One would not assume that students seek courses that require writing exercises and short papers, drafts, or rewrites of longer papers. Yet at the Harvard Extension School, writing-intensive courses consistently rank among the most popular offerings. The first writing-intensive (or "W") courses began several years ago under the leadership of Dr. Prudence Steiner, past Director of the Extension School Writing Program. From a handful of courses in literature, history, and classics, the Extension School now offers 20 "W" courses each term. This fall, more than 700 students are enrolled, and nearly two dozen are taking two "W" courses each.

The span of subjects taught in "W" courses ranges from Current Topics in Medicine to Moons and Planets, from Introduction to Jazz to Introduction to Greek Literature; even Macroeconomic Analysis is writing intensive. "What connects these courses," says Peter Buck, Dean of the Summer School, "are two beliefs: that disciplines have developed methods of research and scholarly writing that must be learned, and that one must write well about a subject to learn it well." The early discussions about "W" courses faced a perennial concern, Can you really teach someone to write well? "Perhaps you can't be invented as a writer," says Dr. Steiner, "but you can remove a lot of 'litter' in your prose. Developing your writing helps you think about subjects in new ways. It is a formal articulation of your thinking."

"W" faculty meet every semester to discuss pedagogy, new techniques, and the uses of new technologies, such as e-mail and web pages, in helping students write coherent, well-researched, and interesting papers. Professor Gregory Nagy's Harvard College course, Introduction to Greek Literature, now boasts a web page with assignments, sample student work, writing advice, and audio segments of students reading from Chapman's Homer. The course, commonly known as "Heroes", distributes a handbook on student writing and even hosts a "Heroes" film series at the Carpenter Center. As Professor Nagy states in the handbook: "The more you develop your skills in writing about the surprisingly different medium [of Greek literature], the better your reading will be and vice versa." Nagy also makes some special demands on "Heroes" writers. "Understanding the complex forms of Greek poetic expression requires readers to develop a suitable intelligence, moral foundation, and capacity for emotion." Beside such hortatory advice, "W" courses are now making extensive use of Writing With Sources, a pamphlet produced by the Expository Writing Program at Harvard College, which contains rules for citation, definitions of plagiarism, and some excellent chapters on incorporating secondary material in one's essays. "Now that Writing With Sources has been brought into the "W" curriculum," says David Gewanter, Director of Writing Programs, "students can find answers to many of their questions right away. This booklet, together with student models and specified writing advice, may signal a new advance in "W" courses. Our students seek intense contact with academic subjects. But they know that, beyond the help from teachers, booklets, and computers, good writing comes from hard work, from revising drafts, word by word."