For nearly every student across the world, one of the crowning skills that accompanies a college education is simply the ability to write better.
Freshmen often discover their former styles and high school techniques are questioned by new professors; what is an acceptable writing style for an English paper is no longer acceptable for a bio research paper.
Learning how to transition from one discipline to another can be difficult and confusing.
As a result, some students are turning to the interdisciplinary "Writing Across the Curriculum" program for help with writing.
The program was founded in 1988 in order to teach students how to write in various disciplines. Courses within the program allow students to prepare for exams and to receive early feedback on papers. Each semester, a diverse group of approximately 20 courses offer small writing workshop classes which meet an additional 50 minutes per week.
In the fall of 2007, such classes will include "Intro to Biology," "The Cultural Revolution in China," "Urban Economics" and a wide array of others.
According to Biology Professor Jan Pechenik, the program's co-director and author of the book "The Short Guide to Writing about Biology," learning to write well in different disciplines can be key to succeeding both in college and beyond.
"A lot of alumni say that they wish they had more opportunities to improve their writing," he said. "When you enter the working world, strong writing skills can give you an edge over most other people."
Other top schools, such as the University of Wisconsin, the University of Richmond and MIT have Writing Across the Curriculum programs as well. But according to Pechenik, Tufts' program is unique.
Unlike most schools, where programs are run by non-faculty members, Tufts' program is run by full-time faculty members. Pechenik said that over the past 10 years the program has also frequently rotated directors from a variety of disciplines in an effort to keep ideas fresh and provide different perspectives.
Past directors include classics, biology, English and economics professors.
Tufts' program also differs in that it is not required. According to Pechenik, since students are not required to take a writing workshop, those who choose to do so are enthusiastic about the course, leading to a more productive atmosphere.
Anna Hardman, an economics lecturer and long-time writing workshop teacher, said that the self-selected faculty members are also enthusiastic about the course.
"You tend to get faculty members who are really committed to teaching and like interacting with students," Hardman said. "If a faculty member takes time away from their own research to get to know their students better, then students should take advantage of that."
First-time faculty members take two brief writing workshop courses themselves - one after graduation and another shortly before classes begin. During the academic year, faculty members meet once a month to swap ideas.
Hardman said that writing workshop is a great way for faculty members to not only get to know one another, but also to discuss academics.
"It's really the only time I get to talk about teaching with other professors," she said.
Hardman and Pechenik both said that they use many different writing exercises in their classes. For his marine biology seminar, Pechenik asks students to bring in the first page of their research proposals. After each proposal is read aloud, class members tell their peers what they believe the paper is going to be about. Students' responses, however, often differ from the thesis.
"It's really helpful to hear what other people think," Pechenik said. "Often, it is only when someone else reads over your writing that you can recognize problems. My students see what is unnecessary or unclear in their papers. They are forced to prepare and correct their papers long before they are due. They also learn how to give good feedback."
Tufts students who have taken these courses say they have had positive experiences. Senior Caitlin White, who took a writing workshop course about animal behavior, said that the Writing Across the Curriculum program allowed her to meet new people.
"It made it much easier for me to meet people in my class, especially other bio majors," White said. "We ended up studying together and taking seminars together."
White added that the writing workshop gave her the opportunity to connect with her professor on a more individual level.
"I got to know my professor much better by taking seminar. He eventually became my advisor," she said.
Freshman Coza Perry, who took English professor John Fyler's writing workshop course on Chaucer, felt that the writing workshop helped her do better in class.
"I think that college essay writing depends a lot on the professor," Perry said. "I didn't think I needed a lot of help with my essay writing, but I think it's helped me figure out how to assess what a professor's looking for, while making sure I still have a voice in the paper."
Both Perry and White said they think students should take at least one writing workshop course during their time at Tufts.
"If you're going to pass out of or not take English 1 or 2, then taking a writing workshop would be particularly helpful," Perry said.
Pechenik said that he'd like to see more students taking writing workshop classes.
"Learning to write is the most important thing you do in college," he said. "Why not spend an extra hour a week to work on your ability to write?"
