Writing at WPI

A Guide for Students and Faculty Advisors

One of the goals of a college education has always been the ability to read, write, and speak well. At WPI, the rhetorical arts of organizing, analyzing, and displaying information; formulating reasonable and persuasive arguments; and negotiating differences in academic, professional, and civic affairs are central to the educational mission.

If anything, the role of communication has become even more important in college education today. Information and communication systems have reshaped professional work and cultural life to an unprecedented degree, creating new roles for professionals in managing, organizing, and displaying information in a variety of media. The workplace favors professionals who possess both technical training and broad skills in written, oral, and visual communication and who can respond flexibly and imaginatively to a range of rhetorical situations. Typically, engineers, scientists, and other professionals spend 40% or so of their time at work reading, writing, designing information, and delivering oral presentations.

In addition, the ongoing globalization of the economy and the multilingual character of U.S. society will continue to put a premium on the acquisition of fluency in languages other than English and on the development of skills in intercultural communication.

For these reasons, writing instruction at WPI seeks to link the longstanding educational goals of critical reading and writing for academic, professional, and civic purposes to the new forms of media that will increasingly constitute the available means of communication and persuasion in a global society.

At WPI, we think of writing in a broad and flexible way, and we encourage students to take up a wide range of writing-technical, scientific, and professional writing, creative writing, journalism, public service writing, and academic writing-and to work in a range of media to develop their skills in oral communication and visual design.

Writing and the WPI Plan

Instead of requiring a first-year composition course, as many colleges and universities do, the WPI Plan envisions that students will learn to write academic, professional, and technical prose as they undertake course and project work throughout their four years. WPI's project system – the Humanities and Arts Inquiry Seminar or Practicum, the Interactive Qualifying Project, and the Major Qualifying Project – connects students' development as writers to their ongoing intellectual development and provides faculty attention to students' writing as they carry out their projects. The operating assumption is that students do not learn once and for all how to write. Rather students develop as writers by engaging the intellectual tasks and rhetorical situations that grow out of their academic interests and career aspirations.

The three projects offer students the opportunity to work on their writing with a faculty advisor. In addition, students may choose to take writing and rhetoric courses to work further on their writing. Many courses in the humanities and arts, science, mathematics, computer science, engineering, social science, and management require significant amounts of writing as part of coursework. The Center for Communication Across the Curriculum offers individualized peer tutoring in writing and oral presentations for all WPI students.

How To Use This Guide

The following sections provide information on the various opportunities to develop writing abilities available to WPI students. In planning a course of study at WPI, students and faculty advisors should consider the individual student's needs to determine which combination of writing opportunities best suits the student's intellectual and professional goals.

Some students will want to take one or more writing courses. Others will want to complete their depth component for the Humanities and Arts Requirement with a focus on writing and rhetoric.

For students who want more extensive work in writing and rhetoric, WPI offers several major and minor programs:

A key feature of the WPI Plan is that it enables each student, with the input of a faculty advisor, to design his or her own future as a writer. Look through the available options to help you make these plans.

Writing Courses

WPI offers a variety of courses in writing and rhetoric. Students take these courses for various reasons: as electives to improve their writing; as part of their Humanities and Arts Requirement; and as part of the writing majors and minor.

Writing and Modern Languages. Writing is introduced early in the modern language sequences in German and Spanish. It accompanies and reinforces students' developing skills in speaking, listening, and reading and their increasing grasp of grammatical and syntactical structure. Throughout the intermediate courses, increased emphasis is placed on organization and revision in writing assignments. In advanced courses, students write a brief essay every week, with feedback and a chance to revise. Increasing numbers of students are able to begin their modern-language sequence at the intermediate or advanced level and thus write a final independent project or complete an inquiry seminar in the modern language.

For more information, contact David Dollenmayer (German) or Angel Rivera (Spanish).

Writing for International Students and Non-Native Speakers of English. A sequence of courses that integrate reading, writing, speaking, and listening for students for whom English is a second language is offered annually--IS 1811 Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English and IS 1812 Speech for Non-Native Speakers of English.

For more information, contact the Humanities and Arts Department.

Internships. WPI students have done internships on and off campus- writing grant proposals for nonprofit organizations, doing writing and editorial work for scientific and academic journals and newsletters, working at local newspapers, designing public relations materials, and producing videos and audio programs for local cable and radio stations.

For more information on writing courses, independent study projects, and internships, contact Lorraine Higgins.

