Below you can read about 100-level writing courses that satisfy the Foundations Writing requirement. For most students, in order to meet the university's Writing Requirement, a first-semester course (WRIT 101, 101A, or 107) is a pre-requisite for a second-semester course (WRIT 102 or 108).

Starting in Fall 2026, all Foundations Writing course prefixes will change from ENGL to WRIT. This change does not impact the course curriculum or graduation requirements.

Writing 101 and 107 teach the social and situated nature of writing—that is, the ways in which writing is tied to purpose, audience, community, and content. Both courses emphasize community, genre, and awareness of the rhetorical situation. 

While WRIT 107 has same curriculum and student learning outcomes as WRIT 101, the student population and teacher feedback are often different. WRIT 107 is designed for international students and English language learners, but any student may choose this course. WRIT 107 instructors typically have a background in teaching English as a Second Language, which allows for an understanding of grammar and writing that emphasizes language awareness. 

In WRIT 101 and 107, you will write in several genres and analyze how purpose, audience, and context help shape research, organization, and language choices. In addition, the course introduces primary research methods, including interviews and observations. You'll reflect on your writing and writing process throughout the course, and you will submit a final portfolio reflecting on all of your work from the semester.  

Writing 101A is similar to 101 in terms of goals, activities, and assignments, but it is paired with an additional one-hour-per-week studio section: a smaller, more individualized, student-focused experience. 

The studio allows for a personal connection with the instructor and others in the class. Studio provides more time to ask questions, get feedback on writing, and discuss and apply course concepts. The studio hour may also include additional reflective and collaborative activities to support your learning. The course assignments may be broken into more bite-sized exercises of the composing process (e.g., brainstorming/invention, focusing, developing, working on conventions of incorporation of sources, editing), and instructors provide guidance in engaging with academic and other texts (e.g., how to annotate, read closely, connect reading to personal experience).

WRIT 102 and 108 build on the close-reading and research strategies introduced in Writing 101/107/101A but focus more on researching, analyzing, and developing arguments. 

While WRIT 108 has same curriculum and student learning outcomes as WRIT 102, the student population and teacher feedback are often different. WRIT 108 is designed for international students and English language learners, but all students may choose this course. WRIT 108 instructors typically have a background in teaching English as a Second Language, which allows for an understanding of grammar and writing that emphasizes language awareness. 

In WRIT 102 and 108, you will research an issue that interests you, analyzing the positions and rhetorical strategies of those who take a stand on that issue. You will develop effective research strategies that help locate, evaluate, and integrate sources into your analyses and arguments. In crafting your own arguments, you will learn to draft and revise with a specific purpose, audience, and context in mind and to write within and across different academic, professional, and personal communities.  

WRIT 109H is an accelerated course that combines WRIT 101 and 102 course outcomes, satisfying the Foundations Writing requirement in one semester. WRIT 109H covers academic research and writing, argumentation, rhetorical awareness, and conventions of writing in different genres. The course moves very quickly because the course has a year’s worth of writing instruction to cover in a single semester. 

You may be asked to read more challenging material and interact with more complex theoretical concepts as you practice inquiry, develop ideas, and engage in multiple revisions of your writing projects. WRIT 109H includes assignments typically taught in both WRIT 101 and WRIT 102, such as: literacy narrative, researched academic argument, rhetorical analysis, multi-modal public argument, and annotated bibliography.

This course is for students who are prepared to manage an independent reading and writing schedule, and meet more frequent deadlines. The course presents a wide variety of writing contexts that may require multiple research approaches.