Last Wednesday, around 70 people gathered in the Davis Auditorium to hear six students read excerpts from their published work featured in the WRIT Large publication. Focusing on academic writing from undergraduate writing and research courses, WRIT Large was published by the university.

WRIT Large is the creation of members from the Writing Program faculty including lecturers Liz Drogin, Megan Kelly, Heather Martin and Writing Center Assistant Director and lecturer Juli Parrish.

“We created WRIT Large to showcase exceptional student writing and to further promote and strengthen a culture of undergraduate writing at DU,” said Drogin.

The journal accepts essays that have been written for WRIT classes as well as any other DU undergraduate course. Submissions for the 2013 edition included rhetorical analysis, personal narrative, ethnography, photo narratives, short videos and survey-based research.

Last year, WRIT Large received 70 submissions and published nine. Ten Writing Program faculty and four undergraduate editors were in charge of selecting the final pieces.

“The student editors helped select the pieces in a three-round rating process and participated in discussions about selecting different kinds of research and writing,” said Parrish. “We aim to increase student editorial involvement in future issues.”

For the publishing party last Wednesday, each author read a short excerpt from their essay followed by a question-and-answer session.

Sophomore political science major Jonathan Seals from Aurora wrote his essay, “Tiny Little Voices: One Giant Problem” as part of his ASEM “Re-Writing the American West” taught by professor Geoffrey Bateman. This narrative was combined with a research aspect and focuses on the American educational system and the achievement gap that is present in many schools, using his own experience as an example.

Seals’ paper explores his childhood friendship and the ways in which their friendship illuminated the achievement gap in Colorado schools.

“Although [my friend Adam] was white and I was black, we were identical in many ways,” said Seals. “The academic distance between Adam and me was not uncommon. As I grew up and matured, I realized that my struggle is shared by many minorities,” writes Seals.

Seals paper discusses the reasons behind the education gap as well as ways to move forward.

Tuong Vi Nguyen, a sophomore majoring in international studies from Denver, wrote her essay, “Dig Deeper: The Effects of an Urban Garden Project on a Community” for her “Academic Research and Writing – Research and the Everyday” class taught by professor Juli Parrish. Her paper focuses on her former school, Fairview Elementary and their Denver Urban Gardens initiative. This essay discusses the social and nutritional benefits that garden projects such as the school and community garden at Fairview can have on children.

Katherine Thomas, a sophomore majoring in finance and economics from Denver, wrote the essay “Homophobia in Male Athletics” as part of her Research Writing – Race, Class, & Gender in Schools and Sports class taught by professor Liz Drogin. Thomas has figure skated for 15 years and it has become an important aspect of her life.
“I first wanted to talk about how heterosexual male skaters deal with the stigma of being homosexual,” said Thomas, referring to the topic of her paper.

She decided to broaden her subject matter and focus on homophobia in male athletics, on which many studies have centered.

‘12 DU alum Sara Schwartzkopf from Loveland graduated last year with a degree in sociology and international studies. She wrote the piece “‘Inclusive Excellence’ at the University of Denver” for her sociological imagination and inquiry B class taught by professor Lisa Martinez. Her essay is focused around the student outlook on DU’s goal of inclusive excellence using a statistical analysis.

Schwartzkopf, who was a member of Native Student Alliance (NSA), decided to center her paper on the experience that students of color have at DU and compare it to the experience of their Caucasian counterparts.

“Of those who choose to join a multicultural organization, it would seem that having a friend of a different race is a key factor in that decision,” said Schwartzkopf, referring to Caucasian students and reading from the discussion and conclusion portion of her essay. “While Non-Whites report belonging to multicultural organizations and socializing outside of their racial groups at much higher numbers.”

Sonia Crosby-Attipoe is a sophomore majoring in accounting from Highlands Ranch. She wrote the essay “The ‘Stress’ of the Black Tress” as part of her “Academic Research and Writing – Thing Theory” class taught by professor Carol Samson. Her essay discusses African Americans and their hair. She uses the film “Good Hair” to explain the difficulties that many women of color face when styling their hair.

“Unfortunately, when it comes to a black woman’s hair, the burden is messy, disheartening and complicated,” said Crosby-Attipoe reading from her essay.

Lastly, Cicely Galm is a sophomore majoring in theater from Longmont who also wrote for Samson’s “Academic Research and Writing– Thing Theory.” Galm wrote the piece “Memory in Memoriam,” which focuses on her grandmother, who suffers from dementia.

“Due to her degenerative senile dementia, her brain tissue atrophies at an accelerated rate, resulting in an inability to retrieve information about old memories and the significantly diminished ability to form new memories, often leading to depression and a lack of autonomy and independence,” said Galm reading from her essay. “At least that’s how the doctors explain it. The rest of the population refers to this as losing your marbles.”

After the event, there was a small reception where the authors engaged in conversations with family members and audience members. Coffee and desserts were served.

Other authors who were published in the WRIT Large journal but were unable to attend Wednesday’s event include Emily Angel, who wrote “The Media’s Influence on Perceptions of Michael Jordan,” Nicole Krechevsky, who wrote “There’s Nothing I Wouldn’t Do For You-Brother Romance in ‘Supernatural,’” Professor Carol Samson, who wrote “Consider the Next Three Essays,” and Susanna Park, who wrote “Hello, Goodbye.”

WRIT Large is available now. It has been passed out to all WRIT classes and can be picked up at the Writing Program office in Aspens Hall. Students can also view the journal online at http://issuu.com/du_writing_program/docs/writ_large_2013.

Submissions are currently being accepted for the 2014 edition. The final deadline is June 15. Essays should be emailed to writlarge.du@gmail.com.