Fall 2026 Course Descriptions

ENWR 1505 - Writing and Critical Inquiry: The Stretch Sequence (8 sections)

Offers a two-semester approach to the First Writing Requirement. This sequence allows students to take more time, in smaller sections and with support from the Writing Center, practicing and reinforcing the activities that are central to the first-year writing course. Like ENWR 1510, ENWR 1505-06 approaches writing as a way of generating, representing, and reflecting on critical inquiry. Students contribute to an academic conversation about a specific subject of inquiry and learn to position their ideas and research in relation to the ideas and research of others.  Instructors place student writing at the center of course, encourage students to think on the page, and prepare them to reflect on contemporary forms of expression.  Students read and respond to each other’s writing in class regularly, and they engage in thoughtful reflection on their own rhetorical choices as well as those of peers and published writers.  Additionally, the course requires students to give an oral presentation on their research and to assemble a digital portfolio of their writing.

001 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Work & the Good Life
MW 03:30PM-04:45PM (BRN 310)
Claire Chantell

002 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Work & the Good Life
MW 02:00PM-03:15PM (BRN 310)
Claire Chantell

003 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing about/with Attention/Distraction​
TR 02:00PM-03:15PM (BRN 312)
Patricia Sullivan

004 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing about/with Attention/Distraction​
TR 03:30PM-04:45PM (SHN 109)
Patricia Sullivan

005 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing About Attention and Distraction
TR 11:00AM-12:15PM (CAB 038)
Ethan King

006 -- Writing about Culture/Society
TR 12:30PM-01:45PM (SHN 111)
John Modica

007 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing About Attention and Distraction
TR 12:30-01:45PM (CAB 283)
Ethan King

008 -- Writing about Culture/Society
TR 03:30PM-04:45PM (CAB 191)
John Modica  

ENWR 1510 - Writing and Critical Inquiry (70+ sections)

Approaches writing as a way of generating, representing, and reflecting on critical inquiry. Students contribute to an academic conversation about a specific subject of inquiry and learn to position their ideas and research in relation to the ideas and research of others.  Instructors place student writing at the center of course, encourage students to think on the page, and prepare them to reflect on contemporary forms of expression.  Students read and respond to each other’s writing in class regularly, and they engage in thoughtful reflection on their own rhetorical choices as well as those of peers and published writers.  Additionally, the course requires students to give an oral presentation on their research and to assemble a digital portfolio of their writing.

001 -- TBA
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (BRN 334)
TBA

002 -- TBA
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (CAB 211)
TBA
 
003 -- TBA
MWF 12:00PM-12:50PM (BRN 312)
TBA

005 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing about Food
TR 12:30PM-01:45PM (DL1 104)
Keith Driver
 
006 -- TBA
MWF 10:00AM-10:50AM (BRN 334)
TBA
 
007 -- TBA
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (CAB 068)
TBA
 
008 -- TBA
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (CAB 415)
TBA
 
009 -- Writing about identities
MWF 10:00AM-10:50AM (BRN 312)
Devin Donovan
(Transfer Students ONLY)
 
010 -- Writing about Science & Tech
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (BRN 330)
Cory Shaman
 
011 -- TBA​
MWF 11:00AM-11:50AM (BRN 332)
TBA

012 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing about Risk, Reward, Assessment
MWF 10:00AM-10:50AM (BRN 310)
Jon D'Errico
 
013 -- Writing about Science & Tech - Writing about Medicine
MW 03:30PM-04:45PM (SHN 111)
Rhiannon Goad

This course dives into the art and ethics of communicating about health. You'll dissect everything from dense medical studies to viral news, learning to translate complex science into clear, compelling language. With short essays, you will develop skills to evaluate diverse sources, including medical literature, health journalism, and patient narratives, and apply responsible communication principles in contexts such as reporting research findings without hype and explaining public health issues effectively. You'll practice these communication skills throughout the semester, culminating in a final project: the creation of a zine about medicine.

