First-Year Writing Intensive Seminars

About FWIS Courses

These courses fulfill Rice’s Writing and Communication Requirement, which all students must complete in order to earn a bachelor’s degree from the university. No other course taken at Rice can fulfill this requirement. Likewise, AP credit or other test credits may not be counted toward this requirement.

FWIS classes are capped at 16 students to support group discussion and foster relationships between students and faculty. The small class size also ensures that students receive substantive feedback from instructors on their writing, speaking, and visual communication skills.

Writing and communication play a significant role in assignments and grading in FWIS courses, though assignments may not be a traditional essay or presentation. Some assignments might ask students to reflect on field trips to local museums, conduct interviews with members of the Rice and Houston community, or even critically examine the experience of strolling through campus.

Based on the summer FWIS writing assessment evaluations, some students are required to take an additional writing course in the fall, FWIS 100: Introduction to Academic Writing, before enrolling in a FWIS in the spring. For more information, see FWIS 100 Overview.

In addition, some students may benefit from additional support alongside FWIS. Students may enroll in COMM 120 (Fall) / COMM 220 (Spring) - a one-hour FWIS Writing Studio to boost their writing.

FWIS Learning Goals

  • Enhance understanding of the central place of writing and communication in the learning process and in academic life.

  • Learn strategies for analyzing, synthesizing, and responding to college-level readings.

  • Improve ability to communicate effectively in writing and in speech, taking into account audience and purpose.

  • Become comfortable with writing as a process and learn strategies—for instance, prewriting, outlining, and revision—for working through that process.

  • Learn appropriate use of the work of others and, where necessary, specific practices of citation.

  • Learn to articulate oral arguments and to respond productively to arguments of others in formal presentations and in class discussion.