John Tiedemann writ 2500:

Email: John.Tiedemann@du.edu Rhetorical Cities

Winter 2021
Office hours: By appointment on MW 2:00–3:50 p.m.
Zoom, M and W, between 4:00–6:00 Unless otherwise announced, we’ll meet in Sturm 251 on
p.m. Other times, too. Email me to Mondays and on Zoom on Wednesdays.
make a Zoom appointment.

• writ 2500: Rhetorical Cities: Athens, Rome, Denver

 THE CLASS
This course in the writing minor examines the long history of the mutually constitutive development of
cities and of rhetorical theory. Readings will range from classical rhetorical theorists to more
contemporary urban theorists. In addition to engaging the topic through readings, students will
engage (safely) in the field, examining the ongoing construction of the rhetorical city of Denver
online and via video interviews with some of the people who are making it.

Much of our time will be spent discussing readings and viewings together as a class, and much of it
will be spent creating and sharing written and other kinds of compositions with one another

• Writing exercises: For this project, you’ll test Lynn Hunt’s thesis that literacy teaches us how to be
human by interpreting a cultural artifact.
• Writing your own prompt: This project asks you to explore the significance of an episode from your
own life or the life of someone close to you by placing it in historical context.
• Responding to your own prompt: For this project, you’ll write an ethnographic study of an online
community space.
• Reflecting: This project asks you to consolidate what you have learned this term about writing,
reading, and research by reflecting upon your own work.

TEXTS
Copies of (or links to) all readings, viewings, etc., will be posted on Canvas.

Your own texts are also a central element of this class — so please bring your laptop to every Zoom
meeting AND in-person class meeting.
 GOALS AND FORMAT
• Goals
This course satisfies the theory requirement for the writing minor. As such, it is concerned with broad
ideas in writing and rhetorical studies, rather than with specific applications. That said, it is very much
about ideas of writing in action, about the deep, complex, hopefully fascinating ways in which the
world of action – of politics and of the performing arts, of law and bodies – are written into being.
And because the best way of learning about those kinds of ideas is by doing them, we’ll be doing a
lot of writing ourselves, much of it experimental. Each Wednesday, either I or a guest interview
subject will give you a writing prompt whereby to explore concretely some of the ways that the
rhetorical city gets written; come Monday, we’ll put that writing into dialogue with the rhetorical and
urban theory we’ll have read, to see how those theoretical ideas illuminates the writing that you have
done and, more importantly, how your writing illuminates, challenges, or perhaps upends those ideas.
During the latter part of the course, you’ll use these exercises and discussions as a springboard for
crafting your own original project, first writing a prompt to assign to yourself and then responding to it.
My hope is that you’ll thereby create a final project that unlike anything you’ve written before and
yet totally “you.”
• In-person time, Zoom time, and homework
Per the above, we’ll spend Wednesdays on Zoom, typically either listening to an interview with a guest
or exploring on video some other aspect of rhetorical cities, as a point of departure to do some
composing of our own. On Mondays, we’ll meet in person (in 251 Sturm) to share and reflect together
upon the compositions we’ve done. You can expect to spend 4-8 hours outside class reading, writing,
or otherwise preparing.
• Conferences
Each of you will meet with me individually for two one-on-one conferences, where we’ll discuss
strategies for revising your work. I’ll send around a sign-up sheet the week before the conferences
take place. These conferences are required, and you’ll receive a grade for your preparation.
Apart from the required conferences, I’m also available to meet on Zoom between 4:00 p.m. and
6:00 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. I can meet other times, too. The best way to make an
appointment is to email me or to check in after class.
 POLICIES
• Participation
For each class meeting, you will receive up to five points toward your final grade: up to 2 for the
writing assignment you complete at home and up to three for your participation in class discussion.
Ø Homework: All writing assignments are to be posted on Canvas by the start of class on the day they
are due. A student will receive 2 points for posting a complete and manifestly thoughtful draft of
their response to the assignment. (By “manifestly thoughtful” I mean clear, coherent, and on topic.)
S/he will receive 1 point for posting a draft that is either incomplete and/or sloppily composed. A
student will receive no points should s/he fail to post and share his or her assignment when it is due.
Ø Class discussion: A student will receive 3 points for the day when s/he makes more than one
meaningful contribution to that day’s discussion. (By a “meaningful contribution” I mean a
contribution that’s thoughtful and fully elaborated, thus moving the conversation forward and
contributing to our collective understanding of the topic under discussion). S/he will receive 2 points
when s/he contributes only once or when his/her contributions aren’t fully formed. S/he will receive
one point if she attends class without speaking up. A student will receive no points if s/he fails to
attend class, if s/he distracts his or her classmates, or if s/he wastes valuable class time by checking
email, facebook, etc., or otherwise disengaging from class.
• Attendance
As the above indicates, there are no “excused” absences from class. If you miss class, you will not
receive credit for class discussion for that day (though you can still receive credit for the day’s
homework by posting it on time).
• Late Work
Assignments are due when they are due. Assignments that come in late, that aren’t shared correctly,
or that are incorrectly labeled will not receive credit or feedback from me.
• Civility and Tolerance
The Writing Program affirms DU’s Code of Student Conduct (http://www.du.edu/ccs/code.html),
which in part “expects students to recognize the strength of personal differences while respecting
institutional values.” Because writing courses rely heavily on interactions between all members of the
class, students and faculty must act in a manner respectful of different positions and perspectives. A
student who behaves in an uncivil or intolerant manner will be asked to stop and/or formally repri-
manded and/or subject to action by the Office of Citizenship and Community Standards.
Becoming educated requires encountering new ideas and information, some of which may conflict
with an individual’s existing knowledge or perspectives. I expect students to engage such materials
thoughtfully, in ways that reflect the values and mission of the University of Denver.
• Plagiarism
The Writing Program follows the Council of Writing Program Administrators policy “Defining and Avoid-
ing Plagiarism,” which states, “In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately
uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without
acknowledging its source” (http://wpacouncil.org/node/9). DU’s Honor Code also maintains that all
members of the University must responsibly use the work of others. Students who have plagiarized a
project will receive an F on that project, and the professor will inform the Director of Writing and the
Office of Community and Citizenship Standards, which may take further action. Any documented acts
of plagiarism after the first may be subject to more severe actions.
• Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
The Writing Program will provide reasonable accommodations to every student who has a disability
that has been documented by The University of Denver Disability Services Program
(http://www.du.edu/studentlife/disability/ or 303.871.2455).
• Email
I usually respond to email within a day or two during the week; I check email less often on weekends.
 GRADES
I’ll give you suggestions for revision and a provisional grade on each fully drafted essay. Those grades
will rise, fall, or stay the same depending upon how effectively you revise it. All final drafts of all essays
are due to me on Canvas by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, March 19.

