About College Writing Programs
Welcome to the College Writing Programs (CWP) website. CWP, part of Undergraduate and Interdisciplinary Studies, serves as a resource on writing and writing instruction to UC Berkeley. We offer undergraduate and graduate courses, public programs, and resources to promote writing and the teaching of writing across the campus.
- Our writing courses immerse students in the idea and practice of writing so that any writing tasks they may face will be manageable. Students become aware of the variety of choices they can make when confronting different writing tasks, and gain the understanding and tools to complete those tasks successfully.
- We offer CW R1A, a course that satisfies both the University of California Entry Level Writing Requirement (formerly known as the Subject A requirement) and the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, which all students at UC Berkeley must fulfill. We also offer CW R4A and CW R4B, which satisfy the first and second halves of the R&C requirement, and CW 10A, which introduces students to the practice of public speaking. In our upper division courses, students might develop digital video projects (CW 108), compose essays on topics of their own devising (CW 110), or produce documents for various organizations and companies, such as brochures, newsletters, or grant proposals (CW 151).
- Our graduate courses are designed for graduate students across campus who currently teach or who plan to teach writing or writing-intensive courses at the college level. These courses introduce graduate students to composition theory and best practices (CW 300). In addition, graduate students can receive individualized training that includes observation and videotaping (CW 300P).
- In the summer, we offer the Summer English Language Institute which brings together faculty and students from around the world. In addition, CWP participates in the Summer Bridge Program by offering a writing course (CW N2) which helps prepare Bridge students for their fall course work.
Public Programs
- Berkeley Writers at Work is a series of interviews on writing with UC Berkeley faculty who are well-known writers. Each semester, a campus writer of note discusses his or her writing process for an audience of students, faculty, staff, and community.
- Each month, we sponsor the Classroom in Progress Brownbag series, an informal workshop addressing issues that immediately affect teachers and students in writing-intensive classrooms. Anyone interested in teaching writing on campus is welcome to attend.
Resources
- CWP publishes Writing Across Berkeley, a bi-annual forum on the teaching of writing for the Berkeley campus. Articles on topics such as "Designing Effective Writing Assignments" or "Effective Responses to Student Writing" are designed to help graduate students and faculty in a wide range of disciplines learn more about incorporating reading and writing in their classes.
- The Arthur J. Quinn Room houses a library of books, journals, and materials on the teaching of writing.
We invite you to learn more about the College Writing Programs. Explore our website; call us at 510-642-5570; or come to our office in 112 Wheeler Hall. Click here for directions to our office.
