Writing Studies Program

Body

The Writing Studies Program prepares students to be critical thinkers and writers through a variety of classes in writing about writing, inquiry writing, writing across the curriculum, and writing in the professions. In small, workshop-style classes, students will approach writing as a process as they adjust their writing based on audience, genre, and purpose. Through these processes students will develop generative writing, rhetorical, and research practices that they can transfer to other college courses and beyond in their personal, professional, and civic lives.

Select a link below if you want to add or drop a WRIT class or need to fill out your placement survey. Scroll down for more information about the classes.

General Information about the Writing Studies Classes.

 

  • In WRIT 100: Writing as Inquiry Cohort, Students take Writing 100 and Writing 200 as a cohort in consecutive semesters with the same professor and classmates. Writing 100 introduces students to the discipline of Writing Studies. Through studying their own and others’ writing, students develop critical thinking and writing practices. Students complete Writing 100 prepared for writing in Collegiate Seminar, the more advanced writing required in Writing 200, college-level writing more generally, and public writing. This course requires the completion of at least 4,000 words of graded formal writing, and an additional 1,000 words of informal writing practice.
     
  • WRIT 101: Writing as Inquiry In this course, students develop skills as they write for new contexts, audiences, and purposes as well as analyzing arguments, sharing ideas, and challenging assumptions through their writing. Students complete Writing 101 prepared for writing in Collegiate Seminar, the more advanced writing in the Writing 201 series, college-level writing in general, and public writing. This course requires the completion of at least 4,000 words of graded formal writing, and an additional 1,000 words of informal writing practice.
     
  • WRIT 123 and WRIT 124: Writing Lab I & II. The Writing Labs help support WRIT 100, 101, and all WRIT 200, 201 courses, as well as other first-year courses that have significant writing require­ments and would give multilingual students a better chance of succeeding in all of their courses. Students will gain greater fluency in written English; understanding of course expectations at Saint Mary’s regarding writing; increased proficiency in English grammar and vocabulary; better understanding of the stages of assembling an essay (including thesis formation, overall essay organization, paragraph development, and effective sentence construction) through focused work on each stage; and better writing habits gained through practice in assessing writing assignments across the disciplines, setting writing schedules, brainstorming and drafting techniques, and revising essays.
     
  • WRIT 200: Writing and Research Cohort. Students take Writing 100 and Writing 200 as a cohort in consecutive semesters with the same professor and students. Writing 200 builds on the study of writing and reflective practice to further develop information evaluation and research practices and the rhetorical and critical thinking skills needed to structure complex arguments. In addition, students practice evaluating sources, exploring arguments through library research, and conducting research. This course prepares students for the Writing in the Disciplines courses in their major and requires the completion of at least 4,000 words of formal writing, and an additional 1,000 words of informal writing practice.
     
  • In WRIT 201: Writing and Research students further develop information evaluation and research practices and the rhetorical and critical thinking skills needed to structure complex arguments. In addition, students practice evaluating sources, exploring arguments through library research, and conducting research. This course prepares students for the Writing in the Disciplines courses in their major and requires the completion of at least 4,000 words of graded formal writing, and an additional 1,000 words of informal writing practice.
     
  • WRIT 225: Writing about Arts and Humanities This course prepares students to write effectively about the arts and humanities. Students use research and analysis to examine how arts-related and humanities-related issues are communicated through various genres. By the end of the course, students will have developed an understanding of writing as preparation for their Writing in the Disciplines course. This course requires the completion of at least 4,000 words of graded formal writing, and an additional 1,000 words of informal writing practice.

 

WRIT 100/101 can be waived with the following standardized test scores:

  • SAT Essay score of 23 to 24. 
  • AP Language or Literature score of 4 or 5.
  • IB English 1A Exam (higher level) score of 5 or above on higher level.
  • ACT Essay score of 10 to 12.

Other Questions contact the Director of Composition, at composition@stmarys-ca.edu.

School and Program Information

Contact Us:

Writing Studies Program Director: Meghan A. Sweeney, PhD mas36@stmarys-ca.edu

Writing Studies Program Coordinator: Sunayani Bhattacharya, PhD sb40@stmarys-ca.edu

Writing Studies Administrative Assistant: Ryan McKinley, MFA rm20@stmarys-ca.edu