What we do: Writing Program courses
The Writing Program at the University of Chicago has a special emphasis on expert writing--work that is done by writers who are expert in their subjects. Experts must meet many familiar standards for successful writing: clear style, logical organization, persuasive argument. But because they work with specialized knowledge, experts also face particular writing difficulties: they must be clear about complexities and specific about abstractions; they must use uncomplicated organization for very complicated ideas; they must create straightforward logic for intricate arguments; they must be concise but not incomplete, direct but not simplistic; they must clarify the obscure but not repeat the obvious; and they must anticipate the demands of aggressively skeptical readers.
Graduate students, professional school students, and advanced undergraduates: The Little Red Schoolhouse and special topics courses: At the graduate and advanced undergraduate level, writers come to us having succeeded so well in one challenge that they face another, one that all experts must face eventually: they've mastered their specialty and developed their arguments to the point that they now know more significantly more than their readers. As a result, their readers don't have enough background knowledge to muddle through thickets of unclear prose and mystically divine its meaning. Expert writers must come out and say what they mean, and must explain why what they mean is important.
To help advanced writers meet this challenge, we offer an elective course called Academic and Professional Writing (English 13000/33000, also known as "The Little Red Schoolhouse"). This course helps advanced writers structure complex data, develop extended arguments, and position their work as a contribution to ongoing debate in their fields. The course is offered in several different versions for graduate students, MBA students, professional students, and advanced undergraduates.
For graduate students and advanced undergraduates, we also offer advanced special topic elective courses in subjects such as argument, style, biography, rhetorics of law, and rhetorics of censorship.
First year undergraduates: Humanities 19100-19200-193000: First year undergraduates in the College are introduced to the analysis and practice of expert writing through writing seminars (Humanities 19100-19200-19300) that are linked with Humanities Core courses. While the Writing Program as a whole deals with writing in many professions, our writing seminars for the Humanities Core concentrate only on expert academic writing: the kind of writing done by scholars and scientists, the kind of writing that our students will be asked to do throughout their College years.
We begin by dividing each Humanities Core class into three writing seminars, each of which has five or six members. Each seminar meets three or four times each quarter and is lead by a writing intern trained in the Chicago Writing Program rhetorical principles and pedagogical techniques. (In Winter and Spring quarters, some seminar sessions may be replaced with individual tutorials.) All undergraduates are required to complete two quarters of Humanities 19100-19200-19300 for graduation.
Jobs for graduate students
The Writing Program is one of the largest sources of academic employment for graduate students on campus. Each year we offer three kinds of renewable teaching positions: Lectors in Academic and Professional Writing, Writing Interns in the Humanities Common Core, and Writing Tutors for the College Tutoring Program. If you are a University of Chicago graduate student interested in one of these positions, our annual applications process begins each January. Our requirements are simple: we're looking for people who write well themselves and who are interested in teaching. Previous experience teaching writing is not required, and we hire graduate students from as many different fields as we can. All Writing Program instructors take a quarter-long course in the pedagogy of writing before they start teaching, and during their first quarter of teaching, they work closely with experienced writing program personnel.
View information on our available jobs and the application process.
Grammar on the web
Looking for grammar help on line? The web has a rich array of resources available, but some of them are more useful than others. We maintain an annotated listing of web sites on and off-campus that illuminate the mysteries of grammar, syntax, and other writing-related issues.
Grammar on the web
Find your Writing Intern or tutor
The Writing Program trains and supervises the Interns who offer writing instruction in the Humanities Common Core. If you're taking the Humanities Common Core and are looking for your Intern, you can find him or her in our List of Humanities Core Writing Interns. For undergraduates in other core courses, the College Core Tutoring program offers one-one-one writing advice in the evenings; you can find out the details on the College Core Tutoring Schedule.