Writing@UW is piloting a new program to support faculty teaching W courses who would like to take their writing instruction to the next level. This two-quarter program is taking place over winter and spring 2024 to support faculty as they (re)envision writing in their disciplines and in their teaching and learning practices.

Picture of the 2023-2024 UW Faculty Writing Fellows and staff

Pictured (L to R): Rebecca Taylor (co-organizer), Yen-Chu Weng (Program on the Environment), Laura Chrisman (English), Megan Callow (co-organizer), Lucas Meza (Mechanical Engineering), Emily Levesque (Astronomy), Anne Searcy (Music History), and Janine Slaker (Communication). Not pictured: Rachel Chapman (Anthropology).

The learning goals for this program include:

  • Understand and teach the fundamental relationship between writing and learning
  • Learn about and use the UW guidelines for teaching W courses
  • Use writing as a means to leverage criticality, equity, inclusion, and belonging in their classes
  • Develop strategies and materials for effective writing instruction
  • Complete a project that enhances writing instruction in their course
  • Create a community of teachers who share the same goal: excellence in writing instruction
  • Become an advocate for writing in their department or program

The Project

Fellows in the 2024 cohort are designing and implementing an intensive alteration of or addition to their W course, which they will implement in spring or fall 2024. Read summaries of each project below and click on the links for a full description, including downloadable teaching materials:

  • Rachel Chapman is designing and facilitating a faculty workshop on embodied knowledge as it relates to writing pedagogy.
  • Laura Chrisman is revising teaching materials to be more explicit about the culture and purpose of writing in an African Literature course.
  • Emily Levesque is scaffolding the composition of a publishable scientific paper in Astronomy with smaller weekly assignments and activities around writing.
  • Lucas Meza is overhauling a series of lab report assignments in Mechanical Engineering to enhance student choice and investment in a topic on materials engineering.
  • Anne Searcy is developing two new Music History assignments for real-world audiences: one a researched contribution to a compilation 19th century virtuosos and one an entry in the style of the reddit page, r/askhistorians.
  • Janine Slaker is transforming a research project in an Integrated Social Science course to expand critical thinking and inclusion in relation to social science research.
  • Yen-Chu Weng is developing more in-depth guidance to enhance engagement with a "weekly intellectual journals" assignment in an Environmental Issues in East Asia course.