School
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Writing Program
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Instructors At Fort Lewis College, writing is a liberal art. In the Writing Program, we consider ourselves one of the heirs of the ancient liberal art of rhetoric. The study of rhetoric began as the study of how to speak persuasively, but with the increasing importance of writing in the modern era, expanded to look at the features of writing that make it persuasive. What is effective writing is highly situational, and an educated person must know how to adapt. Although the Writing Program's emphasis is on teaching students to be effective academic writers, we also provide opportunities for students to learn to be effective writers in civic life and in the work place. FIRST YEAR ACADEMIC WRITING REQUIREMENT Participating in scholarly discourse is a central activity in a liberal arts education. For this reason, Fort Lewis College faculty require students to fulfill an academic reading and writing requirement in their first two years of study. In the course or sequence of courses students take to fulfill this requirement, students will be asked to read scholarly texts in sophisticated and nuanced ways, to identify intellectual problems, and to write for the purpose of making an intellectual contribution. Writing placement, an important part of Advising and Registration, determines whether students will complete the academic writing requirement by taking one course, Comp 150 Reading and Writing in College, or two courses, Comp 125-Comp 126 Reading in College (Intensive) and Writing in College (Intensive). Colorado Law mandates that students must be at college level in reading and writing to enroll in academic writing requirement courses. College-readiness is determined by an assessment of basic skills based on standardized test scores. If students do not have an ACT Reading score of 16 or higher or an SAT Verbal score of 450 or higher, they must take TRST 90, Reading for Ideas. If students do not have an ACT English score of 18 or higher or an SAT Verbal score of 450 or higher, they must take TRST 91, Introduction to Academic Writing. These courses must be competed successfully (C- or better) before students begin coursework related to the academic writing requirements. Exemptions to the academic writing requirement are granted to students who earn a score of 650 or above on the SAT II Writing Test, score 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Test for English Literature and Composition or English Language and Composition, or score 4 or above on the English Exam of the International Baccalaureate Program. MAJOR FIELD WRITING REQUIREMENT ("W" Courses) In addition to completing the academic writing requirement, each student is required to take the designated "W" course in his or her major field. The departments, not the Writing Program, teach these courses. Students should check the departmental requirements to identify the designated "W" course for a specific major. "W" courses introduce students to the specialized reading and writing practices in the major, and, in many cases, also cover significant conceptual content. Students may elect to take "W" courses out of their major fields of study, but they are recommended to contact the instructor first to discuss the way reading and writing instruction is incorporated in the course and to check the course descriptions for the prerequisites. Here is a listing of the "W" courses offered by departments:
WRITING ELECTIVES The Writing Program offers an intermediate academic writing elective: Comp 250 Academic Inquiry and Writing. This course guides students through the process of proposing, conducting, and presenting an independent academic research project. Several elective courses are also offered each year under the experimental Comp 190/390 course number. For a current listing of elective offerings, see the course schedule under "Comp." Recent offerings have included "Writing as Environmental Action," "Writing as Witness," "Writing as Community Action," "Weird Texts," and "Polishing Your Writing." SPEECH ELECTIVE The Writing Program offers Comp 115, Speech A Rhetorical Act. By combining the rhetorical arts of writing and speaking, this course teaches students to compose messages appropriate for the occasion, purpose, and audience. WRITING ELECTIVES OFFERED BY DEPARTMENTS A number of departments offer writing electives that students may wish to take to broaden their exposure to different writing practices. Students should consult the catalog description to determine prerequisites. Here is a listing of writing electives offered by departments:
THE WRITING CENTER The Writing Center's motto is "Building better writers!" Students can go to the Writing Center for help with any kind of writing assignment or project at any stage in the writing process (from generating ideas, to establishing an organizational structure, to polishing a final draft). The Writing Center, located at Sage 105B, is staffed by faculty and trained peer tutors. Its services are available to all FLC students at no charge. |