Writing and Rhetoric for the Humanities and Arts Requirement

Students can complete their Humanities and Arts Requirement with a focus on writing and rhetoric. Students work with an advisor in the Humanities and Arts Department to decide on a sequence of courses and then complete an Inquiry Seminar or Practicum. Students' course sequence and the focus of their individual work in a seminar or project will vary, depending on their interests and goals. Students can design course sequences that lead to inquiry seminars or projects in professional or scientific writing, journalism, visual communication, nonfiction prose, mass communication, literacy studies, rhetoric, creative writing (poetry, fiction, drama, the essay and other forms of literary nonfiction), or bilingual writing.

Interactive Qualifying Projects

IQPs can be developed in the areas of written and visual communication, rhetoric, and literacy studies. For example, students have done IQPs on adult literacy programs, the role of public libraries in teaching English to recent immigrants, public health education, educational web sites, and college newspapers.

For more information, contact Ruth Smith.

Writing Majors

For students interested in developing their writing and communication abilities more extensively, WPI offers two majors (or double majors) - in Professional Writing and in Humanities and Arts, with a concentration in Writing and Rhetoric. Each major provides intensive work in writing and rhetoric, combined with electives in the Humanities and Arts and technical and scientific coursework. The two majors have a high degree of flexibility that enables students, with the assistance of a faculty advisor, to design programs of study geared to their intellectual interests and professional goals. Both majors encourage students to develop as bilingual writers in English and another language. Opportunities for internships in writing and visual communication may be available.

Professional Writing is an interdisciplinary major, offered through IGSD, in which students combine coursework in technical and scientific fields with coursework in writing, rhetoric, and communication studies. The TC major or double major is an excellent choice for students interested in professional writing, science writing, public relations, visual communication, information design, or teaching. Recent MQPs include Web design for Texas Instruments, journalism internships at the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, publicity videos for WPI's London Project Center, and rhetorical studies of scientific writing, the covers of women's magazines, and organizational communication.

For more information, visit the Professional Writing Web site or contact Chrysanthe Demetry.

Humanities and Arts: Writing and Rhetoric Concentration. The Writing and Rhetoric concentration in the Humanities and Arts major offers students a range of writing workshops in expository prose, science writing, professional writing, and creative writing, as well as coursework in rhetoric, literacy studies, and visual design. The Writing and Rhetoric concentration is an excellent option for students who want to enhance their liberal education at WPI through a major or double major in Humanities and Arts. Recent MQPs include creative writing portfolios, poetry, journalism, science fiction, bilingual writing in English and Spanish, and studies of local bookstores and mystery readers.

For more information, contact Michelle Ephraim, Lorraine Higgins, or Ruth Smith.

Writing Minor

For students who would like to do work in writing and rhetoric beyond the Sufficiency but do not wish to major (or double major) in writing, the minor in Writing and Rhetoric, offered through HU&A, may be an appropriate option. In the Writing and Rhetoric minor, students develop a proposal for coursework and a one-term senior capstone project, subject to the approval of the minor program review committee. Recent capstone projects include studies of advertising, online communities, and anti-drug campaigns.

For more information, contact Lorraine Higgins.

Center For Communication Across The Curriculum

The Center for Communication Across the Curriculum (CCAC) offers tutorial services on any type of writing for all WPI students, as well as help on oral presentations. In addition to scheduled or drop-in tutorial appointments, the CCAC also provides tutoring for specially designated courses. The CCAC is staffed by peer tutors who are trained in the course WR/EN 3011 Peer Tutoring in Writing.

For more information, contact Lorraine Higgins.

Extracurricular Writing

In addition to courses and projects that offer students opportunities to practice writing, there are a number of extracurricular activities that involve writing: the student newspaper The Towers, the student literary magazine Pathways, and student theatre productions via Masque. Students have also organized poetry slams and readings, as well as an online humor magazine.

This guide to Writing at WPI was prepared by the Writing Committee, Humanities and Arts Department.

Faculty Contact Information

Chrysanthe Demetry, Co-Director, Professional Writing
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Washburn Shops 332
x5195
cdemetry@wpi.edu
David Dollenmayer, Professor, Humanities and Arts
Alden Memorial 209
x5585
dbd@wpi.edu
Michelle Ephraim, Assitant Professor, Humanities and Arts
Salisbury Labs 02
x6126
ephraim@wpi.edu
Lorraine Higgins, Director, Center for Communication Across the Curriculum
Associate Professor, Humanities and Arts
Project Center, 2nd Floor
x5503
ldh@wpi.edu
Angel Rivera, Associate Professor, Humanities and Arts
Salisbury Labs 16
x5779
arivera@wpi.edu
Ruth Smith, Associate Professor, Humanities and Arts
Salisbury Labs 108
x5214
rsmith@wpi.edu
Susan Vick, Professor, Humanities and Arts
Salisbury Labs 19
x5682
svick@wpi.edu
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Last modified: June 24, 2008 10:14:33