Graduate Certificate in Teaching Writing

The teaching of writing is playing an increasingly important role in the college curriculum. The Graduate Certificate in Teaching Writing prepares doctoral students to teach writing-intensive seminars at the undergraduate level.

Doctoral students who complete the Graduate Certificate in Teaching Writing program receive extensive mentored training and teaching experience, giving them an expertise that is valued across a range of fields. The spring prior to their first term of teaching, they complete a 2-unit seminar in the teaching of writing (CAS WR 698). In their first term of teaching, they participate in writing pedagogy training and receive professional development and supervision, which continues each term they teach. They are responsible for designing a topic-based writing seminar in consultation with the Writing Program’s directors and teaching it for two semesters; participating in a mentoring group during their first year of teaching; and attending one four-session Writing Program faculty seminar, offered each term and addressing various topics related to writing and writing pedagogy. They also document their development as teachers of writing in a teaching portfolio.

Students interested in earning the certificate must be in good standing in their doctoral program at Boston University and be selected to teach in the CAS Writing Program; selection for most students occurs via the Graduate Writing Fellowship competition, which takes place each fall term. The certificate is awarded under the auspices of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GRS).

Learning Outcomes

Students who receive a Graduate Certificate in Teaching Writing should:

• Successfully design a CAS WR 120 course (including syllabus, assignments, and assessments).
• Incorporate accepted best practices for writing instruction in teaching CAS WR 120.
• Reflect on how concepts and research from the field of writing studies inform their teaching.
• Demonstrate awareness of the affective and social dimensions of teaching writing and of inclusive pedagogies relevant to teaching writing.

Requirements

• CAS WR 698 Teaching Composition
• Training Workshop
• Design a topic-based undergraduate writing seminar and teach it for two semesters.
• Participate in a mentoring group throughout the first year of teaching with the Writing Program.
• Attend one four-session Writing Program faculty seminar.
• Submit a teaching portfolio documenting their development as teachers of writing.