Heather Mendygral
Program Assistant
E-mail: mheath@umn.edu
Phone: 612-624-6633

Tom Reynolds
Director
E-mail: reyno004@umn.edu
Phone: 612-626-0065

Tim Gustafson
Associate Director
E-mail: tgus@umn.edu
Phone: 612-625-0731

WRIT 1201

Writing Studio

This course does NOT meet the first-year writing requirement. WRIT 1201 introduces students to general writing strategies encountered at the college level. Through frequent practice and feedback, students learn to see writing as a tool for learning and a vehicle for expression of ideas and informed views. Students also learn a working vocabulary for discussing writing. Readings focus around a coherent, challenging theme but ultimately lead to writing. Typical assignments include informal writing derived from personal experience, response to readings, analysis and evaluation of sources on the web and in print, and formal papers that increasingly make use of sources as well as close reading of texts. The course is taught in a computer classroom, where the active practice of writing, from gathering ideas for a paper, through the drafting of papers, to careful editing can develop most fruitfully. Some sections are designated for non-native speakers and are joined to other learning community courses.