First Year Courses

How is meaning made? By whom and for whom? WRS 105 introduces students to rhetoric and multiliteracy, exploring how meaning is created not just through words on a page but across written, visual, oral, digital, and embodied modes. Students analyze texts, conduct primary research, and compose across genres, developing rhetorical awareness about audience, purpose, and context. Through metacognitive reflection, students examine their writing processes and the social and cultural implications of the choices they make as composers. 

Core Areas of Focus

• Rhetorical analysis and rhetorical principles 
• Multiliteracies and multimodal composition 
• Primary research and inquiry 
• Writing as process and reflection 

Core Assignments

Critical Literacies/Multiliteracies Analysis

Students examine how literacy practices (written, visual, digital, oral, and embodied) shape meaning, identity, and power across social and cultural contexts. Drawing on course readings, students analyze how multiliteracies operate in their own lives and in public or academic settings. 

Rhetorical Analysis 

Students analyze how an author, creator, or artifact uses rhetorical strategies (such as audience awareness, genre, appeals, and multimodal elements) to shape meaning and influence interpretation within a specific context. 

Primary Research Paper 

Students investigate a research question through original data collection methods (such as interviews, surveys, observations, or genre analysis) and develop an evidence-based argument grounded in rhetorical and ethical inquiry. 

Multimodal Remix and Presentation 

Students re‑frame one of their written projects into a multimodal composition (such as a video, infographic, website, or podcast), adapting their work for a new audience, purpose, and mode of delivery. 

Final Reflection 

Students synthesize their growth as writers by examining their composing processes, the choices and revisions they made across projects, and the rhetorical insights they developed through the course. Drawing on their own work, students identify transferable skills and strategies they can carry into future writing situations.

Every research project begins with a question worth asking. WRS 106 builds on the foundations of WRS 105 by centering sustained inquiry and research-based argument. Students develop meaningful research questions connected to their academic, professional, and/or personal interests, learn to synthesize multiple secondary sources, and ultimately enter ongoing intellectual conversations with their own interventions. The course challenges students to think carefully about the cultural, ethical, and rhetorical dimensions of the research they conduct, and to trust that their own voice, rigorously developed, is irreplaceable.

Core Areas of Focus

• Inquiry and question-driven research
• Synthesis of scholarly sources
• Research-based argumentation
• Multimodal communication and presentation

Core Assignment Sequence (Semester-Long Research Project)

Initial Research Proposal

Students generate a focused topic and research questions connected to their academic, professional, or personal interests. This assignment emphasizes inquiry, rhetorical awareness, and the articulation of purpose, audience, and scope for a sustained research project.

Literature Review or Sources-in-Conversation Paper

Students locate, evaluate, and synthesize scholarly sources to understand existing conversations surrounding their topic. Depending on the approach, students either map key themes and debates or analyze how sources speak to one another and to the student’s emerging perspective.

Research-Based Argument

Students compose an original, evidence-based argument that enters an ongoing academic conversation. Building on prior research, the project emphasizes critical analysis, synthesis, and the development of a meaningful intervention or claim.

Multimodal Re-Mix and/or Presentation

Students adapt their research into a multimodal format (such as a presentation, poster, website, or video), reframing their work for a specific audience, purpose, and rhetorical context.

Final Reflection

Students synthesize their growth as writers by examining their composing processes, the choices and revisions they made across projects, and the rhetorical insights they developed through the course. Drawing on their own work, students identify transferable skills and strategies they can carry into future writing situations

Data doesn’t speak for itself; the writer’s voice matters. WRS 107 is designed for students pursuing STEM-related fields and focuses on writing and research practices common in scientific and technical disciplines. Students analyze and compose genres such as research papers, proposals, reports, and technical presentations, learning to shape evidence into compelling arguments for both specialist and non-specialist audiences. Through attention to clarity, precision, and rhetorical purpose, students discover that in STEM fields, how you communicate your work is as important as the work itself.

Core Areas of Focus

• STEM-specific research and inquiry practices
• Genre conventions in scientific and technical writing
• Rhetorical decision-making across audiences
• Multimodal and data-informed communication

Core Assignment Sequence

• Initial Proposal of Research
• Literature Review
• STEM-Focused Research Project
• Multimodal Re-Mix and/or Presentation
• Final Reflection

Transferring institutions means new expectations as well as new opportunities to grow as a writer. WRS 208 is designed for transfer students who have previously completed one first‑year writing course at another institution and need an additional course to meet the University of Miami’s writing requirements. The course focuses on strengthening research‑based writing through attention to revision strategies, effective use of sources, and academic writing practices across university contexts.

Students review and refine research techniques, practice developing and revising academic arguments, and build confidence navigating college‑level writing expectations at UM. Emphasis is placed on drafting, feedback, and revision as central parts of the writing process.

WRS 208 may be used to substitute for either WRS 105 or WRS 106, but not both, and is open only to transfer students who have received transfer credit for one first‑year writing course. The course is not open to students who have already completed WRS 105, WRS 106, or ENG 106 at the University of Miami

What does it mean to write for a university audience? WRS O99 introduces students to academic writing with a focus on building confidence, fluency, and control as writers. The course emphasizes writing as a process, with regular practice in planning, drafting, revising, and editing. Students read and respond to a range of texts, strengthen sentence- and paragraph-level writing, and learn what it means to develop ideas clearly, support claims, and shape writing for different purposes and contexts. Through workshops, peer review, and in-class writing, students gain experience navigating college-level writing tasks. WRS O99 is designed for students who need additional preparation before enrolling in WRS 105 and WRS 106 and does not count toward graduation credit.