014 -- Writing about Identities - Writing about Writing and Literacy
TR 02:00PM-03:15PM (BRN 334)
Kate Kostelnik
 
015 -- Writing about Identities
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (BRN 334)
Charity Fowler
 
016 -- Writing about Identities
MWF 11:00AM-11:50AM (BRN 312)
Devin Donovan
(Transfer Students ONLY)
 
017 -- TBA 
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (KER 317)
TBA
 
018 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing about Food
TR 02:00PM-03:15PM (BRN 332)
Keith Driver
 
019 -- TBA 
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (BRN 312)
TBA
 
020 -- Multilingual Writers
MWF 12:00PM-12:50PM (BRN 310)
Davy Tran
(Multilingual/international students ONLY)

This course dives into the art and ethics of communicating about health. You'll dissect everything from dense medical studies to viral news, learning to translate complex science into clear, compelling language. With short essays, you will develop skills to evaluate diverse sources, including medical literature, health journalism, and patient narratives, and apply responsible communication principles in contexts such as reporting research findings without hype and explaining public health issues effectively. You'll practice these communication skills throughout the semester, culminating in a final project: the creation of a zine about medicine.

040 -- Writing about Digital Media - Writing about Attention
TR 12:30PM-01:45PM (BRN 334)
Tyler Carter

041 -- TBA
MWF 11:00AM-11:50AM (DL1 104)
TBA
 
043 -- TBA
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (BRN 332)
TBA
 
044 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Language, Policy, and Politics
TR 11:00AM-12:15PM (DL1 104)
Kate Natishan

As Edward P.J. Corbett has observed, rhetorical analysis "is more interested in a literary work for what it does than for what it is." Rhetoric - how words are chosen and used - can impact everything from how we understand problems and create policies to how we engage in politics and create identity. It's never "just words." This class will explore how language use by public figures and citizens impacts how policies are created and written as well as how the political arena is changed by the use of
language. By nature of the subject matter, we will be discussing political, social, and policy issues both past and present.

045 -- TBA
TR 08:00AM-09:15AM (BRN 312)
TBA
 
046 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Language, Policy, and Politics
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (SHN 111)
Kate Natishan

As Edward P.J. Corbett has observed, rhetorical analysis "is more interested in a literary work for what it does than for what it is." Rhetoric - how words are chosen and used - can impact everything from how we understand problems and create policies to how we engage in politics and create identity. It's never "just words." This class will explore how language use by public figures and citizens impacts how policies are created and written as well as how the political arena is changed by the use of
language. By nature of the subject matter, we will be discussing political, social, and policy issues both past and present.

047 -- Writing about Culture and Society
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (BRN 332)
John T. Casteen IV
 
048 -- TBA
MW 03:30PM-04:45PM (BRN 312)
TBA
 
049 -- Writing about Science & Tech
TR 11:00AM-12:15PM (BRN 330)
Cory Shaman
 
052 -- TBA
MW 05:00PM-06:15PM (BRN 332)
TBA
 
053 -- TBA
TR 12:30PM-01:45PM (CAB 207)
TBA
 
055 -- Writing about Identities - Writing about Writing and Literacy
TR 11:00AM-12:15PM (BRN 332)
Kate Kostelnik
 
056 -- TBA
MW 05:00PM-06:15PM (BRN 330)
TBA
 
057 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing about Sports
TR 11:00AM-12:45PM (CAB 044)
Rory Sullivan

059 -- TBA
MW 03:30PM-04:45PM (BRN 334)
TBA
 
060 -- Writing about Culture/Society
TR 12:30PM-01:45PM (BRN 310)
John T. Casteen IV

061 -- TBA
TR 08:00AM-09:15AM (BRN 330)
TBA
 
062 -- Writing about Identities - Writing about Writing and Literacy
TR 12:30-01:45PM (BRN 332)
Kate Kostelnik
 
063 -- TBA
TR 06:30PM-07:45PM (BRN 310)
TBA
 
064 -- TBA
MW 05:00PM-06:15PM (BRN 334)
TBA

065 -- TBA
MWF 11:00AM-11:50AM (BRN 330)
TBA
 
066 -- TBA
TR 08:00AM-09:15AM (BRN 332)
TBA
 
067 -- TBA
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (CAB 056)
TBA
 
068 -- Writing about Culture/Society - Writing about Sports
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (BRN 312)
Rory Sullivan
 
069 -- TBA
TR 03:30PM-04:45PM (BRN 310)
TBA
 
070 -- TBA
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (CAB 064)
TBA
 
071 -- TBA
MWF 12:00PM-12:50PM (BRN 330)
TBA
 
072 -- TBA
MW 03:30PM-04:45PM (BRN 332)
TBA
 
073 -- TBA
MW 05:00PM-06:15PM (DL1 104)
TBA

074 -- TBA
MWF 03:30PM-04:45PM (BRN 330)
TBA

075 -- Writing about Culture/Society
TR 02:00PM-03:15PM (BRN 310)
Kate Stephenson

