Writing, Speaking and Argument Program

Tag: Research Writing

  • WRTG 262/BIOL 274W

    WRTG 262/BIOL 274W

    Katherine Schaefer

    M/W 4:50-6:05

    4 credits

    Prerequisite: Successful Completion of the Primary Writing Requirement

    Why take this course?

    • You want to better understand the expectations of your audiences, particularly in the natural, social, and health sciences
    • You want to develop strategies to better meet those expectations
    • You are interested in attending graduate school or joining the health professions

    Key skills and experiences

    • The ability to identify key patterns and stylistic choices in a text
    • The ability to understand what communities value through analysis of how their texts are constructed
    • You will interview experts in your field
    • You will analyze texts to explore the “why” behind the words

    Full course description


    Drawing on the concepts of discourse community and rhetorical genre analysis (e.g., Bazerman, Berkenhotter & Huckin, Swales), this course investigates ways of understanding the choices writers make when communicating about the natural, social, or applied sciences, with the goal of better understanding how to read and write as an insider in your chosen discipline. You will develop a technical vocabulary and set of skills that allow you to describe recurring patterns and writer choices within those patterns. Using these tools, and talking to experts in your chosen discipline(s), you will investigate disciplinary and interdisciplinary boundaries, how writers convey meaning in different situations, and why they make the writing choices they do. Through a final research project of your choice, you will practice using what you have learned to communicate the results of your own research. This course is especially suitable for dual-major students, or those heading to graduate or health professions schools.

  • WRTG 261/ENGL 288/DMST 250

    WRTG 261/ENGL 288/DMST 250

    Liz Tinelli

    M/W 10:25-11:40

    4 credits

    Prerequisite: Successful Completion of the Primary Writing Requirement

    Why take this course?

    • You’re interested in how data, design, and digital media shape the way we communicate
    • You want to explore topics connected to your own interests, major, or future career through digital projects

    Key skills you’ll gain

    • The ability to make intentional choices about writing, visuals, design, and medium
    • The ability to use and attribute sources responsibly across academic, professional, and digital contexts
    • Experience collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data
    • Experience creating digital and multimodal projects for different audiences and purposes

    Full course description


    The purpose of writing in a digital world is to engage with a broader community around a topic of interest and contribute to public knowledge. In this course, students are invited to dig deeply into a question of interest, write for a public audience, and use the Internet as an archive of information waiting to be discovered, analyzed, and written about. Students can draw on pre-existing research interests from their majors or develop a line of inquiry stemming from class discussions, writing, and research. In order to gain experience writing to a range of readers, students will engage in a writing process informed by peer review, self-assessment, and revision. Shorter writing assignments will help students develop and refine ideas as they transform texts for different audiences. The final research project will be multimodal, published for a public audience, and should demonstrate your ability to think critically about a topic and effectively communicate that knowledge to a range of readers.