Writing and Communication Program

Writing and communication are fundamental to Emory’s mission of “knowledge in service of humanity.” Whether creating knowledge, communicating knowledge, or leading based on knowledge, writing and communication are integral to putting this mission in practice. 

Likewise, writing and communication are an integral part of the undergraduate curriculum on both the Oxford and Atlanta campuses. Because learning to communicate effectively takes repeated practice in multiple contexts, opportunities for mentorship and practice in communication are integrated throughout courses and extracurriculars, including Oxford’s Discover-Explore-Reflect liberal arts curriculum. 

We also have several locations in the curriculum where communication becomes a special focus: Discovery Seminar, First-Year Writing, and Continuing Communication. Together, these courses form the Expression and Communication Requirement of the general education curriculum. Students’ development as flexible, thoughtful communicators, whether in or out of the classroom, is also supported by the Oxford Writing and Communication Center. 

Discovery Seminar and First-Year Writing 

In their first year, Oxford students will begin their college experience with two courses designed to jumpstart their learning around communication and writing: Discovery Seminar and First-Year Writing. These courses play a critical role in helping students discover how knowledge is created and communicated. 

Discovery Seminars introduce students to ways of knowing and producing knowledge within a discipline while developing students’ skills in areas that transcend disciplines, including expanding student’s communication skills. As close-knit learning communities, Discovery Seminars provide opportunities to practice oral communication in classroom discussions as well as other forms of communication. 

Also in their first year, Oxford students fulfill their First-Year Writing requirement by taking Writing and Inquiry in the Liberal Arts (English 185/6), which introduces students to the range of writing and inquiry they will encounter through their liberal arts education. As part of this introduction, students engage with writing across a range of disciplines, genres, and rhetorical situations, as well as intensive practice in academic reading, writing, and research. First-Year Writing is the sole course in the Expression and Communication Requirement devoted primarily to written communication and takes a wider lens than either Discovery Seminar or Continuing Communication. First-Year Writing is designed to help students make sense of the wider map of writing, communication, and inquiry they will encounter throughout their undergraduate experience. 

Continuing Communication 

Within their time at Oxford, students will also take at least one Continuing Communication course, with a total of two during their undergraduate course of study at Oxford and Emory combined. These courses, marked with a W, expose students to how communication is used for inquiry and communication in a specific discipline or context, engaging with communication across a range of genres and modes relevant to that context. Continuing Communication courses build on the foundation built in students’ first year, continuing students’ development as communicators throughout their undergraduate study. While students may fulfill this requirement at any time and are only required to take two Continuing Communication courses at Emory, we recommend that students distribute these across all four years and take at least one Continuing Communication course in their major or an adjacent field. Learning to communicate is an important part of learning to participate effectively in any field. 

Oxford’s Writing and Communication Center 

Not least, the Oxford Writing and Communication Center is there to extend students’ growth as communicators and as independent learners through support for both their course-related writing and communication and any professional, public, or personal projects they may be working on. We believe all communication situations are opportunities to grow as flexible, thoughtful communicators and that the best learning is student-driven. The OWCC is also a valuable learning opportunity for students who wish to deepen their engagement with writing and communication by working there.