Crimes of Writing

To what extent do you own the writing that you produce for your college classes? How much do you "steal" the writing of others as you write for your college classes? What expectations does your university have for your writing, and why? How much do your professors respect your writing, and why? How do the expectations of students or the respect according to their writing differ from what is expected of and accorded to other writers, and why?

Ours is a culture fixated on crimes of writingÑplagiarism, copyright infringement, fraud, forgery, scientific misconduct. By many accounts, ours is also a culture that collectively commits crimes against writing, establishing unrealistic expectations of writers and passing laws that inhibit writing.

This course explores these issues and questions, focusing on how cultural expectations, representations, and legislation affect college writers. We'll look at practices of fraud and forgery; at copyright law and alternatives to it; at plagiarism policies and honor codes; at term paper sites and Turnitin.com; at the practice of ghostwriting for politicians, executives, and students; and at the tension between originality, imitation, and collaboration.