Students are often surprised to learn that they must write well in their math and chemistry classes at Columbia College, but it comes as no surprise that strong writing skills are essential in the English Department.

When we talk about “writing in English,” our topic is very broad. After all, writing a newspaper article is different from writing a short story, and the personal experience essay that many first-year students write looks nothing like the report students generate in a business writing class.

We hope that this guide will help students navigate the many kinds of writing they may encounter in courses taught by the English Department faculty.

On the left-hand side of this page is a list of links that runs throughout the entire Columbia College Pearce Communication Center’s “Writing-in-the-Disciplines” (WID) pages. These are links that might be useful to students writing in a variety of disciplines. Click on the following links for more information on writing in the discipline of English:

First-Year Composition Classes in General Education

Upper-Division English Courses

Writing Goals for English Majors

The Inside Scoop: Professors' Words of Wisdom