November 2010 Updates

Undergraduate Writing Symposium

 

The writing process and the products of this process come together at the Undergraduate Writing Symposium. Papers nominated by instructors from disciplines across campus are selected to be read at a public event that celebrates excellence in undergraduate writing at Vanderbilt. At last year’s Symposium, we heard papers that ranged in topic from discussions of economic development, the history of Vanderbilt’s place in the SEC, and analyses of postmodern filmic adaptations of Shakespeare. It is appropriate that the event takes place each March at the Commons Center, a location designed to foster intellectual conversation among students and faculty. The Symposium offers students from all years the opportunity to share ideas and writing with their friends, families and the University community; these exchanges showcase the many facets of intellectual life at Vanderbilt.  Although in many ways, the Writing Symposium is a celebration of completed course papers, students who participate take advantage of Writing Studio consultations as they revise for presentation, and many are inspired by the questions and conversations that take place at the event to continue revising in new directions.

As the Fall Semester winds to its end, we would like to encourage instructors to keep an eye out for papers to nominate. In particular, instructors may wish to nominate excellent papers from our First-Year students.