Wendy, here at U of A, the main people I know who are focusing on writing
in their discipline are two philosophers, Cressida
Heyes  <[log in to unmask]> and David Kahane
<[log in to unmask]>.  They designed a first-year philosophy "super
course" that had one very large lecture and then small breakout sections,
integrating the teaching of intro to philosohpy with the training of new
TAs, plus focusing on writing in philosophy.  One of the TAs (I believe)
even put together a booklet called Writing in Philosophy which I think
they'd probably be happy to send you.

Writing for Engineers is taught through the English dept. and in the past,
at least, has included a lot of grammar.  I'll sniff around and see if I
find anything else.
We don't have a WI (or W) program in place yet here at U of A--but there is
a proposal brewing for a new BA core that would set up something like that
at the undergraduate level--at which point, we'll probably be studying what
YOU do!  I do, however, think that there are several wonderful WIC or WID
or WAC programs in Oregon, and I've learned a lot from the people who
helped set them up, Duncan Carter at Portland State (he's now an associate
dean), Lex Runciman at Linfield (he set up the Oregon State University WI
program before moving to Linfield, which is a small private college), and
Vicki Tolar Burton at Oregon State (who built on what Lex Runciman
started).  See e-mail addresses below.  If you go to any of those web
sites--oregonstate.edu, pdx.edu, or linfield.edu-- and just type in
"writing intensive" to search the site, you'll get a huge amount of
material, some of which will lead you to people in specific disciplines
teaching WI courses.

I'll also mail you something from Western Oregon University, where I taught
from 1988-99. Our concern there was not to drag faculty from other
disciplines into a WI program kicking and screaming (esp. about the
increase in their paper load or taking valuable time away from their
subject matter to "teach" writing), but to get them exploring how writing
could support student learning, help students learn difficult material
better.  We had a few writing-to-learn workshops (with lots of incentives
for faculty from all disciplines to participate), starting with Sam Watson
(in1989 or 1990, I think) from UNC Charlotte (he's a good resource too),
then Lex Runciman, then Toby Fulwiler (in 1994, I think).  After three of
those faculty wide workshops, we had a solid core group of faculty who were
doing a lot with writing-to-learn in math, philosophy, science, sociology,
linguistics, education, etc (I'll mail you a copy of a monograph we put
together)--so by the time a writing-intensive requirement was developed, it
was not experienced as a top-down pressure on the different disciplines,
but as something that had come up from each department.  We also put
together a few guidelines for WI courses (so that when a dept. would
propose a certain course to fill the WI graduation requirement, they would
know what the campus-wide WI committee was looking for--I'll mail a copy of
that too in case it might be useful).

I realize none of this specifically answers your questions, plus you
probably know about all of these programs already--and to tell you the
truth, I never investigated at Western Oregon U if there was any common
element in the academic background of the faculty who seemed to take
immediately to the idea of using a lot of writing-to-learn in their courses
and who were interested in developing writing-intensive courses in their
depts.  The questions you're asking are interesting to me--especially the
questions "who should constitute the faculty who either assist others in
their disciplines or otherwise teach discipline-specific writing
courses."  At WOU, it was decided for us in a way by the people who chose
to attend the workshops, who found the idea of writing-to-learn exciting,
who realized that a WI course didn't mean they would have to be a "writing
teacher."  There was never a sense that every faculty member would teach WI
courses (it was clear this wouldn't happen!), but there were enough excited
about using writing-to-learn in their own courses that they could serve as
a resource for others on campus in either their own field or a closely
linked one.

One other model that seems to work well at the undergraduate level is at
Brown University (I've pasted some info on that in below).  They had
student Writing Fellows, upper-level undergraduates in a certain major
whose writing was particularly strong and who signed on for jobs (for
credit or for pay) helping with writing in upper-level courses in their
majors.  They had to take some classes in the teaching of writing (comp
theory, esp in WAC and WID issues)--it was developed initially by Tori
Haring-Smith.  We had one writing-fellow in sociology at WOU while I was
there and that went well, but we didn't get the funding to set it up as an
ongoing program.  Faculty members in the disciplines seemed to like it
since it relieved them of the perceived pressure to turn into a writing
teacher.

  I've pasted in just a few bits below that might be helpful (or rather, I
tried to, but it made this message too long, so I had to send them just to
Wendy--let me know if anyone else needs them).  Hope some of this is
useful.  Best of luck, Betsy

**************************1.
<http://wic.oregonstate.edu/>Oregon<http://wic.oregonstate.edu/> State
University_Writing Intensive Curriculum Program
... contact: [log in to unmask] Writing Intensive Curriculum
Program, Waldo 125 Corvallis ... Oregon State University_Writing Intensive
Curriculum Program          About WIC    Director ...
http://wic.oregonstate.edu/

2.   Portland State University (another contact is Duncan Carter at
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] )

PSU’S Writing Intensive Course Program
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>Greg Jacob, Writing Intensive Course Coordinator &
Assistant Professor, English

<http://www.writingprogram.pdx.edu/wic/>The Writing Intensive Course (WIC)
program at Portland State University helps students strengthen their
writing skills in a 300 or 400 level disciplined-based course taught by
faculty who have participated in writing workshops at PSU and who are aided
by qualified students, most of whom have taken “Teaching and Tutoring
Writing.” WI courses incorporate both graded and ungraded writing and
revision-oriented feedback.
For more information, you can contact <mailto:[log in to unmask]>Greg Jacob,
WIC Coordinator and Assistant Professor of English, at 725-3572 or
[log in to unmask]
******************************
3.  Linfield College--contact Lex Runciman <[log in to unmask]>


Writing Intensive Course(s) in the Major (WI)

To reinforce the role of writing as a tool for thinking and communication,
each student is required to complete an approved upper-division
Writing-Intensive class, or sequence of courses, within the major
department or a class in another department that has been designated as
appropriate by one’s major department. One of the central goals of these
courses is to enhance students’ understanding of the formats, conventions,
and habits of mind appropriate to the major’s disciplinary investigations.
These classes stress writing as a process – or series of steps or stages –
professionals follow, offer student writers feedback and/or regular
opportunities for revision and rethinking, and require sufficient writing
practice to give students the experience of having written at a
professional or near-professional level in their major. Such courses are
designated MWI in departmental listings within this catalog.

********
4.  Brown University --

Who are the Writing Fellows?
Selection: The Writing Fellows are undergraduates carefully selected and
trained to help other students improve their writing skills. Competition is
stiff: over 300 students vie for 35 positions and are chosen based on their
demonstrated writing ability and interest in helping other students. Chosen
after their first, second, or third undergraduate years, Fellows continue
to serve the university as peer tutors as long as they are enrolled at Brown.

Training:
Once the Writing Fellows are selected, they complete a sophisticated
seminar, taught by Program Director Professor Rhoda Flaxman, on the theory
and practice of teaching writing. After completion of the seminar, Fellows
are regularly evaluated and participate in On-Going Training Sessions every
semester.

How Does the Program Work?
Each Writing Fellow is assigned to 15-20 students in a course whose
professor has requested assistance. The program serves from 40-50 courses
each year, reaching more than half the undergraduate population at Brown
each year (approximately 3,000 students). The program serves all
disciplines at all levels, from introductory philosophy lectures to
seminars in biomedical ethics.

Contact:
Brown Writing and Rhetoric Fellows Program
Brown University Box 1962
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: (401) 863-1404
Fax: (401) 863-2883
Email: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]

                -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
  [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
         write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]

For the list archives and information about the organization,
    its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
              http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
                 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-