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Course Resources

In addition to various handouts or other resources I will post to our Sakai course site, there are a wide variety of resources to help you succeed in this class and beyond.

For all aspects of technical support, visit the IT Help Desk at https://help.unc.edu/sp or call 1.919.962.HELP (4357).

The UNC Writing Center, located in SASB North and in Greenlaw Hall, Room 221, offers free tutoring services for students; you can use their services both in-person and online. You may visit the Writing Center to ask for help with a specific paper, whether you are concerned with developing ideas and content, organizing your assignment, or working on style issues. This could be a wonderful resource to help with your writing assignments in this course (and any assignments in your other courses). You do not need a complete draft of your assignment to visit; they can help you at any stage! To make an appointment, browse the Writing Center’s online resources, or send a draft online, please go to http://writingcenter.unc.edu/. To make the best use of your time there, please bring a copy of both your assignment sheet and your draft with you. The Writing Center will not proofread papers or discuss grades with you. The Writing Center also has an excellent array of tips and tools at https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/. The Writing Center also provides English language support in a variety of ways, which you might find especially useful if English is not your first or primary language: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/esl/.

Additionally, the Purdue Online Writing Lab (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html) and your textbook, the Tar Heel Writing Guide, 2021-2022, are fantastic resources for learning more about mechanics, style, grammar, and citations. I’d also be happy to recommend other useful style guides, tools, reference materials, etc. if you ask.

There are writing disciplines we will not specifically discuss this semester, such as creative writing (fiction, creative non-fiction, drama, poetry, etc.), writing in business, and legal writing. For more information about writing in these disciplines, read the appropriate chapters in the Tar Heel Writing Guide. I’m also willing to discuss these disciplines with you further outside of class.

The sister organization to the UNC Writing Center is the UNC Learning Center, which offers valuable resources for all other learning-related issues or needs, including tips for adjusting to college life, study strategies, and time-management skills. They offer individual consultations, peer tutoring, academic coaching, test prep programming, study skills workshops, and peer study groups. If you think you might benefit from their services, please visit them in SASB North or visit their website to schedule an appointment: http://learningcenter.unc.edu/.

Similarly, UNC Career Services offer extensive support for finding a job (long-term or just for the summer) as well as assistance in completing an application, crafting a resume or cover letter, or conducting an interview, etc.: https://careers.unc.edu/.

The UNC Libraries also have amazing resources and dedicated, knowledgeable individuals who will assist you with your research: http://library.unc.edu/. This includes one-on-one consultations with a librarian who can assist you in forming or executing a research plan. These consultations are specifically for ENGL105/105i students and can be extremely valuable, although these research librarians can also assist you with your research projects in future classes as well. See also Sakai>Resources> Helpful Handouts and Resources>UNC Libraries Resources.

I also want to call attention to the Academic Advising Program, which provides academic advising for undergraduate students at UNC. They are here to guide you and assist with planning your academic career and course-planning needs at UNC, but they are also highly connected with the rest of the university community and may be able to connect you with other resources for preparing for your future goals and/or addressing your current needs or problems.

For resources on undergraduate research, including mentors, workshops, handouts, and opportunities to present or even publish your work, see the Office for Undergraduate Research (OUR) at https://our.unc.edu/, especially their pages on presentation opportunities and on getting published.

Although our specific course will not include formal exams or tests, you should still be aware of the Undergraduate Testing Center, a resource that could be useful for you in other courses moving forward. The College of Arts and Sciences provides a secure, proctored environment in which exams can be taken. The center works with instructors to proctor exams for their undergraduate students who are not registered with the Accessibility Resources and Service Office (ARS) and who do not need testing accommodations as provided by ARS. In other words, the Center provides a proctored testing environment for students who are unable to take an exam at the normally scheduled time (with pre-arrangement by your instructor). For more information, visit http://testingcenter.web.unc.edu/.

I also want to call your attention to Adobe Creative Cloud, a suite of fantastic programs to which we, as members of the UNC community, all have free access. This suite of programs includes Adobe Acrobat DC (a program for reading and editing .pdf files that is far superior to the simple Adobe Reader), Adobe Photoshop (for editing photos), Adobe Audition (for editing audio), and Adobe Premiere Pro (for editing video). You should certainly take advantage of all of these programs. You can download and install Adobe Creative Cloud for free at https://adobe.unc.edu. Once you have Adobe Creative Cloud, you can use it to install any of the programs included in the suite. The process for obtaining Adobe Creative Cloud is a bit convoluted; for assistance, see “How to Get Adobe Creative Cloud” on Sakai at Resources>Helpful Handouts and Resources.

As students at UNC, you all have free access (through your student fees) to a number of free resources, including (but not limited to) the following:

For each class I teach, I also maintain a running Google Doc to which I encourage all of my students to contribute. Any time you confront a useful reading, resource, or other piece of media (useful for our class, for students, or just entertaining and interesting), you’re invited to add it to our running list. The document is titled “Suggested Readings or Other Content.” The link to that document is also on Sakai at Resources>Readings (and is included in our official course syllabus, the Word document posted to Sakai>Resources). I highly encourage you to contribute to this informal list so we can collaboratively curate a list of readings and other content we can all use to inform and empower (or just entertain) each other this semester and in the future. [Because this version of the syllabus is available publicly, I will not share the link to this document here, but please find the link I’ve posted to Sakai and contribute to this document.]

For a thorough and updated list of campus resources, see the attached useful document, which I do not moderate. Please also keep in mind the various student support resources listed above under “Course Policies” as well as the attached document regarding mental health resources for students at UNC.

As an instructor, I aim to challenge you to grow and excel, but I am also dedicated to providing support to my students in times of crisis or other extenuating circumstances. Although I am not a medical professional or mental health professional, it is still important that you know that I have received the following training so that you feel comfortable coming to me if you feel it necessary. Although I aspire to challenge you towards intellectual growth, I feel that my role is also one of support and guidance. Please know that I am here to advocate for your success and personal well-being. To support such growth and health, I have completed the following training sessions so that I might be better equipped to support you in times of need:

 

Next syllabus item: Communication and Flexibility are Crucial