Most students arrive at Boston University with a sound background in reading, writing, and speaking at the high school level. Some, indeed, excelled in these areas. Nevertheless, the challenges that students face at the college level are different. In college, the standard of excellence is set by the preeminent writers, thinkers, and investigators whose texts we now study. The way these figures went about their work—the pleasure they took in challenging received ideas, in finding solutions to tough problems, and in framing their thoughts and feelings in the most effective language—provides us with a model of what is possible.

The purpose of the CAS Writing Program is to help students read challenging works with comprehension and critical discernment, to write about them cogently, with a lively sense of style, and to speak their minds with appropriate eloquence. Although writing seminars (WR100 and WR150) differ with regard to content, all of them lead students through a common sequence of writing assignments. These build upon each other, providing a context for steady improvement. Every writing seminar teaches grammatical correctness and stylistic versatility. All seminars stress the process of revision.

The Writing Program curriculum

All Boston University Students take Writing Program seminars to satisfy their school or college writing requirements. Writing Seminars (WR100) and Writing and Research Seminars (WR150) are offered in fields across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. WR100 focuses upon primary works and satisfies the first writing requirement throughout Boston University; WR150 adds a semester-long emphasis on library and internet research and satisfies the second writing requirement in CAS and other schools and colleges that have a two semester writing requirement.