Fall 2025 | ED5326
Tuesdays, 5:00 to 7:45pm | MMSCI GL15

T. Philip Nichols | phil_nichols@baylor.edu

Office Hours: By appointment, in-person or virtual

“Make up a story. Narrative is radical, creating us at the very moment it is being created. We will not blame you if your reach exceeds your grasp; if love so ignites your words they go down in flames and nothing is left by their scald. Or if, with the reticence of a surgeon’s hands, your words suture only the places where blood might flow. We know you can never do it properly—once and for all. Passion is never enough; neither is skill. But try.”

Toni Morrison, Nobel Lecture, 1993

COURSE DESCRIPTION

What does it mean to “teach writing”? It’s one of those deceptively simple questions—the kind that, with some scratching at its surface, begins to unravel entirely. After all, what is writing? Is it a product we create, or a process we go through? Does it only pertain to alphabetic text, or to other expressive modes as well? If the latter, is there any form of communication that isn’t writing? Even if we were to resolve these tensions, we are still left with the equally troublesome word teaching. What is it we teach when we “teach writing”? Are we providing students with skills to meet the literacy demands of college or the workplace? Or helping them to cultivate an expressive literary voice? Or equipping them with communicative strategies for civic life? How we answer such questions will undoubtedly shape our approach to curriculum and instruction.

The way we theorize “teaching writing,” then, is animated by a lively tangle of beliefs, assumptions, and experiences—the stories we tell about writing. And, as Toni Morrison suggests, the narratives we create—our “writing stories”—also create and condition us, both as writers and teachers of writing.  This seminar is an exploration of the stories that hold together our own, and others’, theories and pedagogies of writing. We will interrogate the ideas and practices that underpin historical and contemporary notions of composition, while also engaging in familiar (and unfamiliar) forms of writing that may affirm, negate, or complicate such theories. Taken together, the experiences of the course are intended as a shared inquiry into not only the stories we tell about writing, but also what stories might be told—that is, how we can imagine alternate “writing stories” that might lead to more meaningful and joyful teaching and learning.

Toward this end, our course objectives include:

  • Examining the intersection of theory and pedagogy through analysis of historical and contemporary methods of writing instruction;

  • Experimenting with diverse forms of writing as a resource for building theory, expanding instruction, and honing practice;

  • Developing instructional approaches to writing that are appropriate for diverse ages and educational contexts;

  • Reflecting on our own identities as theorists, teachers, and practitioners of writing.

COURSE RESOURCES

Class Website
Over the summer, Instructure (the company that owns Canvas) and OpenAI (the company that owns ChatGPT) announced a partnership that embeds OpenAI’s services into all Canvas sites, at all universities. This gives OpenAI access to any course content hosted on Canvas—including syllabi (professors’/universities’ intellectual property), course readings (authors’/publishers’ intellectual property), and course assignments (students’ intellectual property). This raises significant ethical concerns. Most immediately, it means that the shared labor of any Canvas course can be instrumentalized to train AI models, and to enrich the owners of those models, without the direct consent of participants. This is an egregious overreach of private industry into academic freedom. Moreover, at present, there is limited transparency about how this data will be stored, processed or used. This violates the spirit of existing data privacy laws that are meant to protect students. For these reasons, I have elected to host our course materials on an independent website, where we can ensure that our work remains our own. My hope is that this independent space will allow us to focus on our learning together without worrying about how our interactions might be commodified. While this may require slightly more effort in accessing materials, I believe it is necessary under the circumstances, and I appreciate your understanding.

Course Readings
You do not need to purchase any books for this class. All of our readings will be posted on our class website, where you can find them linked on the page for each week’s class. The documents themselves are stored in a Box folder, which you will be able to access using your Baylor login.

Writing Notebook
We will be writing in this course, both individually and collaboratively, so having a place to capture and experiment with ideas will be essential. Choose a notebook that feels ‘right’ for you in terms of size and shape. It doesn’t need to be fancy—in fact, because some of our activities will involve ripping out pages, taping in found objects, and passing our notebooks around to others, it might be better to have one that you don’t mind getting a little beat up over our semester together. 🙂

COURSE POLICIES

Attendance
As a course built around collective inquiry, attendance and participation is required. You are allotted one excused absence without penalty, provided you inform me before your anticipated absence (or as soon as possible afterwards). Subsequent absences or tardies may affect your grade.

Academic Support
If you have a disability and need special accommodations of any nature, I will work with you and the Office of Access and Learning Accommodation to provide reasonable accommodations. Please advise me of such a disability and desired accommodation by the end of the first class. The Office of Access & Learning Accommodation, in the Paul Foster Success Center—Sid Richardson, can be contacted at 254--710--3605.

