College of Arts and Sciences

Western Writing Program
The Writing Program at Western Illinois University is one part of a culture of writing that is shared by disciplines and departments across campus.
During your freshman year at WIU, you will take College Writing I (ENG 180) and at least one writing-intensive General Education course during your freshman year. Some students will take Introduction to Writing (ENG 100) before taking ENG 180 (please see placement information under student resources).
During your sophomore year, you will take College Writing II (ENG 280) and more writing-intensive General Education courses.
During your junior year, you will take a Writing Instruction in the Disciplines (WID) course and many majors will require you to take senior seminar or capstone courses that involve writing.
- For more information about our course objectives, please view our Writing Program Outcomes.
- Answers to the most common student questions, as well as links to writing resources, can be found in the Student Resources column.
- For more information on our program, please view our Guiding Principles, the Western Writing Program Philosophy, and our Writing Faculty.
- To read student essays, please visit our online publication, Western Voices.
Contacts
Writing Program Director, Dr. Magdelyn Hammond Helwig
Phone: (309) 298-2136
Email: mh-helwig@wiu.edu
Student Resources
- ENG 100 and 180 Placement
- Testing out of ENG 180 or 280
- Registration
- Grading
- Computer Classrooms
- University Writing Center
- WIU Libraries
- Leland Essay Contest
- Purdue Online Writing Lab
- WIU Writing Program Twitter
- WIU Writing Program Facebook
Faculty Resources
- Recommended Textbooks
- Writing Committee
- Writing Instruction in the Disciplines
- Writing in General Education
- Online articles by WIU writing faculty
- Reflective Pedagogies: Conflicting Stories from the Computer Labs by WIU faculty Diana Gabbert, Kathleen O’Donnell-Brown, Hallie S. Lemon, and Jodi Cook
- Overcoming Obstacles to Classroom Community by WIU faculty Hallie Lemon, Alice Robertson, Therese Trotochaud, and Christy Wherley
- WPA Position Statements
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