Description
This is an ongoing live course (Nov. 2021 – May. 2022) of Ayn Rand University, a new kind of university which provides advanced live courses in philosophy and communication from an Objectivist perspective. ARU courses include weekly live classes conducted by videoconference and taught by experts in Objectivism.
To join this or other ARU courses, sign up as an auditor, or apply to be a graded student in ARU’s Objectivist Academic Center!
Writing is a skill, a creative activity. As such, it cannot be learned primarily by reading a textbook or listening to lectures. One learns to write by writing . . . and writing and writing and writing. So what is the value of a course on writing? There are three primary benefits, each of which this course is intended to offer.
The first is practice. The assignments will allow you to put into practice the communication principles covered in the course.
The second benefit is feedback. No matter how much you practice writing and no matter how diligently you edit your own work, there is no substitute for objective editorial feedback. The course will provide commentary on each student’s written work from professional communicators with decades of experience writing and editing pieces for publication.
The third benefit is the conceptualization of the principles of communication. We treat writing as a science, as a skill that has certain objective principles that can be learned and applied to the improvement of one’s work. By balancing the written assignments with lecture notes and writing analysis, students are encouraged to think critically about communication—their own and that of others.
