All incoming first-year students enroll in an Academic Inquiry Seminar in their first year at CWRU. The seminar’s defining feature is its small size: with enrollment limited to 16 or fewer students, every Academic Inquiry Seminar promotes active engagement and discussion, allows students to learn from one another, and offers a vigorous introduction to academic inquiry. Students receive feedback on their writing from seminar leaders and classmates. There is a focus on summarizing and synthesizing complex scholarly arguments, participating in academic conversations, and improving personal writing techniques, including drafting, revising and editing.
CWRU places an emphasis on writing and communication throughout your time in college, beginning with the Academic Inquiry Seminar. Beyond this first seminar, writing instruction is integrated into your general education requirements and major course plan of study with a series of communication-intensive courses, a disciplinary seminar, and a capstone project .