About

Welcome to the Academic Writing Program Website. The broad goal of the course is to familiarize students with the kind of writing they will have to do in college, broadly referred to as academic writing. The characteristics of academic writing are shared across disciplines and levels at the University. Academic writing is grounded in inquiry; when we engage in academic writing, we seek to determine what is known--and credible--about a topic and, then, new arguments grow out of questions we ask about what is known. This, in turn, leads to the construction of new knowledge. Thus writing builds on the thoughts and ideas of others; when we participate in academic discourse, we join in a conversation respectfully and ethically, giving credit where credit is due. As part of this attitude of inquiry, academic writing is based in evidence. Also, because academic writing is part of a larger conversation within and often across disciplines, one of its conventions is rigorous review by peers.