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Liberal Arts 102

And the Fans Go Willd! Writing About Sports Heroes in FilmFashion: Style & SubstanceFrom Farm to Fork: Going Green LocallyGender's a Drag
Google, Guts & Green LivingLaw & Pop Culture: An Intersection of Rules & ResponsesRespect & Tolerance: Outside the Bubble
The Rhetoric of SportsSpace is the Place: Writing About Science FictionThe Southern Experience
Under the Influence: An Introduction to PersuasionWriting About True Crime

First-Year Seminar

Catalog Listing
While the LIBA 102 seminars are all different and depend on the expertise of the faculty conducting them, they share pedagogical goals and are a part of the same sequenced first year writing instruction. On this page, we provide information about the overall course purpose and goals; we also provide links to the individual course descriptions provided by each instructor.

Course description:

LIBA 102 is a first-year writing course conducted within the context of a research area within a specific discipline designed to build on writing abilities learned in WRIT 100/101. The course works to develop critical thinking and research abilities appropriate for use in academic writing within a particular discipline. The course pays special attention to developing argumentation, analysis of texts, and synthesis of information into thoughtful, coherent written projects. Students enrolled in LIBA 102 produce papers that are longer and more in depth than in WRIT 100/101. The course culminates in a final portfolio of the student’s work.

Course Purpose

The objectives of this course are

  1. to develop writing abilities learned in WRIT 100/101, including the understanding that writing is a process that develops over time through revision (Writing Process);
  2. to write for specific purposes and for specific audiences (Purposes and Audience);
  3. to respond critically to different points of view so that the student creates effective and sustained arguments (Exploration and Argumentation);
  4. to become proficient at locating primary and secondary research from a variety of sources and at evaluating the reliability of sources (Research); and
  5. to become effective researchers and writers of research papers as a member of an active writing, reading, and researching community, understanding that such writing should be free of serious grammatical and mechanical errors while following disciplinary writing conventions (Conventions and Mechanics).

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of our most frequently asked questions about LIBA 102. If you have a question that is not answered here, please click “Contact Us,” above, and send us a message. Someone will respond promptly to your inquiry.

Which course requires more work/writing, WRIT 102 or LIBA 102?

While the specific amount of work that is assigned in any class is up to each individual instructor, the general guidelines for the amount and type of work done in each class are the same.

What requirements do LIBA 102 and WRIT 102 fulfill?

Either course fulfills the second sequence of the core first-year composition requirements.

Is there a common textbook required for LIBA 102 courses?

All courses use the handbook,A Writer’s Reference Ole Miss edition; additional books are at the discretion of the instructor, although supplementary texts should be identified in the course proposal.

What are the differences between WRIT 102 and LIBA 102?

WRIT 102 courses are theme-based (Food, Literature, Business, Environment, and Pop Culture) and are taught by either CWR faculty, adjunct instructors, and graduate student instructors. LIBA 102 courses are designed around a research interest by an established disciplinary expert. Some LIBA 102 instructors are professors from the Ole Miss academic community, while others are professors or artists from other colleges or universities or from a specific disciplinary field.