Welcome to UNO’s first-year writing program.

If you’ve spent an afternoon scrolling through the class schedule on E-BRUNO, you have already glimpsed an important truth about a university curriculum: It’s monumental. It’s overwhelming. A university student has access to an array of knowledge that extends from accounting to aviation, metallurgy to music, philosophy to physics, social work to statistics. 

Where to begin? The faculty at UNO (like faculties at most American universities) encourages first-year students to take three foundational courses: composition, speech, and mathematics. These courses make a natural starting point for a university education because, in almost every discipline, knowledge is expressed through language or numbers. So mastery of these symbol systems is the bedrock of a university experience. The more effectively you can manipulate language and numbers, the better equipped you are to acquire, communicate, and create knowledge in any field you might pursue.

University courses require that you read complex texts, analyze them, synthesize ideas from multiple sources, and continually examine your current beliefs and understandings in light of new information. To prepare you for this work, composition courses give you opportunities to take on challenging writing tasks with feedback and support from your instructor and classmates.

Learning to write is a continual process.  It began when, as a child, you picked up a pencil or crayon in order to make meaning on paper, and with any luck, it will continue throughout your adult life. At crucial transition points—when you begin a new stage of your education, start a new job, take on new roles in the community—you adapt to the communication practices of the new contexts, so the learning curve is steep. First-year composition courses will help you make the transition to college writing, and I hope you’ll find that the skills and habits of mind developed here will provide a firm foundation for the writing and the learning that lie ahead.

Nora Bacon, Ph.D.
Writing Program Administrator