Colonial Inauguration 2008

The GW Writing Experience

The University Writing Program (UWP) is part of the University's strategic planning efforts to enhance academic excellence at GW. UWP includes the First-Year Writing Program (UW20), the Writing in the Disciplines (WID) Program, and the University Writing Center. The new writing requirement, which applies to all undergraduate colleges at GW, consists of UW20 (a 4-credit freshman writing seminar) and two sophomore- and junior-level "writing intensive" courses.

UW20 provides practice in the processes and techniques of academic writing by drawing upon stimulating topics of current intellectual interest through theme-based seminars. The course emphasizes framing important questions, constructing an argument through identifying and discussing both supportive and contradictory evidence, accommodating a variety of purposes and audiences, conducting academic research, and using the ideas of other writers appropriately.

Writing-intensive courses are offered by individual departments throughout the University. These writing-intensive courses can satisfy more than one requirement: that is, they may be humanities or science courses that fill other general curriculum requirements, or they may be courses that satisfy major requirements. In addition to teaching the content of the course, the faculty will work with students on their drafts and revisions.

The new UWP is designed to promote scholarship and critical thinking in all schools and undergraduate degree programs. It is predicated on the idea that writing and learning are inseparable and that the University should produce students who will be able to write well in any number of areas and forms. Thus, the GW writing requirement effectively extends upward, enhancing every GW student's college experience to reflect our belief that writing enhances learning at all levels.