First-year Writing Language

You already know how to write. We’re here to help you understand what writing can do. Writing is how you think, how you persuade, how you participate in the world.

The First-Year Writing (FYW) program in the Department of Writing Studies treats writing as a rigorous, reflective, and socially meaningful practice that students carry with them long after they leave the classroom.

Grounded in rhetoric, inquiry, and research, our courses teach students to write with purpose and flexibility, adapting their strategies across academic disciplines, professional contexts, and civic life. From a humanist perspective, we take seriously the power of writing to help shape knowledge, construct identities, and work with communities. We ask students to engage with hard questions, to examine how language and research operate within systems of power, and to use their voices to participate in meaningful change.

Mission and Values

The First-Year Writing program is built on the mission and values of the Department of Writing Studies, with a strong commitment to belonging, access, and academic integrity.

Care

We meet students where they are. We support students with diverse linguistic backgrounds, educational experiences, and identities through personalized feedback, meaningful revision, and flexible learning structures.

Community

Writing is a collaborative act. We foster learning communities where students and faculty think with each other through discussion, peer review, and shared inquiry. We understand rhetoric not simply as persuasion, but as the practice of co-creating meaning across differences, including diverse audiences, perspectives, and contexts.

Culture

We promote a culture of ethical writing that values a plurality of voices and perspectives. Students examine how language, evidence, and representation shape knowledge, and bring that critical awareness into their writing and research.

Accordion Group

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  • Curriculum Overview

    The First-Year Writing sequence immerses students in writing, rhetoric, and research through a scaffolded curriculum that builds across courses. Students develop rhetorical awareness, inquiry skills, and multimodal composing practices, learning to adapt their writing for varied audiences and purposes.

    All courses emphasize:

    • Writing as a recursive process
    • Inquiry-driven research (primary and secondary)
    • Rhetorical analysis of texts, genres, and contexts
    • Multimodal composition and presentation
    • Reflection and metacognition

    Students complete approximately 20 double-spaced pages (or 5,000 words) of polished writing, or an equivalent combination of written and multimodal work, across each course, with opportunities for revision and reflection.

  • Student Learning Outcomes

    Main Outcome 1

    Demonstrate effective written communication skills in relation to specific rhetorical tasks.

    Main Outcome 2

    Construct original, well-reasoned arguments using a range of materials.

    Main Outcome 3

    Integrate and synthesize appropriate and relevant primary and secondary sources in their writing.

    By the end of the First-Year Writing sequence, students will be able to:

    • Adapt writing to diverse rhetorical situations, audiences, and genres
    • Construct original, evidence-based arguments
    • Conduct and synthesize primary and secondary research
    • Compose effective multimodal texts and presentations
    • Reflect critically on their writing processes and growth

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