Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The First Year Writing Program is committed to creating an inclusive and representative learning environment for all students and instructors.
We recognize that making first-year writing courses more representative goes beyond diversifying readings. It requires diversifying our teaching staff, classroom practices, and curricular design. It also requires an approach to teaching writing that represents many ways of knowing, doing, and being in the world.
Inclusive Learning
The First-Year Writing Program educates students at UConn and in high schools across Connecticut. As part of a public, land- and sea-grant university, our courses uphold and promote the ideals and goals of UConn as a whole. These goals include academic freedom for both the students and instructors.
Our courses encourage participants to read, write, think, and speak freely about the important issues of both the past and present. They also draw on the tenets of Universal Design for Learning. These guidelines provide a “set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.”
UConn first-year writing classes incorporate texts, methods, and practices that highlight inclusivity. Our instructors use teaching and learning practices that are antiracist and anti-discrimination. Our students analyze and critically engage with dominant discourses.
This work helps students understand the complex histories, politics, and institutions that surround them. It also provides them with context for understanding the University they attend and the language they use to compose meaning.