Last Updated: Fri, 01/02/2026
Course prefix:
ENGL
Course number:
1102
Semester:
Spring
Academic year:
2026
Course description:

In ENGL 1102 you will further develop key communication skills that will contribute to success in your academic and professional career. Throughout the course, we will rely on the power of Written, Oral, Visual, Electronic, and Nonverbal (WOVEN) modes of communication. Through WOVEN communication projects (called artifacts in this course) we will critically engage with and research the theme of marginal characters in film and television.

While the lifestyle of the rich and famous is still at the center of the entertainment industry, in recent years, audiences have turned to stories coming from the fringes of society. The success of Downton Abbey, highlighting the drama of the servants of an early-twentieth-century, English country house, or the more recent Squid Game phenomenon show how the mainstream industry as well as critics and scholars are captivated by narratives that give voice to the marginalized. In this course, you will develop WOVEN communication skills in individual and collaborative projects by engaging with films and TV series that amplify these marginal voices. 

In your artifacts for this course, you will analyze and critique the portrayal of social inequality and the interactions between people divided by class in these stories and investigate what we can learn from this analysis about the challenges faced by present-day societies. For Artifact 1, you will prepare a class presentation on a show or film that centers on the experience of those living at the margins of society. Next, for Artifact 2, you will collaborate with other students to do research, write a script, and edit a video essay on one of the international films focusing on precarious domestic workers discussed in class–Roma (Mexico, 2018) or Parasite (South Korea, 2019). Finally, for Artifact 3, you and your team will build a website exploring the world of a class dystopia portrayed in film in Never Let Me Go (2010), or Snowpiercer (2013). 

Course learning outcomes:
  • Critical thinking: understanding, critiquing, and analyzing social and cultural texts, using writing, and reading for thinking, learning, and communicating.
  • Rhetoric: using a variety of technologies, media, and genres to create persuasive communication, while adapting to context, audience, and purpose.
  • Process: learning productive processes for communication to develop strategies for creating, planning, drafting, revising, presenting, and publishing.
  • Modes and Media: researching, interpreting, and assimilating content in various disciplines and media, and creating WOVEN artifacts that demonstrate evaluation and judgment.
Required course materials:

 

* Having a Netflix and Prime Video subscription for the duration of the course is recommended. You will need access to all this content. You do not need to buy them, but you will need to watch them more than once and capture images and clips from them. 

Grading policy:

https://sites.gatech.edu/wcppolicies/1102spring2026/#Evaluation_Equivalencies

Attendance policy:

Attendance and participation are essential to success in courses in the Writing and Communication Program. Because of this, you are expected to attend class in person. Not attending a scheduled class session in person results in an absence.

There may be times when you cannot or should not attend class, such as if you are not feeling well, have an interview, or have family responsibilities. Therefore, this course allows a specified number of absences without penalty, regardless of reason. After that, penalties accrue. Exceptions are only allowed for Institute-approved absences (for example, those documented by the Registrar) and situations such as hospitalization or family emergencies (documented by the Office of the Dean of Students).  

If you need to miss class, please reach out to me as soon as possible, and I will communicate with you about how to access materials or make up work you may have missed during your absence, or suggest ways to participate in class remotely and/or asynchronously. Students may miss a total of four (4) classes over the semester without penalty. These absences will still be recorded on Canvas, but they will have no impact on your final grade. However, each additional absence after the allotted number deducts 2% from a student’s final grade.

 

Academic honesty/integrity statement:

Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.

Core IMPACTS statement(s) (if applicable):

This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Writing area. 

Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals.  

This course should direct students toward a broad Orienting Question: 

  • How do I write effectively in different contexts?  

 Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following Learning Outcomes: 

  • Students will communicate effectively in writing, demonstrating clear organization and structure, using appropriate grammar and writing conventions.
  • Students will appropriately acknowledge the use of materials from original sources.
  • Students will adapt their written communications to purpose and audience.
  • Students will analyze and draw informed inferences from written texts.  

 Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following Career-Ready Competencies: 

  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy
  • Persuasion  
Instructor First Name:
Emiliano
Instructor Last Name:
Gutierrez-Popoca
Section:
L4
CRN (you may add up to five):
30410
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