Overview
Students in ENGL 492 will complete a Work-Integrated Learning project under the direction of a professor. The topic for the project will be determined through consultation between the student and the professor.
Students may wish to focus on editing work, promotion work, grant writing, events planning, speech writing, or other areas of focus within the publishing world. The professor will arrange contacts with publishing houses, literary journals, writers’ series, and / or book festivals. Virtual work opportunities will also be available.
Students may use the course to do a blend of creative writing and workplace service. For projects that include creative writing, the student must demonstrate their work-integrated learning focus by submitting their work to appropriate paying venues for publication. The professor and student will work out the balance of professional writing and work service before the student submits the course proposal.
While the choice of workplace experience is flexible, it may be limited by the research, teaching, and professional interests of the faculty in the Centre for Humanities, as well as by the professional contacts currently available to provide work. Students are encouraged to exercise imagination and creativity in the project that they propose and to develop work experience that is significant, compelling, and speaks to their interests.
In most cases, students will contact an English professor on staff to discuss a possible Work-Integrated Learning project before registering in the course. First, a project is agreed upon with a professor who will supervise the student, then the professor will give permission for the course registration to proceed. It is best that students put this short preliminary proposal in writing, usually in an email message.
Learning outcomes
ENGL 492 has five major learning outcomes. After completing this course, students should be able to:
- Identify kinds of work available in the publishing industry, and demonstrate the skills required to excel in those roles.
- Apply the professional training received in this course to the writing industry, whether in promotion, events management, editorial assistance, acquisition assessment, publication, or other relevant publishing work.
- Describe the challenges and opportunities in the Canadian publishing industry.
- Demonstrate effective communication skills in key areas related to publishing (such as editing, promotion, event planning, etc.).
- Anticipate the needs and trends in the Canadian publishing industry, and engage with those needs and trends through creative work or workplace contributions.
Outline
Early in the course students will complete a project proposal that includes the goals, procedures, and deadlines for completing the different phases of the work. The course of study will culminate with the Finished Project Report, in which you will reflect on your work experience.
There are three specifications on scholarly projects for this course:
- Projects must include at least ten hours’ work in the publishing industry. Unblended projects (i.e., course plans that do not include the submission of creative work) will require 20 workplace hours.
- Projects must be acceptable to the professor who works with the student.
- Project outcomes and the skills learned must be presented in a detailed reflection about the work experience, written in Standard English.
In the case of a creative writing project, your professor will discuss your intended project with you in order to establish expectations for the form, length, and other details.
Evaluation
To receive credit for ENGL 492, students must complete and submit all of the assignments. Students must achieve a minimum grade of D (50 percent) on each assignment and an overall grade of at least D (50 percent) for the course.
Students will be evaluated on their understanding of the concepts presented in the course and on their ability to apply those concepts. The final grade in the course will be based on the marks achieved for the following activities.
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1: Detailed Project Proposal | 10% |
| Assignment 2: Progress Report | 10% |
| Assignment 3: Finished Project Report (This report will include a record of the hours worked and a reflection on the job experience; for blended projects, the report also includes the creative writing submissions) | 70% |
| Assignment 4: Annotated Bibliography | 10% |
| Total | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Westerhof, Patricia. The Canadian Guide to Creative Writing and Publishing. Dundurn, 2023.
Other Materials
All other materials are available online.