Course Listing
The Writing Program offers writing courses designed to meet the needs of a wide array of students, from beginning writers to those who seek advanced business and technical writing skills. Many of the 200- and 300- level courses will fulfill the second writing requirement. Every semester also offers the opportunity for students to participate in classes that may help to advance their future careers, whether they plan to become lawyers, doctors, environmentalists, or business professionals.
Students interested in Creative Writing or other English courses should refer to the website for Rutgers English Undergraduate Studies.
Please see Requirements and Placement for more information regarding which classes are best suited to meet your graduation requirements.
This page lists all undergraduate courses offered by the Writing Program (355 and 356 course subject codes). Students interested in other non-Writing Program courses in the English Department—in Creative Writing (351), Literature (358), and Theories and Methods courses (359)—should refer to the website for Rutgers English Undergraduate Studies.
The Writing Program is the only place where students can satisfy the WC core learning goal requirement via a College Writing course. We also offer upper-level writing courses that fulfill additional core requirements.
Note on "Semester(s) Offered"
Please note that the "Semester(s) Offered" entry does not guarantee that the course will always be offered in that semester. Please consult the online Schedule of Courses to verify whether a course will be offered in an upcoming semester.
- Course Code: 01:355:103
- Semester(s) Offered: Fall
- Credits: 3
- SAS Core Certified: WC
These three Writing Program courses are certified to meet the WC core requirement: College Writing (355:101), Exposition and Argument (355:103), and College Writing Extended (355:104). Students can only enroll in one WC-certified course across their university career and thus will only receive credit for either 355:101, 103, or 104.
What is the difference between 101, 103, 104? Click here.
Course Description:
Exposition and Argument (355:103) is a 3-credit intensive writing course for first-year students who demonstrate advanced reading and writing skills.
In this course, students will encounter a variety of nonfiction texts exploring a range of fascinating contemporary issues. By completing a series of essay assigments -- each of which involves peer review and revision -- students learn to pose interpretive questions, structure complex ideas, and make original claims that contribute to ongoing intellectual conversations. By the end of the course, students will direct their own intellectual inquiry by using library sources and other research tools to develop a cogent, interpretive position about a puzzle, problem, or question of their own design.
Ultimately, the course's overarching goal is for students to come to regard writing as a form of critical thinking that is a life-long pursuit, not something that can be perfected in a single semester. Exposition and Argument helps students establish a foundation in writing and critical thinking practices that will serve them throughout their college careers and beyond. Students will come to recognize the value of creativity and intellectual risk-taking in an interdisciplinary context while learning to compose compelling arguments substantiated by thoughtful analysis of a range of sources.
Dropping this Course:
As a course that satisfies the WC core learning goal requirement, Exposition and Argument cannot be dropped from a student's course schedule. This is true both during the semester’s initial Add/Drop period and later when students may withdraw from other courses with a ‘W’.
The Writing Program cannot provide a student with an SPN to drop a course without permission from an advising dean in the student's college. Advising deans who grant requests to drop courses will contact the Writing Program directly to obtain the necessary SPN.
Exposition and Argument is a course that must be taken each semester until it is completed.
If you have experienced an emergency or other extenuating circumstance, please make an appointment with the Office of the Dean of Students – Student Support area. That office can document your emergency and direct you to the appropriate resources in the Writing Program and elsewhere in the University. Please note that contacting the Office of the Dean of Students will not automatically result in permission to drop Exposition and Argument.
- Course Code: 01:355:395
- Semester(s) Offered: Fall
- Credits: 3
Instructor: Tracy Budd
The Editing Internship runs every Fall semester and is open to students who have strong writing skills and an interest in learning about academic publishing. The course culminates in a yearly volume of the scholarly journal Dialogues@RU. Spring 2026 marked the 20th edition of this entirely undergraduate endeavor - from content to finished product, this internship is unique in every way.
The 15-week course begins with a call for papers from the Writing Program's Research in the Disciplines (355:201) sections. Each year, hundreds of submissions are reviewed, with the strongest essays chosen by the Selections Committee interns. Next, editing interns work one-on-one with the student-authors, offering comprehensive assistance in revising and refining their work. After going through both substantive and technical edits, the essays are proofread for source verification and organization. Associate Editors manage the workflow and communicate with interns and authors to endure each project's success. The Marketing and Promotions Committee develops material to advertise the journal on social media sites.
Students who participate in the Editing Internship learn real-life skills needed for careers in publishing. From time management to building relationships with authors, the editors acquire a deep appreciation for the process of producing scholarly work. Student interns are also surprised by the range of topics Dialogues essays span. Analyses of film, medicine, history, critical race theory, social justice, and environmentalism are only a few of the subject areas that each volume contains. And despite the wide array of topics, all essays, indeed every volume of the journal, have one thing in common: industrious undergraduate students.
- Course Code: 01:355:396
- Semester(s) Offered: Spring
- Credits: 3
Pre-requisite: A or B+ in 355:201 or 355:301 or 355:302 or 355:303
URWC 2027
Tuesday, April 13, 2027. The URWC website is here.
Spring 2027 Course Information
01:355:396 section # and meeting information forthcoming.
Internship Admission Requirements:
Students must apply for the internship at this link: forthcoming.
They must have received an A or B+ in a research writing course at RU (355:201 or 301 or 302 or 303); they must have a GPA of at least 3.0; they must be willing and able to follow through with independent work and be responsible to the students they are assigned to help.
Course Description:
Interns will create the annual Undergraduate Research Writing Conference (URWC), which takes place every April in the Livingston Student Center (date announced on the URWC website each year). Interns are responsible for attending the entire day of the conference and will assist at the registration table, the Poster Fair, and as Moderators in the panel rooms.
In preparation for the URWC, interns will select papers, organize, and publicize the event. They will work closely with a RU Writing Program faculty member to read and evaluate submitted papers, serve as the final selection committee, and act as respondents/advisors to student-presenters as they develop their work for multimedia presentations. The conference is multidisciplinary: papers are drawn from the Humanities, Arts, Science, Business, etc.
Interns will serve as marketing experts, creating press releases for RU news media, designing promotional materials, building a social media presence, and helping to design the multi-page conference on a permanent site at Rutgers. While some tasks will be mandatory, interns will have the ability to customize the experience and work on those projects that are most interesting to them.
Interns should plan on spending as much time in the internship as they would in a regular 3-credit course (somewhere between 5 and 8 hours per week, on average). The workload varies with the stages of conference planning. Most of the work will be done independently, though we will meet in groups, either in-person or on Zoom, throughout the semester.
Why take this class?
This kind of internship looks great on a resume. It is well-suited for students who are:
- interested in editing, publishing, conference planning, event production, web design, graphic design, communication and marketing
- planning on attending graduate school in a field where participation in academic conferences is expected
- interested in planning a large-scale event that serves the Rutgers University community.
URWC Archive @Rutgers Libraries
URWC in The Daily Targum
- Course Code: 01:356:152
- Credits: 1
Course Description:
EAP Discussion and Presentation (356:152) offers students currently enrolled in EAP I or II to improve their English speaking and listening skills. It is a one-credit course that meets one day a week for 13 weeks, with no classes the first week of the semester. The class will focus on individual and collaborative projects that will promote discussion and presentation. Students will also create and present PowerPoint presentations, delegate roles for class presentations, research content for a panel discussion, answer audience questions, and learn to project confidence in front of a group. The class size will be limited to 16 students, a class size that will provide students with the opportunity to get to know each other and work well together in groups.