Academic Writing Program | University of Lethbridge

University of Lethbridge

Academic Writing Program

Become a skillful writer.

Are you seeking stronger foundations in writing for university-level studies? Do you want to develop skills for creating effective arguments? Are you ready to learn techniques for citation, research, and critical thinking?

ulethbridge.ca/academicwriting

About Academic Writing The Academic Writing Program offers introductory and advanced classes in rhetoric and composition at the University of Lethbridge. Our genre-based, writing-in-the disciplines approach to writing instruction ensures that students will gain valuable insight and experience in the theory and practice of writing in the disciplines relevant to their areas of study—whether in the arts, education, health, management, or the sciences.

Effective reading and writing skills are essential in academic as well as professional contexts, and they are the foundation of becoming an educated person.

Course selections include: • Writing 1000: Introduction to Academic Writing • Writing 2000: Writing in the Disciplines Series ◦ The Rhetoric of Science ◦ The Rhetoric of Happiness ◦ The Rhetoric of Food ◦ The Rhetoric of Religion • Independent Studies Writing 1000: Introduction to Academic Writing. In this course, we are primarily concerned with reading and writing in academic settings—in the modern research university—but we recognize that students will use these skills in their professional and personal lives in various ways.

Our university, we emphasize, is a community comprised of differing but interrelated discourses—ways of speaking and writing that are unique to each discipline. In other words, students studying chemistry will be asked to read and write in different ways than students studying business, fine arts, kinesiology or history. The different habits of reading, writing and reasoning in each discipline produce different generic expectations— different methods of analysis and persuasion, different modes of documentation and citation, and so on.

Writing 1000 thus addresses the wide-range of skills that students at the university level need to develop to be successful academic readers and writers across the disciplines. This includes theoretical lectures and practical exercises related to sentence-skills (i.e., punctuation, grammar, common sentence errors, etc.) and paragraph development, but also to techniques of summary, citation, analysis, persuasion and information literacy, all of which are essential to writing research papers.

The Academic Writing Program takes a pragmatic approach to rhetoric and composition instruction. Instead of a rule-based or prescriptive approach that emphasizes universal rules and “correctness,” we apply writing instruction that asks not whether an element of a text (a comma, semicolon, a paragraph, sentence, etc.) is “right” or “wrong,” not whether it conforms to a fixed rule, but rather is it effective and appropriate in a particular rhetorical situation. What does it “do”? Such an approach typically shifts attention away from rule-based pedagogies that emphasize correctness and decontextualized processes to practical ones that foreground the effectiveness of a piece of punctuation, of a word, of a sentence, of a paragraph, of a thesis statement, and so on.

In addition to helping students to develop their academic writing skills, Writing 1000, as an elective, satisfies requirements for fine arts and humanities programming within the Liberal Education Requirement (LER). Many departments ask students to take a writing-intensive course, and Writing 1000 may fulfill that requirement.

Similarly, the Dhillon School of Business has designated Writing 1000 as one possible way to satisfy core requirements in the Bachelor of Management degree. To find out how an Academic Writing course would fit into your program, please consult an Academic Advisor.

Transition from High School Writing Writing 1000 is very helpful for students making the transition from high school or college to university-level reading, writing and reasoning. Most obviously, we make clear how a university is a place where research is done, where knowledge-making and knowledge-dissemination are essential and unique features of research culture.

For new students with little or no experience in research reading and writing, the university might seem like a confusing and intimidating place. Writing 1000 helps students to both understand and successfully participate in the diverse and exciting knowledge-making activities of the disciplines in which they study. By emphasizing the close connections between thinking, reading and writing in research culture, and by explaining the generic features of academic writing, Writing 1000 typically makes the transition to university smoother.

Writing Research Papers The research paper is a unique genre or “kind” of writing. It is found almost exclusively on university campuses, where it is an occasion for both generating knowledge and for assessing student understanding of a topic or issue.

Although not every student who enrolls in Writing 1000 will go into professions that require formal or academic research writing, the rhetorical skills and research methods students learn in the course— skills like writing effective and logical sentences, enacting analysis, organizing one’s ideas, creating persuasive arguments, perfecting citation—will be useful in personal and professional contexts, in any situation in which writing or speaking well is required.

Writing Centre The primary function of the Writing Centre is to provide students from all disciplines with practical writing support that supplements in-class instruction and helps students understand a wide variety of writing assignments, including research papers, summaries, critical essays, literature reviews, annotated bibliographies and lab reports. When possible, we will also work with students writing in the professional genres, including resumes, cover letters and application letters. Our one-on-one writing consultations allow for a more personalized and interactive learning experience in an academic context. The ultimate goal is to help students better develop and articulate their ideas and to make effective rhetorical choices in their academic writing.

The Writing Centre is located in the Library, Room L1010.

University of Lethbridge L1010, 4401 University Drive Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 403-329-2518 artsci.writing@uleth.ca ulethbridge.ca/academicwriting

Academic Advising SU060 Students’ Union Building 403-329-5106 artsci.advising@uleth.ca ulethbridge.ca/artsci/advising

Put Your Knowledge to Work Whether you’re looking for a more in-depth learning experience by assisting with research projects or by testing your knowledge in a real-life setting, we can help. Combined with your required coursework, the opportunities outlined below will provide you with a solid foundation for further studies and an excellent framework for a challenging and rewarding career — whatever direction you decide to go.

Applied Studies

Earn course credit for career-related paid, volunteer or community service work experience. This program is specially designed to allow you to integrate principles learned in the classroom in a practical work setting.

For more information, visit: ulethbridge.ca/appliedstudies

Co-operative Education (Co-op)

uLethbridge is proud to offer you the chance to participate in co-op. Co-op allows you to gain work experience directly related to your studies and make invaluable contacts in the workforce, all while earning a competitive salary. Completion of the program allows you to receive a co-op designation on your degree and, most importantly, a kick-start to your career the minute you graduate. For more information, visit: ulethbridge.ca/coop

Participate in Research

In addition to your regular courses, you can contribute to departmental research activities. For example, you can complete an independent study course or gain employment as a research assistant. If your GPA is high enough, you can also enrol in undergraduate thesis-based courses where research is a component of your studies.

Contact your department to learn more!

Academic Advising Your decision to explore a university education is the first step toward a great future — now let us help you navigate your degree options at uLethbridge and set you on the road to success. Do you have questions about what field of study best suits you? Would you like help with program and registration planning and just can’t find the answers? If so, you should speak to an academic advisor today — advisors have the answers to these questions and many more.

To learn more about our support services, visit: ulethbridge.ca/artsci/advising

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*This brochure should be used in conjunction with the University of Lethbridge calendar, which is the final authority regarding program requirements and academic regulations.