English 1, Written Expression (for first-year students with majors outside the College of Arts and Sciences): A workshop-style course emphasizing flexibility and discernment in writing for various purposes and audiences, as well as substantial revision. For first-year and sophomore students in the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Education and Social Services, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, and Nursing and Health Sciences, plus the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources and the School of Business Administration. Juniors and seniors seeking a composition course should take the intermediate-level English 50. For more information about English 1 including course guidelines and sample syllabi, contact Nancy Welch. If you are a junior or senior and still need to fulfill your FWIL requirement, please take English 2. Sophomores can either take English 1 or English 2. 

TAP, Teaching and Advising Program (for first-year students with majors in the College of Arts and Sciences): Writing-intensive special-topic seminars taught by College of Arts and Sciences faculty who also serve as their students’ first-year advisor. Recent topics include Art History’s “Why Build That?,” Computer Science’s “Puzzles, Games, and Algorithms,” and Biology’s “Science as a Way of Knowing. ” For first-year students admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information about one-semester TAP seminars and full-year TAP options, visit the College of Arts and Sciences’ TAP page.

Honors College 85, The Pursuit of Knowledge (for first-year students admitted to the Honors College): A seminar emphasizing critical reading and writing to explore how different disciplines and professions approach knowledge-making. For first-year students admitted to the Honors College. For more information about HCOL 85 and its spring-semester companion, HCOL 86, visit the Honors College first-year curriculum page.

English 50, Expository Writing (for sophomores, juniors, and seniors): An intermediate composition course emphasizing the roles of revisiting, researching, and rewriting in creating expository essays. For students in any major with sophomore standing or above. Recommended in place of English 1 for juniors and seniors seeking to fulfill a composition requirement.

English majors, please note: English 50 counts as an elective in the major requirement but does not fulfill the Category A requirement for a 100-level course in writing, linguistics, theory, or film studies.

English 104 and 105, Tutoring Writing and Exploring Writing Centers (for students who have been admitted to UVM’s program for new Writing Center tutors): Required courses for students who have been accepted as tutors for the Writing Center. Both classes explore theories and practices of working with writers in a one-to-one setting. Students work for three hours a week in the Writing Center as a service learning component of the course.

English 107, Topics in Composition and Rhetoric (for students with three hours in English 5-96 and sophomore standing): Topics for this course, which fulfills a category A requirement for the English major and which may be repeated for credit with a different topic, vary by semester. Recent topics include Rhetoric and Women’s Rights, Investigating Literacy, and Lives Online.

English 211, Seminar in Composition and Rhetoric (for English and affiliated majors with senior standing): Recent topics for the English major’s capstone experience in composition, rhetoric, and literacy studies include Writing to Make a Difference, the Illustrated Novel, and Aphrodite’s Daughters.

Located in Howe Library, the Writing Center offers support for student writers throughout their experience at UVM. The Writing Center is staffed by about fifty undergraduates from a variety of disciplines. These peer tutors work with students in individual, group, and classroom settings. Students can consult with a tutor about any aspect of writing, at any point in the writing process. Peer tutors engage students in conversations and activities designed not only to meet their immediate needs in relation to a specific project but also to help them develop as writers. Students visit the Writing Center throughout their UVM experience; over 40 percent of last year’s visits were from juniors and seniors.

The Writing Center is open for individual appointments or walk-in sessions for over 50 hours each week. 

The Writing in the Disciplines Program (WID), located in Howe Library, works with departments and individual faculty to support the teaching of writing in majors and courses across campus. To nurture a vibrant writing culture on campus, we offer workshops and other programs in a variety of formats, all geared to help faculty provide top-quality intellectual experiences for students learning the ways of their major disciplines.

Working closely with the Writing Center, WID also offers the WID Mentor Program, which places advanced tutors in selected upper-level courses in the disciplines. WID tailors programs for departments and is always open to new collaborations.