076 -- TBA
MWF (09:00AM-09:50AM) (DL1 104)
TBA

077 -- TBA
MWF 01:00PM-01:50PM (BRN 312)
TBA

078 -- TBA
MWF 10:00AM-10:50AM (DL1 104)
TBA

079 -- TBA
MWF 11:00AM-11:50AM (BRN 334)
TBA

080 -- TBA
TR 08:00AM-09:15AM (BRN 310)
TBA

081 -- TBA
MWF 01:00PM-01:50PM (BRN 330)
TBA

082 -- TBA
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (CAB 036)
TBA

083 -- TBA
TR 03:30PM-04:45PM (BRN 332)
TBA

084 -- TBA
MWF 09:00AM-09:50AM (CAB 044)
TBA

085 -- TBA
TR 05:00PM-06:15PM (BRN 312)
TBA

086 -- TBA
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (CAB 187)
TBA

087 -- TBA
MW 05:00PM-06:15PM (CAB 036)
TBA

ENWR 1520 - Writing and Community Engagement (4 sections)

001 -- Writing about Food Justice
TR 12:30PM-01:45PM (RTN 152)
Kate Stephenson

Why do we eat what we eat? Do poor people eat more fast food than wealthy people? Why are Cheetos cheaper than cherries? Do you have to be skinny to be hungry? By volunteering at the UVA Student Garden, Morven Kitchen Garden, UVA Community Food Pantry, Loaves and Fishes, or the PVCC Community Garden and using different types of writing, including journal entries, forum posts, peer reviews, and formal papers, we will explore topics like food insecurity, food production, hunger stereotypes, privilege, urban gardening, and community engagement.  

Community engagement courses depend on creating pathways between different kinds of knowledge that enable us to learn with our minds, hearts, and bodies. The classroom is not a place where we find the answer; instead, it is a space for inquiry where process rather than product prevails. We will explore first-hand the ways in which academic conversations—and civic conversations—emphasize questions rather than answers. We will redefine knowledge—where it originates, who creates it, and how it circulates—by seeing the community outside the classroom as a site of knowledge production. 

Community Partners—UVA Student Garden, Morven Kitchen Garden, UVA Community Food Pantry, Loaves and Fishes, Food Assist, Feel Good, and PVCC Community Garden.

All students will have the opportunity to volunteer weekly at the UVA Student Garden (SG), Morven Kitchen Garden (MKG), UVA Community Food Pantry (FP), Loaves and Fishes (LF), Feel Good (FG), or PVCC Community Garden (PCG). Scheduling, including time slots and transportation, will be coordinated with the help of the professor and Madison House.  Students should complete their chosen number of hours by April 29th and submit their community engagement log on Canvas. We will receive training from the gardens and Madison House in preparation for our partnership. During those sessions, we will think deeply about the ethics of community engagement in both theoretical and practical terms in order to align our interactions with the following principles: co-production, responsibility, equity, authentic partnership, and mutuality.

002 -- You and A.I.
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (DL2 102)
Piers Gelly

003 -- Native American Rhetoric
TR 11:00AM-12:15PM (KER 317)
Sarah Richardson

004 -- Native American Rhetoric
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (KER 317)
Sarah Richardson

ENWR 2510 - Advanced Writing Seminar (3+ sections)

002 -- Writing about Identities 
MWF 01:00PM-01:50PM (BRN 332)
Devin Donovan

004 -- Writing about Culture/Society
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (RTN 152)
Penny Von Eschen

005 -- Writing about Culture/Society
TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (NAU 141)
Anri Yasuda

ENWR 2520 - Special Topics in Writing (6 sections)

001 -- Community Engagement with UVA's Indigenous History
TR 02:00PM-03:15PM (CAM 108)
Sarah Richardson

This section of ENWR 2520, Community Engagement with UVA’s Indigenous History, will focus on using rhetorical approaches to help students improve critical reading and writing skills and craft effective arguments. Rhetoric is the study of persuasion, and we’ll spend time analyzing arguments to determine why audiences might be persuaded by them and the benefits and harm rhetoric has on indigenous communities. Students will also learn how to research, compose, and revise ethical and effective arguments to address specific audiences. In particular, this course will focus on applicable concepts to the Monacan Nation.

002 -- Writing and Games
TR 02:00PM-03:15PM (RDL 123)
Kate Natishan

Play is essential to our growth. Games teach us how to move, how to balance, how to coordinate our hands andeyes, how to take turns, how to share, how to read people, how to strategize, how to problem solve, how to work as a team... Without games, there is no us. 

