Course Description

University Writing: Contemporary Essays, the general, unthemed version of UW, is designed to help undergraduates read and write essays in order to participate in the academic conversations that form Columbia's intellectual community. The course gives special attention to the practices of close reading, rhetorical analysis, research, collaboration, and substantive revision. By writing multiple drafts of essays typically ranging from three to ten pages, students will learn that writing is a process of forming and refining their ideas and their prose. Rather than approaching writing as an innate talent, the course teaches writing as a unique skill that can be practiced and developed.

These classes will have section numbers in the range of CC/GS1010.001 to CC/GS1010.069.

Each semester approximately 30 sections are offered in the College/SEAS and 15 in General Studies.