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Writing Studio

Undergraduate Writing Symposium

A banner image for the Writing Studio's main Undergraduate Writing Symposium page.

The Writing Studio’s Undergraduate Writing Symposium provides an annual opportunity for Vanderbilt to celebrate the achievements of its undergraduate students as writers, thinkers, scholars, and artists.

Modeled after an academic conference, this event gives student authors selected for participation the opportunity to present and reflect on their written work alongside their fellow students.

Welcome to the hub page for symposium information. Follow the links below to jump straight to sections within this page:

2026 Undergraduate Writing Symposium

In Spring 2026, the Undergraduate Writing Symposium will feature a wide variety of student authors presenting on their writing and writing experiences.

Save the Date: 18th Annual Undergraduate Writing Symposium

  • When: Friday, March 27, 2026 | 3:00–6:30 PM
  • Where: Commons Center MPR
  • Theme: “Why Write?”
  • Web-based program: 2026 Undergraduate Writing Symposium Program [COMING SOON!]
  • Nomination and Submission Process—Key Dates:

2026 Symposium Theme: “Why Write?”

The Undergraduate Writing Symposium celebrates the transformative power of undergraduates immersing themselves in the often-challenging processes of writing, critical inquiry, research, and creative expression.

For this year’s UWS theme, however, we pose the question, “Why Write?”

At a time when it’s easier than ever to outsource our work with words to AI, we want to hear from students in their own voices on why they write: What makes the often-arduous writing process worthwhile? How has wrestling with the blank page, difficult prompts, challenging feedback, and need to revise and rethink led to meaningful learning, growth, and more? In your experience, how does the productive struggle of writing foster human intelligence, human connections, and human flourishing?

Call for Submissions: Undergraduate Writing Symposium

This photo features two student presenters from the 2023 Undergraduate Writing Symposium
2023 Undergraduate Writing Symposium

In Spring 2026, the Undergraduate Writing Symposium (UWS) will once again feature the exceptional work of first-year authors as well as the research writing of more advanced undergraduate authors. This event will take place Friday, March 27.

First-year students: To be considered for inclusion, please submit essays composed during the Fall 2025 semester.

Sophomores, juniors, and seniors: To be considered for inclusion, submit a project abstract of an advanced research project (honors, independent study, Immersion, and more), which may still be in progress in spring 2026 or have been completed during the 2025 calendar year.

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About Our Annual Symposium Event

What is the Undergraduate Writing Symposium?

Held each year in late spring, the Undergraduate Writing Symposium showcases exemplary writing by Vanderbilt’s undergraduates while honoring their achievements as writers, scholars, and artists.

Much of the event follows the model of an academic conference: each participant splits their presentation time between introducing their selected writing project and reflecting on their own learning and growth through its composition. Each panel brings together a group of student authors to share and reflect on their pieces and includes time for discussion between panelists and their audience following the presentations.

The Undergraduate Writing Symposium spotlights both the achievements of first-year writers and major writing projects undertaken by upper-division students.

What about the Undergraduate Creative Writing Symposium?

Undergraduate Creative Writing Symposium 2023

For 2026, the Writing Studio is holding a single annual symposium event. For three years, from spring 2022 through spring 2024, the Undergraduate Creative Writing Symposium was held as a separate event featuring undergraduates of all years sharing and reflecting on a wide range of creative works including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and more.

While the 2026 Undergraduate Writing Symposium event will feature creative writing, we are not currently issuing open calls for creative writing instructor nominations or students’ own creative writing self-nominations. Please know that we are currently exploring new ways to engage and celebrate our undergraduate creative writers.

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Learn More: Symposia Past

Three students pose with their writing pieces after share their work with the Undergraduate Writing Symposium audience.Reflection by a Student Participant

Presenting at the Undergraduate Writing Symposium was an invaluable experience. It was one of my first opportunities to present my writing in an academic environment, and it was rewarding to both hear my peers’ insightful work and to receive thoughtful feedback and questions on my own presentation. It was particularly interesting to see how writing pieces from different subjects complemented each other in the context of the panel, exemplifying the idea of a liberal arts education.

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What to Know: Nomination, Review, and Publication

How Do I Get Involved?

Although anyone in the Vanderbilt community can attend the symposium as an audience member, becoming a symposium presenter involves a highly competitive process. That process begins each January with the Writing Studio’s call for nominations. We invite faculty to nominate the strongest pieces of writing they’ve seen in their classes, while also allowing students to self-nominate papers they are proud of.

Symposium Nominations

The Writing Studio welcomes nominations of student writing of all kinds including argumentative essays, expository writing, and research projects. We also encourage multimodal compositions that showcase Vanderbilt students producing pieces that stretch how we define “writing” in our digital age.

See the Call for Submissions and Submission Guidelines for more information about what can be submitted and how to do so.

To nominate a paper follow the appropriate link below:

Faculty nominations: More information and nomination form

Student Submissions and Self-Nominations:

What’s Next? The Review Process

Once submitted, all nominated pieces of writing are assessed by multiple readers in a blind review process (meaning submissions are judged anonymously). Following the blind review, we invite the authors of our highest scoring submissions to participate in the Undergraduate Writing Symposium.

Celebrating First-Year Writing through a Digital Collection: Scaffold: A Showcase of Vanderbilt First-Year Writing

All first-year submissions to the symposium will be competing for inclusion in Scaffold: A Showcase of Vanderbilt First-Year Writing, a digital collection begun in spring 2019 as an extension of the symposium.

Following our review process, the authors of the highest scoring submissions will be invited to prepare their pieces for digital publication and to submit a short video of themselves reflecting on the writing of the piece and what they learned to be published alongside it.

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Praise for the Symposium

Reflection by a Student Participant

When writing within the context of a course, it is easy to lose sight of the greater purpose and possibilities of academic and creative writing beyond the instructor and the grade. The Undergraduate Writing Symposium served as a reminder of why we write in the first place, allowing for the sharing of student works in a format conducive to meaningful discussion and analysis.

Reflections from a Faculty Panel Chair

I was impressed by the quality and the variety of papers presented at the Undergraduate Writing Symposium. One panel I chaired included an informal first person reflection on participating in an improvisational music event, an argumentative analysis of a philosophical treatise, and a descriptive discussion of the scenic elements of a theatrical production. Best of all, for me, was seeing the students selected for the symposium present their work in a forum that took their writing seriously and honored their considerable achievements.

Reflection by Dean Roger Moore, who delivered the Symposium’s Closing Remarks in March 2015

I was present for the first Undergraduate Writing Symposium years ago, and I have attended all but one since that time.  For me, this is one of the most important, and most exciting, events that the University sponsors during the year. Click here to read more of Dean Moore’s reflection on the Symposium.

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