Course Descriptions

Writing 1000: Academic Writing and Inquiry Seminar

This course provides first-year college students an introduction to academic inquiry. Its central purpose is to immerse students in the types of reading, writing, and critical thinking required by their new community – the university.  Key elements of the course include understanding the rhetorical and cultural contexts that impact reading, writing, and learning; practicing the critical reading of academic texts; learning to develop insightful lines of inquiry and complex claims; and developing skill in the processes and conventions that lead to successful academic writing.

Writing 1100: Disciplinary Research and Writing Seminar

This course continues the academic inquiry and writing skills of WRI 1000 by incorporating the elements and standards of college-level research and writing within a disciplinary context.  Students use writing throughout the term as a tool to investigate and communicate information and ideas and to approach and answer complex questions. Key elements include learning to develop good research questions and lines of inquiry; writing in appropriate disciplinary genres; understanding the proper use of primary and secondary sources; evaluating, summarizing, analyzing, and synthesizing research; revising writing so as to develop and deepen ideas; and producing a culminating paper or project.