Semester Writing Courses

First-Year Writing Courses (GE A2)

Two equivalent pathways can be used to satisfy the First-Year Writing Requirement (GE A2):

• ENGL 1005A-ENGL 1005B (College Writing I and II)—a two-semester first-year writing class for students who score 146 or below on the EPT; intended for students who would prefer to stretch the curriculum of a first-year writing course across two terms rather than attempt the more challenging pace of ENGL 1010 Accelerated College Writing.
• ENGL 1010 (Accelerated College Writing)—a one-semester accelerated version of ENGL 1005A and 1005B for students who either are exempt from the EPT or who score 147 or higher on the EPT; intended for competent and confident first-year students who choose to engage with the challenging curriculum of a first-year college writing course.

Critical Thinking/Composition Course (GE A3)

ENGL 1050 integrates writing and other critical thinking activities to increase students’ learning while teaching them thinking skills for posing questions, proposing hypotheses, gathering and analyzing data, and making arguments, applicable to any discipline or interest. 

Writing Elective Courses (open to all majors)

ENGL 2010, Intermediate College Writing, helps students develop analytical, interpretive, and information literacy skills necessary for writing a well-supported, researched, academic argument. (This course was formerly listed as ENGL 102.)

ENGL 3010, Advanced College Writing, helps students in all disciplines learn methods of and gain practice in college writing, with an emphasis on critical reading and writing and advanced rhetorical issues including invention strategies, arrangement, selecting and analyzing evidence, and developing an appropriate style.

Professional and Technical Writing Elective Courses (open to all majors)

ENGL 2030, Introduction to Technical Writing, offers instruction in designing effective print and digital technical documents, with particular emphasis on common genres, such as instructions, procedures, definitions, descriptions, specifications, reports, and manuals. In addition, this course  provides students with the opportunity to develop further their rhetorical skills and to refine their composing and revision practices and their development of a clear and effective style.

ENGL 3030, Professional and Technical Writing, focuses on methods of and practice in writing professional documents, reports, proposals, and other workplace writing, with an emphasis on understanding the rhetorical situation and developing a clear style. Business professionals, scientists, medical professionals, engineers, attorneys and other professionals who can communicate well gain credibility and are more effective in the workplace. Central to effective communication is the ability to analyze and respond to the “rhetorical situation,” the competing demands of author, audience, and context, and so a key objective of the course is to help develop rhetorical awareness.