrich. When I started this project, I wondered a lot about how I could write something different every day without finding myself in total darkness,; without losing creativity. Yet it turned out to be easier than expected. There are so many things that happen, so many things learned every day. Having the opportunity to put them in writing allows one to give them more value and give them more specific attention. Anonymous, 17 May 2022 I got excited when I first found ”111 words a day: a writing project” in the university curriculum. The format seemed to be exactly what I needed to materialize some of the ideas that had been living with me for a long time without taking any concrete shape. What I did not predict when signing up for the course in the beginning of the year, however, was that I would fall in love with it. In the process of writing (almost) every day I have become aware of the amazing possibilities that writing as a medium can come with, and I am very much looking forward to continuing the process! Moa Sjöstedt, 29 May 2022 |
| Learning objectives | To work on writing every day. As of 14 February 2023, the course is full. Anyone signing up after 14 February will be put on a waiting list. |
| Bibliography | There is no reading list for the course. The instructor and the participants will read what the participants themselves write for the course. As of 14 February 2023, the course is full. Anyone signing up after 14 February will be put on a waiting list. |
| Comments | As of 14 February 2023, the course is full. Anyone signing up after 14 February will be put on a waiting list. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | None As of 14 February 2023, the course is full. Anyone signing up after 14 February will be put on a waiting list. |
| Course application | Please register for the course on services.unibas.ch The number of participants in this course is strictly limited to 20. As of 14 February 2023, the course is full. Anyone signing up after 14 February will be put on a waiting list. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Friday | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 24.02.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 03.03.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Fasnachstferien |
| Friday 10.03.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 17.03.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 24.03.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 31.03.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 07.04.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Ostern |
| Friday 14.04.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 21.04.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 28.04.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 05.05.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 12.05.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 19.05.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Auffahrt |
| Friday 26.05.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Friday 02.06.2023 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Modules |
Modul: Introduction to Academic Communication in English (Bachelor's degree subject: English) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Credit for the course will be given to those who attend regularly, participate in the discussions, and write 111 words a day throughout the semester. As of 14 February 2023, the course is full. Anyone signing up after 14 February will be put on a waiting list. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |