First-Year Writing Seminar
NOTE: Students who started taking classes at Northwestern in Spring 2023 or earlier should refer to the First-Year Seminar page and the Writing Proficiency page. The information below pertains to students who start at Northwestern after Spring 2023.
About first-year writing seminarS
Students take two different first-year seminars: a College Seminar in the fall and a First-Year Writing Seminar in either the winter or the spring. Both are small, discussion-oriented classes in which students explore a single topic or theme. The First-Year Writing Seminar builds on the base established by the College Seminar and pays special attention to the process of writing and revision. In these seminars students are invited to expand their definition of writing and to reflect on the complex role that writing plays in forming knowledge and identities.
First-Year Writing Seminars may not be counted toward Weinberg College’s foundational discipline requirement areas, and most departments and programs exclude them from counting toward major and minor requirements.
Learning objectives
One of the four Weinberg College learning goals is Express. The first-year writing seminars focus on the fundamentals of effective, college-level written communication. Students learn how to use the four inter-locking elements of written expression:
- Pose the question. Writing often takes as its starting point a puzzle, contradiction, or problem. What will be explained, described, or explored?
- Find the evidence. Rarely do facts speak for themselves. What do we know and how do we know it?
- Make the argument. A writing can defend a position and build a case in any number of ways. What is the clearest and most convincing interpretation of the evidence?
- Develop the voice. An author's style makes a piece of writing suitable to a particular purpose. What is the most effective way to articulate the argument to a particular audience?
Students learn to understand and apply these elements through their own writing and that of other authors. As they do so, they engage in activities and practices designed to introduce concepts foundational to writing in college and beyond:
- Writing is a social and rhetorical activity.
- Reflection and revision are central to improvement.
- Writing must be learned and is not perfectible.
- Failure can be an important and effective part of the process.
fulfilling the First-year writing seminar requirement
- Students take the First-Year Writing Seminar in either winter or spring quarter of their first year. If a First-Year Writing Seminar is not completed with a grade of at least D by the end of spring quarter of the first year, the student should consult their College Adviser about an appropriate substitute.
- Students who begin their studies in another school at Northwestern before inter-school transfer to Weinberg College should plan to take a First-Year Writing Seminar in either winter or spring quarter of their first year. If a First-Year Writing Seminar is not completed with a grade of at least D by the end of spring quarter of the first year, the student should take ENGLISH 205-0 Intermediate Composition, unless they have completed equivalent coursework prior to inter-school transfer. Consult a College Adviser for details.
- Students who transfer to Northwestern from another college or university may apply a transferred unit equivalent to First-Year Writing Seminar towards the requirement. Consult a College Adviser for details.
NOTE: Students who started taking classes at Northwestern in Spring 2023 or earlier should refer to the First-Year Seminar page and the Writing Proficiency page. The information above pertains to students who start at Northwestern after Spring 2023.
Back to top