AI/ChatGPT
The use of ChatGPT or other AI tools to generate ideas, assignments, or reading summaries is prohibited in this course. There are a few reasons for this:

  • This class is intended to sharpen your critical reading/writing teaching and practice. If you aren’t reading/writing, you aren’t honing those skills.

  • Using AI muddies the water of ‘academic integrity,’ both because it makes it difficult to discern if work is “yours” and because the language models that underwrite AI take uncredited material from scholars/writers.

  • AI-generated content is not reliably accurate — and there is strong evidence that its quality is deteriorating over time.

  • ChatGPT has profound environmental impacts, especially as it relates to water usage [1][2][3][4] and carbon emissions [1][2][3][4] — and the effects of these impacts are unevenly distributed to different regions and communities.

  • The training and maintenance of AI systems depends on the exploitation of workers in the Global South (e.g., Kenya, the Philippines, Colombia, Venezuela, India), including children and people in prisons and refugee camps).

More directly: getting to do graduate studies at a research-intensive university is a privilege that isn’t available to everyone. There are thousands of people around the world who would love to be in your position. Using AI undermines the core of this opportunity and, in the process, contributes to environmental harms and labor exploitation. There are no ‘benefits’ to using AI that counterbalance these ‘costs.’ For this reason, it won’t be part of our classroom community.

Academic Integrity
Baylor University students, staff, and faculty shall act in academic matters with the utmost honesty and integrity. This means that you do not cheat on  assignments, engage in plagiarism, falsify documents, etc., and you must report such conduct if you are aware of it. The Office of Academic Integrity and its publications can give you more details, or go to the website @ http://www.baylor.edu/honorcode Please, see me if in doubt about proper paper citations, “recycling” (double dipping) papers from other classes, or any other such matter.

 Title IX
If you or someone you know would like help related to an experience of sexual violence (assault, harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking or other non-consensual sexual conduct), please contact Patty Crawford, Title IX Coordinator:  Kristin Tucker@baylor.edu or phone (254-710-8454).Anonymous reporting for students or third parties is also available on the Title IX website @ www.Baylor.edu/TitleIX If you or someone you know feels unsafe or may be in danger, call the BU Police Department (254-710-2222) or 911.

University Writing Center
I encourage you to visit the University Writing Center (UWC) this semester and get feedback on your writing for this course. Located in Moody Library 2nd floor West, the UWC offers free assistance to you at any stage of the writing process (brainstorming, researching, outlining, drafting, revising, editing). Visit uwc.artsandsciences.baylor.edu to schedule an appointment.

Student Wellbeing
I recognize that students face many struggles during their Baylor career. The Department of CARE Team Services is a group of dedicated and caring case managers who work with students facing mental health issues, financial struggles, and anything else affecting a student’s ability to be successful in the classroom. You can find them on the second floor of the Student Life Center, suite 207.  Contact Information: (254) 710-2100 ; CareTeam@baylor.edu.

Health Care
Baylor University is strongly committed to addressing the physical well-being and mental health of students by providing access to on-campus healthcare resources. Baylor Health Services includes Primary Care, Psychiatry, Physical Therapy and Pharmacy and is staffed with fully certified and licensed physicians and nurse practitioners, as well as nurses and administrative staff. Appointments may be made by calling their main number or by logging into the health portal located on their website. Contact Information: (254) 710-1010; Health_Services@baylor.edu.

Mental Health
You also have access to mental health services through The Counseling Center. Connect with them for an initial appointment, goal-directed individual therapy, group therapy, nutritional counseling, and case management services.  You can schedule your 30-minute initial appointment online through the health portal or by calling (254) 710-2467.  If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call or text #988 anytime day or night for support.

Addiction
The Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center (BARC) supports students in recovery from substance and behavioral addictions through an all-encompassing level of support approach that includes one-on-one mentorship, support groups, and social events open to all Baylor students. Located in the East Village Residential Community (bottom floor of Teal Residential College). Contact Information: (254) 710-7092; BARC@baylor.edu

Food Insecurity
At Baylor, we want all students to have access to food resources that will support their holistic well-being and success. If you or someone you know experiences food insecurity at any time, you can find information on campus and community food resources by visiting The Store. You can also contact Store staff at (254) 710-4931. For additional basic needs assistance, please reach out to CASE or the Care Team.

Spirituality
The Office of Spiritual Life offers programs, persons, and resources to nurture theological depth, spiritual wholeness, and missional living. Located on the corner of 5th and Speight Street in the Bobo Spiritual Life Center.  Contact Information: (254) 710-3517; Spiritual_Life@baylor.edu.