Hello students! Did you know that SCCC offers all kinds of English classes in the summer sessions? Well, here is what will be offered this summer, and I will go into full detail. There are two summer sessions: one that runs May 27-July 7th and the other that runs July 10- August 19th.
The classes are $235 per credit and the classes run only for 6 weeks. Most of these classes are online, which is great for students who are going on vacation or chilling at the beach. This summer each campus will be offering a variety of English electives. Each class is different depending on the subject and the professor.
Why take English classes over the summer? Dr. Michael Boecherer, English Academic Chair for the Eastern campus answers “English is important because it teaches students a variety of useful tools that can be applied to any discipline or real-world problem: structure, argumentation, analysis, and cultural awareness.”
ENG 119: The Structure of English meets in the second half of the summer session and will be asynchronous. Taught by Professor Steve Brodsky, ENG 119 is “a course that is designed to give students a deep understanding of how our language developed, how it is structured and used, and, even, how our language might change and develop in the future.”
Professor Brodsky is a big believer in summer courses. “Summer courses, specifically, can be a great method for students to take classes they need for their degree programs, accreditations, and continued education in a convenient, affordable, and accelerated way,” Brodsky said.
Brodsky also noted that, “It is important that students plan for this compressed schedule and avoid over-scheduling themselves if they are taking summer classes. I’d also urge students to stay engaged and active in their summer coursework and immediately communicate with their professors if they have any questions or concerns”
If you like humor, there is a class just for you. In ENG 223: The Art of Humor, students will be learning about the masters of comedy and the ethics of humor. This class will be asynchronous and will be taught by Dr. Joseph Gansrow. Gansrow is also an advocate of summer learning. “I loved summer classes when I was a student and continue to love them as a teacher for the same paradoxical reasons. Summer classes are more leisurely than those offered at other times of the year, and yet there’s a high concentration of intensely focused and driven students in these concentrated courses,” Gansrow stated.
Do you like business writing or writing brochures and manuals? Then ENG121: Technical Writing is the class for you. This course will be taught by Dr. Elizabeth Cone asynchronously in Summer Session I. “Summer classes are tough because so much work is squeezed into a much shorter time frame than in a usual semester. I try to vary the activities and exercises the class is required to complete to hold students’ attention. It is important, of course, that summer classes are just a rigorous as the same class held in the fall or spring,’ Cone said.
“I think the most important thing students should learn in a technical writing course is how to analyze a particular audience, and then how to write for that audience. A technical writer’s most important job is taking information produced by experts and reframing it in a way that is usable for a more general audience,” Cone emphasized.
Do you like using creativity and writing fiction and poetry? Well, there is a course being offered this summer in both summer sessions titled ENG131: Creative Writing. This course will be offered in both face-to-face and online modalities. The online ENG 131 will be taught by Dr. Elizabeth McCormick, who also oversees the lovely writing center located in the Huntington Library.
According to Dr. McCormick, “Creative writing over the summer can be dynamic and intensive. Because you focus on it for so many more hours a week, with fewer interruptions for other subjects, some students find they can capture the spirit or flow of the subject and move into their ‘voice’ quickly. In some ways it’s like a writer’s retreat or artist colony, even online.”
Professor Howie Gunston will be teaching the face-to-face ENG 131. “In general, taking online courses fits a certain personality type better, for example, a self-disciplined and highly motivated person. This is the same for creative writing and other English classes … Summer can also be a fun time to take a class without the regular pressures of a regular semester,” Gunston said.
Do you like reading stories from writers from the early history of the United States? ENG215: American Literature I introduces students to American literary texts from that era. This Summer Session I course is asynchronous and is going to be taught by the Dr. Kathryn Kinney, the English Academic Chair for the Brentwood campus.
“While a six-week course is challenging because 15 weeks of material is condensed into less than half the time, these shortened, intense courses allow students to become immersed in the topic,” Kinney noted.
Dr. Kinney is excited about the subject of the course, which will allow students to “really see how historical and literary contexts emerged throughout the development of the United States from the colonial period to the Civil War. For example, a six-week course enables students to form connections between poetry written by an enslaved young woman in the late 18th century, early drafts of one of the most important documents for the formation of our country, and the best-selling novel of the 19th century because they will read all of these texts within a few weeks of each other.”
Summer session classes encourage students to keep using skills such as analyzing, understanding, and learning even when “traditional” school has ended. If you have any questions about registering or what the classes are about, you can always reach out to the professor, and they can give you the scoop.
Enroll now to get your spot as everyone is welcome and belongs here no matter what!