UW Course Descriptions

Visit the GW Office of the Registrar for the latest schedule of classes by semester. Learn more about UW 1020 requirements, exemptions and hybrid and service learning options. For a list of Writing in the Disciplines (WID) courses, visit the Undergraduate Advising website. 

For a list of commonly asked questions, see our First Year Writing FAQs!

UW1020: The Foundational Academic Writing Course for all GW Students

UW1020 classes are theme-based learning communities where students are immersed in the culture and value of academic writing. You will delve into a particular course theme by analyzing and discussing published work with your professor and classmates; writing about active questions connected to the theme will be central to learning new and more complex writing processes. As you gain expertise, you’ll review each other’s writing as engaged and informed readers. You and your classmates will become collaborators in learning and writing.

Many students arrive at college having practiced a few types of academic writing, such as the “five-paragraph essay” and research-based reports that use expert opinions to support a position. UW1020 builds on that experience: students not only summarize what is known but also practice creating new knowledge. You will emerge from UW1020 as a writer who -- through cycles of researching, writing, and discussing your ideas--can carry out sophisticated writing projects and attend to the ethical responsibilities integral to such work.

All UW1020 courses explore how language is a site of power. A common metaphor for describing academic writing is that you are joining an on-going conversation, which means paying close attention to who is included or excluded, what languages are privileged, and how we credit the people we have learned from.  As GW students enter into a community of writers from across the country and the world, together you will explore how we each draw on multiple forms of English, and leave more prepared to make deliberate choices based on the purpose and context of your writing.