Schedule

Welcome to the website for Professor Libertz’s Writing II (ENG 2150) class! This website mostly houses the schedule along with links to some resources you might find useful. Each date on the schedule contains: work due that day, topics for that lesson, and a link to the lesson plan (see below “Lesson Plans”).

Lesson Plans

To view the lesson plan for the day (and to access possible activities/links/etc. for that day’s lesson), click the date in the schedule to navigate to the lesson plan webpage (e.g., click “Monday, January 27”). Lesson plans will be live by a few minutes before the beginning of class–though they may sometimes be live a few hours or a day earlier. Lesson plans are useful so you can see what is happening that day.

Devices in Class

Nearly every lesson will require you to interact with an electronic device. Therefore, please have one available for each lesson. If you do not have a laptop or tablet, or do not feel comfortable bringing one to class, you can rent one from the library prior to each class meeting (go here for more information: Technology Loan Service – Newman Library | Baruch College (cuny.edu)).

Missing Class

If you are absent you should review the lesson plan you missed below. You can also make up the absence if you contact Prof. Libertz and coordinate with him about how to fill out this survey.

Monday, January 27

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • None

Wednesday, January 29 (No Class Today)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • None

Monday, February 3 (Class on Zoom, check email)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Get your free access to The New York Times so you can listen to Nice White Parents: https://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/newyorktimes
  • Listen to Episode 1 of Nice White Parents “The Book of Statuses”
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episode and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this episode reminded you about your own schooling experience? Explain.
    • Does anything in this episode remind you of a current event in the news? In what way?
    • Does anything in this episode remind you of something you have read/heard/watched elsewhere (e.g., TV show, a reading from school, a reading from your personal life, something on social media, a joke you heard, a story someone told you before)? In what way?
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?

Wednesday, February 5

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Read “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis” by Laura Bolin Carroll. (ignore discussion questions on last two pages of this reading)
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episode and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this reading reminds you about something that has happened in your personal life or the way you have engaged with the world around you? Explain.
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of a current event in the news? In what way?
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of something you have read/heard/watched elsewhere (e.g., TV show, a reading from school, a reading from your personal life, something on social media, a joke you heard, a story someone told you before)? In what way?
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: Have you ever felt judged for the way you spoke? If so, how? If not, how have you felt when people listen to you speak? Explain. How about for writing? Have you felt judged as a writer? In what ways? How do these perceptions of judgments from listeners and readers affected how you write? What should change for you as a writer as you think about your history with what may or may not be real perceptions others have of you?

Monday, February 10

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Listen to Episode 2 of Nice White Parents ‘I Still Believe In It’
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episode and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this episode reminded you about your own schooling experience? Explain.
    • Does anything in this episode remind you of a current event in the news? In what way?
    • Does anything in this episode remind you of something you have read/heard/watched elsewhere (e.g., TV show, a reading from school, a reading from your personal life, something on social media, a joke you heard, a story someone told you before)? In what way?
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?

Wednesday, February 12 (No Class Today)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • None

Monday, February 17 (No Class Today)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • None

Tuesday, February 18 (Follows Monday Schedule)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

Wednesday, February 19

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Write Rhetorical Analysis, Draft 1. Submit to Brightspace.
  • If you used an AI program to work on this assignment, you must complete this survey.
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: There are a lot of tensions between different groups of people in Nice White Parents. I’m sure you have felt tensions with other people before (who hasn’t?). How have you navigated them in the past? How do you navigate them now? What are you learning in college (either inside the classroom or outside the classroom) that is helping you get better during tense moments with others, where confrontations are lurking just under the surface (if they did not bubble over already).

Monday, February 24

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Listen to Episode 4 of Nice White Parents, ‘Here’s Another Fun Thing You Can Do’
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episode and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this episode reminded you about your own schooling experience? Explain.
    • Does anything in this episode remind you of a current event in the news? In what way?
    • Does anything in this episode remind you of something you have read/heard/watched elsewhere (e.g., TV show, a reading from school, a reading from your personal life, something on social media, a joke you heard, a story someone told you before)? In what way?
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?

