For this class, our collective aspiration is to create a learning community. Why? So that each of you is that much more ready, in the years ahead, to lead a life of meaning and purpose, a life (as your are able) of fighting for justice.

To achieve this, I will ask each of you to actively engage with the other members of the course (including me) and to commit to writing with purpose. Here’s what I mean.

Active engagement (45% of your grade).

Think about all the ways you can actively engage with others in a learning community.

• Deeply listen.
• Ask questions.
• Share what you’ve learned from assigned material.
• Honor the insights of others.
• Give good feedback on another student’s writing.
• Make suggestions about new material for future class meetings.
• Show compassion.

Out-of-class writing (45%)

How to write with purpose?

• Seek clarity.
• Share your own perspectives; don’t mimic others.
• Find your voice
• Craft sentences and paragraphs that sing; don’t let words get in the way.
• Learn from writers you admire.
• Draft, get feedback, re-write, get feedback, do more of this.
• Celebrate your unique voice, your self, your writing.

In class writing (10%)

Have you spent time with the assigned material? What have you learned from it? What insights do you want to share with the rest of us?