Games play a central role in our social and private lives, whether we are spectators or players. They also have massive cultural impact, sometimes in ways we don’t expect. In this class, we will examine the role games play in our lives and our culture, and we will explore the ways in which others write about games while developing our skills to do the same. Meets second writing requirement.

005 -- Writing and Generative AI
TR 03:30PM-04:45PM (CAB 209)
Ethan King

006 -- Argumentation Across Disciplines
TR 03:30PM-04:45PM (NAU 242)
Tyler Carter

Argumentation Across Disciplines examines how the linguistic and rhetorical features of argument vary from discipline to discipline. The course will make two primary movements: The first is an examination of what argument is through the lens of classical and new rhetorical theory, and second, students will do comparative research on the linguistic and rhetorical features of texts in two different disciplines. 

007 -- Writing from Research to Publication
TR 03:30PM-04:45PM (BRN 312)
Rory Sullivan

008 -- Writing in a Global World
TR 03:30PM-04:45PM (CAB 407)
Dana Little

ENWR 2610 - Writing with Style

TR 05:00PM-06:15PM (BRN 310)
Keith Driver

Investigates the role of style in the writing process. What does it mean to write with attention to style? How can attention to style be generative? Students will explore the variety, uses, and implications of a broad range of stylistic moves available in prose writing and build a rich vocabulary for describing them. Students will imitate and analyze exemplary writing and discuss each other’s writing in a workshop setting. (Meets second writing requirement.)

ENWR 2640 - Writing as Technology

TR 11:00AM-12:15PM (TBA)
Patricia Sullivan

This course explores historical, theoretical, and practical conceptions of writing as technology. We will study various writing systems, the relation of writing to speaking and visual media, and the development of writing technologies (manuscript, printing presses, typewriters, hypertext, text messaging, and artificial intelligence). Students will produce written academic and personal essays, but will also experiment with multimedia electronic texts, such as web sites, digital essays/stories, and AI generated texts

ENWR 2700 - News Writing

TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (GIB 142)
Kate Sweeney

This course focuses on the development of basic writing skills, with craftsmanship the emphasis. We will study, discuss, and rewrite old and new newspaper stories in a workshop setting. Readings will be taken from texts and various other sources. Progress from short hard-news pieces through speech stories, legislative and political coverage, the use of narrative and on to other news features. Repeated writing drills. Fair to good typing or word processing skills required. It will be essential to follow current events as well.

ENWR 2800 - Public Speaking

TR 05:00PM-06:15PM (CAB 191)
John Modica

ENWR 3500 - Topics in Advanced Writing and Rhetoric

001 -- Rhetoric of Crime
MW 02:00PM-03:15 (SHN 111)
Rhiannon Goad

Sensational news headlines, tough-on-crime political campaigns, and gripping true crime narratives: how we talk about crime profoundly shapes our understanding of criminals, victims, justice, and social order. This course explores the rhetorical dimension of crime, examining the persuasive strategies used to define crime, influence public perception, and shape policy in contemporary culture. Together, we will critically analyze how language constructs our reality of crime and punishment. Through a series of analytic papers and a podcast, students will use rhetorical analysis to identify significant trends in crime discourse, identify agents shaping these narratives, and develop a critical perspective on the power of language in matters of law, order, and justice. 

ENWR 3640 - Writing with Sound

TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (TBA)
Steph Ceraso

In this collaborative, project-based course, students will learn to script, design, edit, and produce an original podcast series. In addition to reading about and practicing professional audio storytelling techniques (e.g. interviewing, writing for the ear, sound design), each student will get to work with a team to produce an episode for the podcast series. No experience with digital audio editing is necessary. Beginners welcome!

ENWR 3665 - Writing about the Environment

TR 02:00PM-03:15PM (SHN 119)
Cory Shaman

ENWR 3740 - Black Women's Writing & Rhetoric

TR 09:30AM-10:45AM (RTN 150)
Tamika Carey

ENWR 3900 - Career Based Writing and Rhetoric

MW 03:30PM-04:45PM (WNR 113)
John T. Casteen IV

Develops proficiency in a range of stylistic and persuasive effects. The course is designed for students who want to hone their writing skills, as well as for students preparing for careers in which they will write documents for public circulation. Students explore recent research in writing studies. In the workshop-based studio sessions, students propose, write, and edit projects of their own design.