One-credit Writing Intensive (W) Courses are offered in every department at the College of Wooster and are designed to establish and clearly emphasize the reationship between ways of thinking within a particular discipline and ways of writing within the context of that same discipline. In many cases, W courses are built into students' major requirements. In others, students can choose a W-course based on field, topic, or interest. Students are also encouraged to consult with their major advisors for W-course recommendations. W courses are offered with enough variety and frequency that students can take W courses in a wide variety of disciplines. Students are encouraged to take multiple W courses. By nature, these courses include instruction in as well as rigorous practice of writing. Even if students choose a course not in their major, W Courses prepare students to write across the curriculum and to navigate the disciplinary challenges faced by all students in the liberal arts.
Students are required to take at least one W Course while at Wooster and must take their chosen course during one of the semesters between their completion of First Year Seminar and the beginning of their Junior I.S. Most students take their W Course during their sophomore year.
Enrollment in W Courses is limited to 20 stuednts per section and at least 15 sections are offered each semester. Each department and program may establish and identify one or more courses as Writing Intensive each year.
Some examples of current W courses are as follows:
AFST 213 : Racism 101
ANTH 205: Political Anthropology
ART 208: Renaissance Art
COMM 200: Deafness
ECON 205: History and Philosophy of Economic Thought
ENGL 160: Introduction to Non-Fictional Writing
ENGL 200: Literary Theory and Research Methods
GEOL 250: Invertebrate Paleontology
HIST 101: Western Travelers to China
HIST 101: Red, Black, & Free
HIST 101 Russia's World War II
HIST 101: The Holocaust
MATH 211L: Linear Algrebra Lab
PHYS 205 Modern Physics
PSCI 215: Constitutional Law and Appellate Advocacy
PSYC 322: Memory & Cognition
PSYC 323: Neuroscience: Mind and Behavior
PSYC 330: Social Psychology
PSYC 335: Sensation and Perception
SPAN 202: Int. Spanish Grammar, Composition & Style
THTD 301: Writing for Stage and Screen
