CWP 1502
College Writing: Citizen Scientist
Being a citizen of a modern democracy increasingly requires making decisions informed by our understanding of scientific consensus and the backing evidence. These decisions affect our environment, public health, state infrastructure, and government at every level. Identifying trustworthy academic research and journalism while resisting misguided public opinion and malicious disinformation campaigns can be daunting, particularly when we reflect on our own vulnerability to cognitive biases. Citizen Scientist aims to develop the ability to distinguish meaningful expertise from self-interested distortions and status quo platitudes. Inspired by our shared civic responsibility, Citizen Scientist teaches students to analyze and generate evidenced-based arguments that engage opinion, policy, activism, journalism, personal experience, and the research university. THIS COURSE SATISFIES THE FIRST-YEAR WRITING REQUIREMENT FOR ALL DIVISIONS.
Instructors
Christopher King, Laura Evers, Nathaniel Farrell, Ron Austin, Roy Kasten, Steven Pijut
Reviews
Canvas is overwhelming but its a point system so if you do what you're asked you will get a good grade
4/17/2026
Such a chill but quirky guy. He really values student success. I thought the workload was very manageable and a lot of times fun. He's lenient on deadlines, and is okay with negotiating some of the work. The classroom was a very safe space and literally I would recommend him like a million times over.
1/25/2026
Mr. King is great! If you put in the work and follow his guidelines for writing assignments (which he goes over in depth), this course should be an easy A. Very enjoyable classroom environment and low-stress if you manage your time well, although Mr. King is generally lenient on deadlines.
1/15/2026
Mr. King runs this class much differently compared to other professors, so it depends on what you like. If you do the work, follow the guidelines on canvas, and listen to his feedback, you will end up with an A. The workload is not too bad.
12/18/2025
Very bad rubric and prompt is never clear. Skips me during office hours, letting other students who arrived after get help first. Also hurried me along one time to get to another student.
12/17/2025
One of the worst professors I've had. His grading is unclear and subjective. He favors certain students, checking up w/ them after class. A classmate and I made similar mistakes on essays, but I was graded much more harshly. His office hours are unhelpful and vague. Lots of readings and a few papers, but appropriate for a 3-credit class.
12/8/2025
Mr. King is an elite professor. He has a ton of interesting stories, brings in knowledgeable guests, and helps all of his students become better speakers and writers.
12/5/2025
Mr. King is a great and understanding teacher. He believes late is better than never, and Canvas might feel overwhelming at first, just ask—he's super talkative and willing to help. Make sure to 100% follow all the instructions for essays, even the "drafts". He gives harsh comments, but just ask, he will explain and re-grade if you make changes.
7/10/2025
Dr Farrell was a pretty great college writing teacher. He's a fairly lenient grader, classes are active and engaging, and his feedback and expectations are clear. I was surprised to see all the 1 star ratings.
5/14/2025
Farrell is very passionate and engages in class discussions. He gives vague instructions and has extremely high expectations that are poorly communicated. He is extremely nitpicky and sometimes straight-up condescending. If you want a chill College Writing, steer clear.
5/12/2025
Basically a walking eccentric professor stereotype—you either love him or hate him. Canvas can seem overwhelming, but the workload is a lot less in reality. Definitely reminds me more of a seminar-style course! Essays have a strict rubric, but Mr. King also incorporates a lot of interesting assignments beyond the basic college writing criteria.
4/25/2025
The instructions for assignments are vague and confusing, but if you ask him he will clarify. He is very nice and understanding. Pop quizzes on readings.
1/23/2025
The assignments for this class are very helpful and practical, one of them helped me get a research opportunity. He gives harsh feedback on essays but there are a lot of participation points throughout the semester
12/25/2024
Professor King was very caring and pretty funny. His feedback is tough but almost always right. He implements a rewrite policy that boosts your grade while allowing your writing to improve based of his feedback. Also, a third of the class was participation so it was very easy to do well given you put moderate work outside of class.
12/14/2024
Mr. King's not great if you're not already interested in writing, and I never would have taken the class if it wasn't required. He has a very clear idea about how he thinks essays should be written and gives very harsh feedback (way too harsh for freshmen in a required class) if the rough drafts aren't exactly what he imagined. He is funny though.
12/12/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Professor is Director or Writing center. He is pretty knowledgeable but he does tooo much. He’s very anal about everything and I don’t really think his description of the class really correlates with the content being taught in the class.
6/13/2024
2-4 hrs/week
Roy Kasten was an amazing prof def take his class if u can
5/23/2024
2-4 hrs/week
If you work to get to know Farrell it will go A LONG WAY. He doesn't randomly assign favorites, but appreciates students who early-on participate in discussion and GO TO OFFICE HOURS!!! He loves when students do and will help you a lot with structuring your assignments. Humorous, nice Prof- just a bit subjective in the sense you could tell where his passion for a topic ran wide and topics where it ran thin (don't write about AI or ChatGPT, he doesn't like that topic)
5/22/2024
6-8 hrs/week
Took this course in the fall of 2021. Mr. King, while tough at times, pushed me to become a better writer. Some of the content was a bit boring, but the flexibility in our essays made them much easier to put effort into. He also had us cold email a professor to interview, and two years later, I am still doing research for that same professor. If you put in the work, the grade will display it. Also some cool guest speakers (we Zoomed with an astronaut!)
5/22/2024