Students and staff from the English department asked students why they write to celebrate the National Day on Writing Oct. 21-22 at their table on the first floor of Campus Center.
At the table, community members answered the prompt “Why I Write,” on index cards and hung their answers on a bulletin board to make a collage. Faculty and students involved with the event also discussed writing interests and pursuing writing at UMass Boston.
Anthony Bambus, a communication major and a member of Undercurrents, an undergraduate student journal at UMass Boston, emphasized the importance of writing and celebrating the National Day on Writing.
“It’s a great way to engage with the community. I think sometimes our campus lacks community engagement, but this is a good way to bring people together, especially through something around academics which is a strong focus on our campus,” he said.
He also discussed how he plans to explore his writing abilities at UMass Boston. “I’d like to gain more professional experience with my writing. Through Undercurrents, I’ve been able to get journal articles published and gain experience on the editing side of things and the other side of the table,” Bambus said.
In addition to the collage, the Writing Across the Curriculum program hosted a workshop Oct. 21 in the Healey Library, sponsored by a $220,000 Davis Educational Foundation grant. The workshop was designed for faculty from all of the UMass Boston colleges and was created with the intent of redesigning curriculums to incorporate more writing.
Sisary Poemape Heredia, an English professor at UMass Boston, talked about how other courses and departments outside English can benefit from incorporating a more writing-oriented curriculum.
“Writing helps you dissect a problem methodically, with attention to your own observations and your own impressions,” Heredia said. “New perspectives are always welcome. Writing helps in articulating that in ways that allow people to express themselves.”
Another English professor, William Gratza-Wells, said that he wants to incorporate the more creative aspects of writing into his classroom. “Sometimes students need to break away from formal assignments and be able to enjoy the art of writing,” he said.
Gratza-Wells also talked about the opportunities that the National Day on Writing gives to express writing’s impact on our daily lives. He said, “If you look at the board, some people are saying things that are simple and quick, other people talk about how writing allows them to do activities like reflecting or spreading knowledge. Essentially, writing is kind of a foundation of all of the studies here on campus.”
This article appeared in print on Page 4 of Vol. LVIII Issue VI, published Nov. 4, 2024.
