As students begin their careers at UW, English 108 offers a unique opportunity to reflect on their writing experiences so far while also learning and writing about the UW campus.

By the time students get to college, they usually have developed stories they tell (or have been told) about themselves and their abilities as writers: stories of success, fear, pride, confidence or lack of confidence, procrastination, etc.  In this course, we will pause to critically examine these stories as part of reflecting on your writing life so far, and we will do so while thinking about how being at UW—a new place—gives you a chance to reorient your relationship to writing at the same time as you are orienting yourself to our campus and your new home. Our goal is to help you build on and adapt your writing experiences in order to become more successful writers, readers, researchers, and learners at UW.

The course will help you strengthen language fluency through reading and classroom interaction. It develops writing confidence as you prepare to tackle college composition courses and learn about various writing support resources on campus. It builds collaborative research skills by giving you a chance to visit and learn more about particular areas of the UW campus that interest you.  And it gives you a chance to practice presentation skills as you introduce us to and write about the places on campus you have studied.

Course Curriculum and Features: 

The first half of the course focuses on the skills you’ll need to reflect on your relationship to writing. In the second half, you'll complete a field-based research project that provides hands-on experience observing, researching, and writing about particular areas of UW campus. Along the way, you will become more familiar with campus writing centers, libraries, and online resources.  

Course is Designed for: 

Students who want to strengthen their writing and learning skills to meet college-level study expectations, as well as those who want to learn more the UW campus and build a supportive academic and social community with their classmates. 

Learning Goals and Activities:
English 108 moves students toward Writing Ready by:

• Increasing your writing fluency, by having you write frequently.  
• Introducing the processes of inquiry, by having you practice the kinds of skills and understandings that support college-level writing  
• Familiarizing you with the UW campus while also introducing you to writing resources by placing you in touch with writing center support and library-based research support.
• Developing your metacognitive skills, that is, how you "think about thinking", using skills such as self-assessment, self-monitoring, transfer, and similar practices critical to becoming a successful student.
• Engaging you in the study of learning itself, by exploring how you learn and how that learning style supports your writing.

-----------------------------

About English 108

In 2004 Professor John Webster established the English 108 program: a bridge course for incoming undergraduates who are interested in reflecting on and improving their writing. Over the last twenty years, English 108 has provided significant levels of support for incoming UW students. As Professor Anis Bawarshi steps in as the new Director of English 108, we express gratitude to Professor Webster for all his contributions to teaching and learning at UW.

Professor Webster has taught at the University of Washington since 1972, where he has specialized in Early Modern literature, literary theory, rhetoric and composition, and pedagogical practice. Professor Webster has won both the English Department's Award for Distinguished Teaching (2000) and the University's Distinguished Teaching Award (2009). He has also been a leader in the teaching of writing at UW, directing the Expository Writing Program for eight years, co-directing the Puget Sound Writing Project, serving on the Modern Language Association’s Executive Committee for the Division of Teaching as a Profession, directing the Department of English's Literary London Study Abroad program, and serving as Director of Writing for the College of Arts and Sciences, which included presiding over the founding and development of the Odegaard Writing and Research Center (OWRC).

English 108 has helped and will continue to help many generations of students, thanks to John Webster's contributions.