What experiences enable students to learn and develop their abilities?
All undergraduate students (other than Echols Scholars) in the College of Arts and Sciences are required to successfully complete an FWR course designed to develop their capabilities in written communication. The Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, the McIntire School of Commerce, the School of Architecture, the School of Data Sciences, the School of Education and Human Development, and the School of Nursing, which together account for 8 in 10 undergraduate students at the University, also require their undergraduates to take an FWR course. This requirement is typically completed during a student’s first year.
Students fulfill the writing requirement through one of several pathways, including a two-semester stretch sequence (ENWR 1505/1506) or a single-semester option (ENWR 1510, ENWR 1520, or ENWR 1530). Eligible students may also satisfy the requirement through an advanced-placement option (FWR+), such as ENWR 2510 or an approved 2000-level ENGL or ENCW course. The pathways are designed to accommodate students at multiple skill levels and encourage writing development for all students.
In these courses, each section is unique, and the instructors use their expertise to select subjects and genres for students to write about. Across all FWR courses and sections (as stated on the Writing and Rhetoric website), students will:
- Write at least three major assignments over the course of the semester,
- Devote time each week to writing to explore and discover, as well as to communicate,
- Engage in drafting, feedback, and revision cycles with their instructor and peers,
- Consider expectations created by genre and audience, and
- Give feedback on other students' writing and receive it on their own.
Building on this foundational requirement, the University’s schools and programs continue developing students’ written communication, information literacy, and critical thinking through general education requirements and discipline-specific coursework. To illustrate how these competencies are reinforced beyond the first year, this report highlights the College of Arts and Sciences, which enrolls approximately six in ten undergraduates at the University.
College of Arts and Sciences: College Curriculum
The College Curriculum entails three groups of requirements: The Engagements, The Literacies, and The Disciplines. Students must complete all three subcomponents, accounting for 51-55 credits in the College. The Engagements are a series of four courses taken exclusively in the first year of study. The Engagements introduce students to four intellectual dispositions that undergird all scholarly inquiry at the collegiate level:
- Engaging Aesthetics
- Empirical and Scientific Engagement
- Engaging Differences
- Ethical Engagement
The Literacies help students master vital skills and expand their capacity to understand and engage the world even more deeply. Students learn how to communicate in speech and writing through the completion of two writing-intensive courses, equip themselves with the study of a world language through the intermediate level, and learn to communicate with numbers through the completion of two courses in the “Quantitative, Computational, and Data Analysis” category.
The Disciplines ask students to explore the different scholarly practices and disciplinary thinking manifest throughout the Arts & Sciences. Students complete one course in each of the following seven categories of classes:
- Artistic, Interpretive, & Philosophical Understanding
- Chemical, Mathematical, & Physical Universe
- Cultures & Societies of the World
- Historical Perspectives
- Living Systems
- Sciences & Society
- Social and Economic Systems
The College Curriculum uses interdisciplinary approaches to address both enduring and emerging questions. The rigorous liberal arts curriculum helps students engage with new ideas, make discoveries, and challenge their assumptions.