English 211W:  "Survival and Resilience"  4 credits

This hybrid online course requires extensive reading and daily writing (online and in hard copy). 

Expertise in keyboarding, e-mail communication, world wide web exploration, along with daily access to computer (including broadband, DSL, and/or dial-in capacity) are prerequisites. Each participant must have access to the internet as well as a computer system capable of handling online electronic resources, discussions and asynchronous online participation. 

Participants use "Desire to Learn" (D2L) as the delivery system for the online portion of the course in order to analyze and assess many kinds of narratives (textual, visual, online) by those individuals who have survived disasters and catastrophes‑‑both personal and collective. We will study memoirs, oral histories, documentary films, dramatizations, and online sources (e.g., personal narratives, art, photography, scholarly essays) by and about survivors of wars, family violence, abuse, catastrophes, illness, and other subjects.  Online discussion forums analyze such issues as survivor's guilt, reparations, reconciliation, and resiliency.  Each participant makes a contract for the grade that she or he wishes to earn in the course. To earn an A in the course, an individual must participate regularly.  In addition, a participant must complete all reading, viewing, and writing assignments.