Sweetland Courses

The Gateway and Capstone courses are the core of the Sweetland Minor in Writing program. Taught by Sweetland faculty members, these classes encourage you to explore new and exciting forms of writing across different genres and mediums. You’ll have a high level of autonomy in designing, planning, and executing writing projects that reflect your personal passions and interests. However, just because the Gateway and Capstone courses are tailored to your individual concerns doesn’t mean you’ll be expected to go it alone. The Sweetland Minor in Writing courses are highly collaborative and community-focused -- students participate in writing workshops with their peers, drawing on outside perspectives to guide and inform their work. Want to have something to show for your four years of college? The Gateway and Capstone courses give you the unique opportunity to compile an impressive portfolio of customized work to present to future employers, graduate schools, and publishing houses.

The Gateway course introduces you to the Sweetland Minor in Writing and gives you the opportunity to revisit and expand upon your previous writing. This class isn’t all retrospection, of course -- you’ll also have the opportunity to forge a new writerly identity, one you’ll substantiate with diverse work ranging from personal blog posts to original research projects. In the Gateway course, you will compile your writing in a web-based portfolio that will serve as a useful foundation for the more focused and in-depth writing projects you’ll undertake in the Capstone course.

The Capstone course is the culmination of the Sweetland Minor in Writing program -- a chance for you to use the skills and expertise acquired throughout the program to create an exciting web-based writing project centered on your individual interests and abilities. The project will not only showcase your increased genre fluency and understanding of new media platforms, but also powerfully represent your voice and vision. Tired of writing traditional papers? Past students have curated digital art exhibitions and designed proposals for equitable urban-planning initiatives -- the possibilities are endless, and experimentation is always encouraged!