The Writing Program
The First Year Seminar is taken in your first semester on campus. Using a topic-based approach, each seminar begins to immerse you in the academic program at Washington College, introducing the process of inquiry, research, idea generation, questioning, writing, and other academic skills for success. Topics—often off-beat and interesting—vary each year and are taught by a range of faculty across campus, including those in history, mathematics, world languages and cultures, physics, English, anthropology, and more. Through the seminar, students also learn how to present their ideas and engage with those of their classmates through this small, collaborative experience.
The next step in the writing program is completing a course (referred to as a W2 course),
that focuses on the process of writing and development of rhetorical knowledge. Building upon the ideas and skills learned
in the FYS, students deepen their understanding of the writing process—generating,
composing, responding, revising, and editing their writing. W2 courses are most commonly
offered in the humanities and fine arts and social sciences divisions.
Once students develop their foundational thinking and writing skills, they move on
to take a W3 course that focuses on writing in their discipline. While previous courses in the writing program may have been taken as part of your
major or department, the W3 course is specifically designed so every department takes
responsibility to teach their students how to write in their major. Students gain
the rhetorical knowledge and experience needed to write for audiences and purposes
specific to disciplinary contexts within their major. For many majors, the W3 course
is built into a junior or senior seminar, making students think very intentionally
about their writing and research ahead of their Senior Capstone Experience (SCE).
The final component of our writing program is the completion of a Senior Capstone Experience. Every graduating senior must complete discipline-specific writing as part of their
capstone, demonstrating an advanced level of critical thinking, writing skill, and
rhetorical knowledge. The SCE is the largest independent research project a student
will complete while at Washington College, though the type of research and length
of written component will vary by major. Whether you intend to enter the workforce
or pursue a graduate degree, completing a thesis sets you apart from many other applicants.
Writing from the Washington College Review
FYS: Fire or Ice: The Physicist’s Answer
By Hayley Covington ’26In one of his most famous poems, Robert Frost questioned whether the world would end in fire or ice. Today, many physicists and cosmologists dedicate themselves to answering his question, only with slightly different terminology. There are two main schools of thought concerning the ultimate fate of the universe: Heat Death and the Big Rip. It was created for FYS 101-33: The End of the World.
W2: Society and the Bay: How the Fishing Industry Changed the Social Make-Up of the Chesapeake Region
By Sydney Walker ’26This exploration was done initially by looking critically at the history of enslavement in this region, examining the contemporary structure of fishing communities on Smith Island, MD, and ending with a broad look at the lasting legacy of the fishing industry has had on social and familial structures within the Chesapeake region. It was written for CRS 242: Society and Estuary.
W3: I Want to be Great or Nothing-Amy March and the Subversion of Societal Expectations
By Riley Dauber ’25Dauber argues that Amy March from "Little Women" is not only a feminist character because she “has it all” at the end of the novel, but she also adheres to and subverts the societal expectations placed on her as a woman in the nineteenth century. This was written for ENG 400: Junior Seminar.