Composition at a Glance
The University Composition Program is a vital part of The Department of English at Colorado State University. Over 6,000 students enroll in lower- and upper-division writing and rhetoric courses focused on preparing students to succeed in university and professional writing contexts. We offer ten lower-division and upper-division courses in writing and rhetoric, including College Composition (CO150), Writing in the Disciplines: Sciences (CO301B), Writing in Digital Environments (CO302), and Principles of Digital Rhetoric and Design (CO402).
Our courses, which fulfill the All-University Core Curriculum (AUCC) requirements, prepare students to write, research, and design documents across audiences, genres, and contexts. The English department also offers an undergraduate degree in Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy and a graduate degree in Writing, Rhetoric, and Social Change.
Principles & Goals
We aim to design, teach, and assess our composition curriculum and initiatives guided by these strategic principles and goals:
- Curricular Innovation: Craft innovative composition curricula informed by contemporary research on the teaching of introductory and advanced writing in the field of composition and rhetorical studies and informed by the values of our land grant university.
- Inclusive Design: Align composition curriculum and classroom experiences with CSU’s Principles of Community by actively engaging in inclusive and anti-racist teaching practices and creating and supporting contextually- and culturally-rich learning opportunities.
- Pedagogical Excellence: Cultivate a culture of active learners in the science and art of teaching writing by recruiting and engaging composition faculty through innovative, responsive professional development and program assessment.
- Reflective Practice: Strengthen opportunities for students and instructors to incorporate metacognitive reflection and revision practices into formal and informal writing work and evaluation practices.
- Program Accountability: Foster a strong and supportive community by advocating for equitable and sustainable working conditions for composition faculty and by actively and regularly enlisting administrative feedback from faculty.