Wednesday, February 26

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Read “Navigating Genres” by Kerry Dirk
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episode and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this reading reminds you about something that has happened in your personal life or the way you have engaged with the world around you? Explain.
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of a current event in the news? In what way?
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of something you have read/heard/watched elsewhere (e.g., TV show, a reading from school, a reading from your personal life, something on social media, a joke you heard, a story someone told you before)? In what way?
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: The semester is likely starting to get difficult for you. The first few weeks are usually about getting used to a new class and professors tend to want you to get comfortable first before they start challenging you more. Do you feel that is true in your classes right now? How are you adjusting? And how can you apply what you learned in previous semesters to be successful this semester? Would you focus on time management? Study strategies? Setting a good habit for writing (e.g., finding a good place to write, sticking with a routine)? Something else? Write about how you are handling the semester’s work starting to pick up in difficulty and amount of work.

Monday, March 3

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Listen to Episode 5 of Nice White Parents, ‘We Know It When We See It’
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episode and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this reading reminds you about something that has happened in your personal life or the way you have engaged with the world around you? Explain.
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of a current event in the news? In what way?
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of something you have read/heard/watched elsewhere (e.g., TV show, a reading from school, a reading from your personal life, something on social media, a joke you heard, a story someone told you before)? In what way?
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?

Wednesday, March 5

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Write Rhetorical Analysis, Draft 2 + Cover Letter (DUE Thursday, March 6 by 11:59pm)
  • If you used an AI program to work on this assignment, you must complete this survey.
  • Begin class podcast assignment
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: Think back to something that you have done that made you proud–like proud in a way that’s like, “Damn, I can do this.” What was it? Why were you so proud? What helped you get to that moment where you felt you did a really good job at something? What did you do? But, also, what did others do for you that helped you get to that point? I want you to think about this because I want you to feel proud about the work you do on the podcast this semester.

Thursday, March 6 (Wednesday schedule, but cancelling class for group meetings)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

Monday, March 10

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Read “Effectively and Efficiently Reading the Credibility of Online Sources” by Ellen Carillo and Alice Horning
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episode and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this reading reminds you about something that has happened in your personal life or the way you have engaged with the world around you? Explain.
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of a current event in the news? In what way?
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of something you have read/heard/watched elsewhere (e.g., TV show, a reading from school, a reading from your personal life, something on social media, a joke you heard, a story someone told you before)? In what way?
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?

Wednesday, March 12

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Write Podcast Post 1 (see here to see when you are up to write a post). Due Tuesday, March 11 by 12pm.
  • Post a comment on Podcast Post 1. Due Wednesday, March 12 by 9:55am.
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: Of the roles of producer, narrator, script writer, and audio editor (see March 5 lesson plan at bottom for role descriptions): What role sounds most interesting to you? Why? What role do you think you could succeed in most based on your past experience? Why? What role most relates to future goals you have in life? Why? Consider, also, the “Digital Participation Gap.” What possible way could that help you think about a role you choose? Why or why not? Answer all of these questions.

Monday, March 17

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Read “The Bandwidth of Podcasting” by Eric Detweiler (make sure to read sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8; you can skip or lightly skim the other sections). To navigate the sections, hover over “Chapter Sections” underneath the header image on each page and then scroll down to click on the section number to read; you can also click on the next section at bottom of each page. 
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episode and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this reading reminds you about something that has happened in your personal life or the way you have engaged with the world around you? Explain.
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of a current event in the news? In what way?
    • Does anything in this reading remind you of something you have read/heard/watched elsewhere (e.g., TV show, a reading from school, a reading from your personal life, something on social media, a joke you heard, a story someone told you before)? In what way?
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?

Wednesday, March 19

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Write Research Project, Draft 1
  • If you used an AI program to work on this assignment, you must complete this survey.
  • Download Audacity to your device (make sure to get version for Mac or Windows, depending on what you run on your device).
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: It’s around the middle of the semester. How are you holding up? How are your other classes? What are you proud of about your efforts so far this semester (in school or outside of school). There’s something to be proud of! What is it? Why? What are you concerned about? Is it a particular class, assignment, logistical challenge, job issue, family, friends, etc.? What is one thing that you want to work on and improve? Why? And, what are some ideas that you have for how you can improve? We all have something to be proud of and we all have something to work on. What’s on you mind at the moment?

Monday, March 24

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Watch Audacity tutorials
  • Compose 2-5 minute audio essay about your research project and post it to the Discussion Board location for audio essays. More information on this assignment on Brightspace Discussion board (scroll to bottom of page).

Wednesday, March 26

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Listen to all audio essays from classmates
  • Comment on at least one audio essay to give feedback about their research project.
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: How do your values interact with what you are doing at college? What are your values (e.g., keeping promises, loyalty, religious views, being a helper to those less fortunate, hard work)? What are 3-5 things you believe in, a sort of “code” you want to live by (at least for now, we grow and change and sometimes our values change with us)? Once you write a bit about some values you hold that you do your best not to fall short on, talk about how what you are doing in college and what you might do for your career can exist alongside those values.

