Writing classes at UIC ask students to participate in ongoing conversations about vitally important academic and public issues. A student's ability to write - that is, to conceptualize, articulate, and craft a response or an argument - is key to a successful undergraduate education at UIC. Conducted as seminars, each of the two required first-year classes focuses its reading, writing and discussion on a specific topic such as immigration, literacy, urban planning, public art, public housing, personal identity, or globalization. Writing about critical social issues helps us see that writing has consequences - it is a way of getting things done in the world. Writing classes at UIC emphasize both the importance of writing in making a contribution to the larger society and the need to be able to write clearly and correctly.

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