Classes
College Writing Programs (CWP) offers courses that introduce students to writing in a variety of contexts.
In all courses, students are expected to adhere to the highest standards of academic honesty. CWP has a zero-tolerance policy regarding plagiarism.
College Writing R1A. Accelerated Reading and Composition
Course format: Five hours of lecture/discussion and one hour of workshop per week.
Prerequisites: Placement by the Analytical Writing Placement Examination (formerly known as the Subject A examination).
Units: 6
An intensive, accelerated course satisfying concurrently 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. Readings will include imaginative, expository, and argumentative texts representative of the range of those encountered in the undergraduate curriculum and will feature authors from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and perspectives. Instruction in writing a range of discourse forms and in the revision of papers.
College Writing 1. Grammar and Vocabulary of Written English
Course format: Two hours of lecture/workshop per week.
Prerequisites: Self-selected non-native speakers of English.
Grading option: Must be taken on a passed/not passed basis.
Units: 2
The purpose of the course is to develop students' ability to edit their own writing and to identify high-frequency non-idiomatic uses of English. Intensive, individualized practice will be provided for students from different language backgrounds.
College Writing R4A. Reading and Composition
Course format: Three hours of seminar/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the University of California Entry Level Writing Requirement (formerly known as the Subject A requirement).
Units: 4
This writing seminar satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement. It is designed to offer students structured, sustained, and highly articulated practice in the recursive processes entailed in reading, critical analysis, and composing. Students will read five thematically related book-length texts, or the equivalent, drawn from a range of genres, in addition to non-print sources. In response to these materials, they will craft several short pieces leading up to three longer essays—works of exposition and/or argumentation. Students will write a minimum of 32 pages of expository prose during this semester.
College Writing R4B. Reading, Composition, and Research
Course format: Three hours of seminar/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of 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.
Units: 4
This writing seminar satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement. It is designed to offer students structured, sustained, and highly articulated practice in the recursive processes entailed in reading, critical analysis, and composing. In like manner, the seminar affords students guided practice through the stages involved in creating a research paper. Students will read five thematically related book-length texts, or the equivalent, drawn from a range of genres, in addition to various non-print sources. In response to these materials, they will craft several short pieces leading up to two longer essays—works of exposition and/or argumentation. Students will also draft a research paper, developing a research question, gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing information from texts and other sources. Elements of the research process, such as a proposal, an annotated bibliography, an abstract, a "work cited" list, and the like, will be submitted, along with the final report, in a research portfolio. Students will write a minimum of 32 pages of expository prose during the semester.
College Writing 10A. Introduction to Public Speaking
Course format: Three hours of seminar/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: None.
Units: 3
This is a strictly introductory course. It presumes no formal training of any kind on the part of the students. Emphasis will be on organization and delivery, with the goals of improving control over speaking habits and enunciation. Part of the intent of the course is to introduce students to the rudiments of the rhetorical theory which lies behind the practice of public speaking.
College Writing 108. Advanced Composition: Digital Storytelling
Course format: Two hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week.
Prerequisites: Fulfillment of the Reading Composition requirement up to and including 1B or consent of instructor.
Units: 4
This course offers an opportunity to explore the definition of text in a digital era. Students will read and create hypertext and other digital documents and analyze the effect of the "digital revolution" on information dissemination, education, and democracy.
College Writing 110. Advanced Composition: Challenging Writing
Course format: Four hours of lecture per week.
Prerequisites: Completion of Reading and Composition requirement (1A-1B) or consent of instructor.
Units: 4
This writing workshop will offer students an opportunity to write essays and other nonfiction prose that speak both personally and politically to the issues and audiences they wish to address. The readings will focus on the rhetorical strategies of writers who have used the essay as a cultural form to challenge the norms of the time and place in which they live(d).
College Writing 151. Introduction to Principles of Professional Communication
Course format: Three hours of lecture per week.
Prerequisites: Reading and Composition 1A-1B, junior or senior status, or consent of instructor.
Units: 3
This course introduces students to key principles and rhetorical strategies of writing texts in nonacademic settings. Although the course may address issues of oral communication, the primary focus will be on learning and practicing strategies to generate written documents in a business context. See course website.
College Writing 99 and 199. Supervised Independent Study
Course format: One to four hours of tutorial per week.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
Credit option: Course may be repeated for credit. Enrollment is restricted.
Grading option: Must be taken on a passed/not passed basis.
Units: 1-4
Independent study in topics not covered by regularly scheduled courses. Student must initiate topic and present a written proposal.
College Writing 300. Introduction to Theories and Practices of Teaching College Composition
Course format: Two hours of lecture/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Appointment as a GSI or consent of instructor.
Credit option: Course may be repeated for credit.
Grading option: Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
Units: 2
This course will focus on teaching philosophies, course designs, instructional methods, and assessment issues in relation to teaching composition in a pluralistic setting. The course meets the campus policy requiring GSIs who teach a Reading and Composition course to complete a semester-long, graduate-level pedagogy course.
College Writing 300P. Practical Experience in Teaching College Composition
Course format: Two hours of discussion every two weeks; observation and conferences individually scheduled.
Prerequisites: Appointment as a GSI or consent of instructor.
Credit option: Course may be repeated for credit.
Grading option: Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
Units: 2
This course offers training and practice in the teaching of reading and composition. It includes classroom observation of GSI participants and discussion of approaches, techniques, and methods, using videotapes of campus writing faculty and course participants. It is to be taken in conjunction with CW300, or separately.
College Writing 301. The Teaching of Second-Language Composition
Course format: Two hours of lecture/discussion per week.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.
Credit option: Course may be repeated for credit.
Grading option: Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
Units: 2
Discussion of theories and practices of teaching second-language composition. Topics include perspectives on first- and second-language composition, contrastive rhetoric, sentence-level grammar, coherence and cohesion, conferencing, tutoring, responding to errors, assessment, critical reviews of journals and textbooks, research trends, and professional development. Open to students who teach or will teach composition in English to English as Second-Language writers or in foreign language classes.
College Writing N2-Summer Bridge. Writing the Bridge: From High School to the University
Course format: Six hours of lecture, discussion, and workshop per week, for six weeks.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading option: Must be taken on a passed/not passed basis.
Units: 2
This course serves students enrolled in the Summer Bridge Program and is offered during the second six-week session of UC Summer Sessions. In this course students will explore their educational experience as they read essays, poetry, and fiction focused on issues of language, culture, and identity. In their journals and in their essays, students will examine ways in which these forces interact to create a student identity.
The Summer English Language Institute
During the summer, CWP offers English as a Second Language instruction. Bringing together faculty and students from around the world, the English Language Institute offers three courses: American Studies: American Language and Culture (CW 4), English as a Second Language (CW 8), and English for Specific Purposes (CW 9). In conjunction with the Summer English Language Institute, CWP also offers a graduate practicum in ESL teaching (CW 310).
