Writing Program

Learning effective communication

The Writing Program introduces students to a wide array of principles and strategies of effective communication and argumentation.

Overview
The Writing Program focuses on writing in particular and communication in general as vehicles for learning through courses based on the Writing Across the Curriculum model, emphasizing written and oral communication throughout the university’s curriculum.

Purpose
We believe that students are capable, intelligent people who need challenging projects to strengthen the abilities they have already developed and to build new ones. Our communication skills courses enable students to participate in new academic discourse communities and interdisciplinary intellectual situations, and to explore university-level strategies of mind, writing, and speaking in a variety of cross-disciplinary contexts.

Writing: A technology for creating conceptual frameworks and creating, sustaining, and performing lines of thought within those frameworks, drawing from and expanding on existing conventions and genres, utilizing signs and symbols, incorporating materials drawn from multiple sources, and taking advantage of the resources of a full range of media.

Andrea A. Lunsford and Marvin Diogenes

Visit the Writing Center

Course offerings

All students are required to take Writing 101 (First-Year Writing) which is offered every semester. They may also satisfy the upper-level writing requirement by taking a 300-level Writing Program course.

Catalog: View Writing Program Courses

Faculty perspective

Kristi Wilson, Ph.D. → | Professor of Rhetoric and Composition

“Given the rapid pace of change in the world, preparing students for a dynamic future entails bolstering their communication toolkits and nurturing their writerly interests across cultures and academic disciplines. Students come to the classroom with their own perception skills that can engage with, challenge, and expand normative conceptions of knowledge production.”

Our faculty

Our faculty come from a variety of backgrounds and intellectual traditions, allowing us to work in conjunction with the university’s mission to engage students as global citizens.

Gesa Kirsch

Gesa Kirsch, PhD

Professor of Rhetoric and Composition
Gesa E. Kirsch’s research focuses on feminist rhetorical studies, archival research, ethics and representation, and innovation and creativity. She has authored, coauthored, and co-edited numerous book...
949-480-4064