CWP 1503
College Writing: Dreams & Nightmares
This course is an opportunity to explore and experiment, to dwell in uncertainty and inquiry, and to entertain confusion before resolution. Whether your area of interest is the psychology of dreams, monsters, memory, desire, cognition and neuroscience, or the underbelly of the American Dream, you will find room to interrogate subjects, both real and imagined, as well as texts and theories that destabilize categories, embody possibility, and threaten established order. THIS COURSE SATISFIES THE FIRST-YEAR WRITING REQUIREMENT FOR ALL DIVISIONS.
Instructors
Emily Koehn, Grace Lillard, Grace Waitman, Ian Clark, Kristin Emanuel, Megan Gregory, Michael Henderson, Michael Sanders, Peter Monahan, Rachel Adams, Sophie Levin, Stephen Claverie, Virginia Slachman
Reviews
Dr. Slachman successfully helps students drill down 3 crucial concepts that many college students tend to miss in their own writing: logic, clarity, and voice. I personally struggled with these things too; but as long as you embrace her criticism, process her comments and communicate regularly, you will learn to become a better writer.
8/9/2026
Professor Waitman was the bomb. She was pretty easy with grading but still gave solid feedback and clas
5/9/2026
She gives very lengthy and useful assignment feedback, is not an especially difficult grader, gives relatively little work, and is a kind person. But she gives rambling and boring lectures, assigns largely uninteresting readings, and gives assignments that feel worthless and don't contribute directly to your writing ability.
4/24/2026
i really liked him and found the readings he assigned engaging, but sometimes long. there are also movies/shows assigned for homework sometimes instead. there are a few essays but he does give you like three extensions.
3/3/2026
She is intense, but kind. It's refreshing to have a teacher with expectations. Nothing was too difficult and all course material was explained in detail.
2/12/2026
Prof. Waitman was monumental to my first semester experience. She is so caring and recognizes students' other academic commitments. Her discussions in class always had meaningful insights to take away. I highly recommend Prof. Waitman to future college writing students.
1/21/2026
Provides an infinite amount of 1-on-1 meetings if needed. Has a strict rubric, but wants her students to succeed and improve in their writing skills.
1/16/2026
Dr. "Sandman" Sanders is an amazing professor. He does an amazing job at providing constructive feedback while encouraging students to reach their full potential.
1/10/2026
my fav professor here at washu so far! she's so so sweet and caring while also giving incredibly helpful feedback on assignments. my writing has improved so much because of her and her comments made me think even deeper about the work i was producing. highly recommend!!
1/8/2026
I highly recommend professor Koehn. Best CW professor. She is very sweet, caring, and understanding. She's flexible, a very fair grader, and gives helpful gentle feedback. Manageable workload, and you build up to big essays with low stakes assignments. No pressure. Note: no technology in class & cold calls during discussion, so read the material.
12/22/2025
Read the syllabus and attend class. The lectures are engaging, sometimes before we would have to read or watch a show/movie. He gives you what to fix about your essay before final submission so listen to that and you'll suceed!
12/22/2025
really great guy! there is a lot of writing to do in this class but sanders genuinely cares about each student's growth
12/18/2025
Very interesting guy with very interesting readings, but some are really long – participation grade doesn't matter too much. Good feedback for essays, but you have to write SO many essays. I got so tired of it by the end. You really can't procrastinate, especially towards the end. 3 extensions available. Lenient grader (No A+s tho, I think )
12/14/2025
This class taught me the importance about checking RMP. I ignored the warnings on here about professor Slachman and that was a grave mistake. Although the themes of the class are somewhat interesting, professor slachman is a harsh grader and you will be forced to put in much more work than necessary for a mandatory, entry level writing class w her
12/5/2025
Dr. Sanders is a good profesor to begin your WashU journey with. If you need extra time or have trouble understanding an assignment he is lenient and will provide you the extra help you need. My only complaint is that he does not give 100, which demotivated me and most of my classmates to get that A+.
11/30/2025
I'm sure she has a deliberate teaching philosophy but being steered toward a topic based on my race rather than what I proposed was sure educational. And nothing motivates like reading a “model essay” aloud to the entire class and declaring it so impressive it earned a B+. She brings in her dog for the finals week though.
11/27/2025
Professor Adams is so helpful and understanding. She is always willing to give extensions if needed. She is also a pretty easy grader and provides thoughtful feedback on your writing.
11/14/2025
I'm in her class right now and she is great. I would pay extra to take this class.
11/6/2025
Dr. Gregory is kind and nice, and genuinely wants her students to succeed. She is also approachable outside of class and you basically can ask for an infinite amount of 1 on 1 meetings with her as long as you want to. She provides useful feedbacks and clear instructions for what she's asking for.
7/16/2025