Here’s the grading breakdown:

Your choice of 4 exercises: 200 points

Prompt: 200 points
Response to prompt: 200 points
Reflection: 200 points
Class participation: 5 points per class x 20 = 100 points
Conference prep: 50 points per conference x 2 = 100 points
TOTAL 1000 points
Here’s the scale I’ll use to calculate your final grade for the course:
A 930-1000
A- 900-929
B+ 870-899
B 830-869
B- 800-829
C+ 770-799
C 730-769
C- 700-729
D+ 670-699
D 630-669
D- 600-629
F 0–599
 CALENDAR
M Jan. 11 Sturm: Introduction
W Jan. 13 Zoom: “What Is a City?” – and what is this city?
M Jan. 18 CLASS CANCELED FOR MLK DAY
W Jan. 20 Zoom: “Human Rights / Humans Write”
M Jan. 28 Sturm: Presentations and reflections: reading TBA
W Jan. 30 Zoom: Special guest!
M Feb. 1 Sturm: Presentations and reflections: : reading TBA
W Feb. 3 Zoom: Special guest!
M Feb. 8 Conferences – bring a draft of your prompt
W Feb. 10 Conferences - bring a draft of your prompt
M Feb. 15 Sturm: Presentations and reflections: : reading TBA
W Feb.17 Zoom: Special guest!
M Feb. 22 Sturm: Presentations and reflections: : reading TBA
W Feb. 24 Zoom: Special guest!
M March 1 Sturm: Presentations and reflections: : reading TBA
W March 3 Zoom: Special guest!
M March 8 Conferences - bring a draft of your project
W March 10 Conferences - bring a draft of your project
M March 15 Sturm: Reflections and revisions
M March 17 Zoom: Reflections and revisions
Final drafts of all work due on Canvas by noon on Friday, March 19.