The flexible curriculum at the University of Rochester is one of the main reasons that I and other students decided to attend this school. Rochester firmly believes that you should be able to explore your interests and find out what you’re truly passionate about. In fact, there is only one required course, the freshman writing course. You are allowed to try to petition out of it, but few people are successful in doing so. Since this is the only required course at Rochester, they offer many different variations of the course so that you hopefully can find a writing class that interests you.
I have friends who have chosen courses that didn’t turn out to be as interesting as they thought. So now they all suggest that you really read the description and what it’s saying instead of assuming it’s following your interpretation of it. Definitely feel free to email the professors and ask them to clarify; that’s what I did and I love my writing class.
I’m in WRT105 Alternate Histories: Why Ask “What If?” and it has been incredibly interesting.
Here’s the primary sources we’ve looked at so far:
Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury
Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds
Excerpts from The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
Excerpts from The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
Christopher Nolan’s Momento
The Watchmen graphic novel, written by Alan Moore
The writing class gets a bad rap because it ends up being a lot of work, planning out your essays and writing them, but if you choose a class that interests you, it can be really engaging and entertaining. I highly recommend Alternate Histories: Why Ask “What If?” and my professor Hardeep Sidhu. I’ve definitely grown as a writer since I began the course, and I hope by the end of the semester I’ll be even more confident in my abilities.