Writing Program

Carol L. Smith, Director

Professor Dinah Leavitt;
Associate Professor Carol L. Smith;
Visiting Instructors Molly C. Costello, Ann Hartney, Bridget Irish, and Susan Palko-Schraa.

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, a key activity at Summer Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR), 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). Some students will be required to complete remedial courses in reading and/or writing before beginning coursework related to the academic writing requirement. 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 a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Test for English Literature and Composition or English Language and Composition, or score a 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. These courses are taught by the departments, not the Writing Program. 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.

Acc 430W Income Tax Accounting ..........4
Acc 436W Auditing – Theory and Practice ..........4
Anth 303W Anthropological Debates .......... 4
Art 385W Contemporary Art Process, Theory, and Criticism:      Reading, Writing, and Making ..........4
Bio 380W Issues in Evolution and Biological Thought ..........4
BA 302W Human Resource Management ..........4
BA 309W International Management ..........3
BA 349W Global Marketing ..........3
BA 401W Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management ......3
BA 407W Management Consulting ..........4
BA 445W Marketing Strategy and Policy ..........4
BA 481W Cases in Financial Management ..........4
Chem 300W At the Forefront of Chemical Research ..........3
CSIS 361W Computers and Human Issues ..........4
CSIS 425W Accounting Information Systems ..........4
Econ 472W Macroeconomic Theory ..........4
Ed 317W Professional Writing and Editing for Educators ..........3
Engl 268W Reading Texts/Writing Texts ..........4
ES 301W Current Issues in Sport ..........3
ES 302W Issues in Health and Well-Being ..........3
Hist 396W Philosophy and Methods ..........4
Math 300W Writing in Mathematics ..........3
ML 320W Advanced Spanish Conversation and
      Composition II ..........4
Mu 415W Literature and Conversation: Writing about Music .......3
Phil 305W Writing Philosophy ..........4
Phil 480W/PS 480W Contemporary Political Thought ..........4
Phys 397W Writing in Physics ..........3
PS 250W Introduction to Political Analysis ..........4
PS 480W/Phil 480W Contemporary Political Thought ..........4
Psyc 296W Psychological Research Methods ..........4
Soc 210W Sociological Inquiry and Research Methods ..........4
SW 301W Writing in the Southwest Studies Discipline ..........3
Thea 340W Modern Theatre ..........4

WRITING PROGRAM 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,” “Polishing Your Writing,” and “Speech: A Rhetorical Act.”

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:

BA 221 Writing in the Business World ..........3
BA 348 Public Relations ..........3
Engl 215 News Media Writing ..........4
Engl 315 Media Writing: Topics ..........4
Engl 363 Advanced Composition ..........4
Engl 464 Creative Writing ..........4
SW 115 Native American Newsletter ..........3
Thea 369 Playwriting ..........4

THE WRITING CENTER

The Writing Center’s motto is “We build 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 105B Sage Hall, is staffed by faculty and trained peer tutors. Its services are available to all FLC students at no charge.

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