Writing Sequence

The Writing sequence forms the foundation of a student’s writing career and shares important writing-intensive values with all other areas of Liberal Studies. Writing provides students with an important method for organizing and expressing their thoughts, and it helps them develop and enhance their critical, analytical, and interpretive skills. The two-semester Writing sequence advances the global emphasis of LS by engaging students in reading, analyzing, and interpreting works throughout the English-speaking world and, in translation, beyond it; in the classroom, instructors deal with the attendant issues of geography, political and social difference, and translation. Students also produce original work based on research and the incorporation of dialogue with other writers and thinkers.

(formerly Writing I)

Writing as Exploration has two main objectives. The first is to develop self-confidence and fluency through the use of writing to express, explore, and develop ideas through a variety of modes, including informal writing (free writing, journal writing, etc.). The second objective is to practice the critical and analytical skills students will use throughout their undergraduate career. All papers go through multiple drafts, often with input from peers in addition to the instructor.

(formerly Writing II)

In Writing as Critical Inquiry, students develop their skills in analysis and argumentation by exploring the ways in which the ideas of others can be incorporated into their own writing. Students read and discuss longer, more challenging texts and are expected to incorporate a broad range of primary and secondary sources to develop and support increasingly complex ideas. Students are introduced to a wide variety of potential resources at the library and learn the mechanics and conventions of the academic research essay. The course continues to encourage in-class participation, collaborative learning, and workshop presentations.