Monday, March 31

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • None; no classes scheduled today

Wednesday, April 2

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

Friday, April 4

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

Monday, April 7

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

Wednesday, April 9 – Asynchronous day (Prof. Libertz at conference)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Submit Task Schedule 2 due on Brightspace by 11:59pm
  • Work on podcast: use this time wisely! Try to get done a lot before spring break. You have extra time to do this given our asynchronous day today. Use it for podcast collaboration and work.
  • No weekly private writing this week.

Monday, April 14 (No Class; Spring Recess)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • None; no class

Wednesday, April 16 (No Class; Spring Recess)

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • None; no class

Monday, April 21

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Write Podcast Post 3 (see here to see when you are up to write a post). Due Monday, April 21 by 12pm.
  • Post a comment on Podcast Post 3. Due Monday, April 21 by 11:59pm.
  • Script First Draft Due Date reminders:
    • Public Transportation, Ep 1: Monday, April 14
    • Public Transportation, Ep 2: Saturday, April 19
    • Public Transportation, Ep 3: Friday, April 18
    • Education Costs, Ep 1: Saturday, April 19
    • Education Costs, Ep 2: Saturday, April 19
    • Education Costs, Ep 3: Sunday, April 13

Wednesday, April 23

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Submit Task Schedule 3 by 11:59pm tonight
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: What is it like working with other people on a large project? Much of your life will be collaborating–with co-workers, with romantic partners, with family members (e.g., as loved ones get sick, you will rely on others to care for them), with friends (e.g., maybe when you have some more cash in your pocket, you might plan vacations together). What are you learning about collaboration so far? What are you NOT learning? How can you take a risk (and do so politely) to try something you haven’t tried before in collaboration? How can you ensure you are not being passive-aggressive, mean-spirited, or selfish in doing so? How can you be someone who people want to collaborate with while ALSO getting your needs met, as well? Think hard about what you want to take away from the podcast project about collaboration. You’ll be doing a lot of collaborating in future classes and beyond. Make the most of this experience.

Monday, April 28

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

Wednesday, April 30

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Work on podcast
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: What’s your plan for the last couple of weeks? How can you prepare yourself? How can others help you? How can you help others? How can you get through this with other people? How can you ask for help if you need it? Or, how can you put yourself in a position where you feel confident that you will need minimal help? It’s okay to need help. But think about how you, in this moment a few weeks ahead of final projects and exams, that you can plan ahead of what is to come. So, how can you do that, both mentally and emotionally?

Monday, May 5

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

Wednesday, May 7

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Listen to both podcasts in their entirety.
  • Write your podcast reaction post for the podcast you did NOT help create. That is what I prefer. BUT, if you really want to write about the podcast you made, you can do that.
  • Complete your reaction of no more than 200 words and post it to Brightspace. Remember to be specific and detailed in reference to the episodes and a connection to one of the following questions:
    • What about this podcast got you most interested or excited? Why?
    • What about this podcast reminded you about something in your personal life? Why?
    • What do you want to learn more about now that you’ve heard the podcast in full? Why? (e.g., about the topic, about technical aspects of podcasting, about writing)
    • Explain a part you were confused about or wanted to know more about. Why?
    • What part were you most engaged in and interested in? Why?
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: What was the podcast experience like? What are you proud of for your own growth? How so? Did you wish you did something different? Why or why not? The next time you have something different or risky to do in a class, your career, etc….what can you take away from your podcast experience to make the most of that next experience? Why?

Monday, May 12

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Work on final projects for class
  • Episode descriptions and overall podcast descriptions due from Benny and Luke (end of day today)
  • Transcriptions of episodes due from Aidan and Benny (end of day today)
  • Cover art for podcasts due from Sarah and Ammar (end of day today)

Wednesday, May 14

Reading/Listening/Writing/Composing/Other Due:

  • Submit Podcast Contribution Narrative
  • If you used an AI program to work on this assignment, you must complete this survey.
  • Weekly private writing of at least 10 minutes: Final journal: review all your journals. You’ve come a long way. How have you changed as a person in the past few months? What has happened and what do you make of it as a learner? As a person in general? What can you learn from these past few months to live the life you want to live?

FINAL PROJECTS DUE MAY 21 at 11:59pm: