How can students develop their academic literacy, creativity and criticality in researching, explaining, discussing, and writing about global issues in a variety of different genres over an academic year? This poster presentation displayed examples of writing on global issues by first-year students in a research and writing course. In this course students follow their interests, choose global issues to research over multi-week cycles, and produce an end-of cycle written product. No particular genre has priority; students have, at different points over this year, tried Blog Posts, Editorials, Journaling, News Articles, Opinion Pieces, Personal Diaries, Question Sheets, Research Narratives, Research Reports, and Visual Reports. What challenges do students face in trying real-world genres to express their understanding of global issues that concern them? What benefits do they notice from engaging with global issues in this way?
