What is WAC?

Definition of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) is the term for a pedagogical approach to instruction in writing and the use of writing in classrooms. This approach is based on a recognition that writing is both:

a.)  an important learning tool by which students can analyze, explore and apply course content in meaningful ways (sometimes called Writing to Learn), and

b.)  a communicative process which occurs in and across communities and which requires that the writer understand the needs and expectations of an audience with regard to subject matter, elements of support, genre, stylistic choices, etc. (sometimes called Writing in the Disciplines, or WID).

Faculty at BSC effectively integrate WAC in their courses in a way to maximize their students' development of critical thinking skills and of writing skills within a particular field. 

Its Place in BSC's Curriculum

At Bridgewater State College, a systematic reorganization of the general education requirements mandates that, starting with the freshman class entering in September 2006, writing-intensive courses must be taken in several areas of every student’s curriculum: in the form of a writing-intensive First Year Seminar, Second Year Seminar (which could instead be speaking-intensive), a core curriculum distribution course, and a course in (each of) the student’s major field(s). 

The new general education requirements define a writing-intensive course as one which requires at least 15 pages of revised prose, in any arrangement (i.e., in three 5-page papers, five 3-page papers, etc.). 

BSC’s writing-intensive courses make use of WAC practices meant to support course learning goals in disciplines across the curriculum.  Writing to Learn activities provide students with opportunities to manipulate, query, and synthesize course content, while Writing in the Disciplines practices foreground the communicative expectations and writing conventions of the specific discipline involved.

Last Modified: February 16, 2007