At UC Berkeley, we rarely think about how STEM students write. Writing is often thought of as the domain of the humanities, with essays and close readings rooted in literature. But at Art of Writing (AoW), writing is a skill that belongs in every discipline, from engineering to sociology to biology.
Rebecca Egger, executive director of Art of Writing and of the Townsend Center for the Humanities, shares that a new campus grant is allowing her and the AoW team to make that vision a reality.
Art of Writing “is a program dedicated to developing the whole culture around writing and teaching writing on the Berkeley campus,” Egger explains. “We offer ways for students to develop as writers, and we also help graduate students and faculty develop as teachers of writing.”
Founded in 2015 and housed within the Townsend Center for the Humanities, AoW has grown steadily over the past decade. Egger, who has been involved since its inception, plays a central role in guiding the program’s direction — overseeing operations, collaborating on long term goals, and leading fundraising and grant efforts. With a PhD in English and a background in teaching, research, and scholarly writing, Egger brings a layered understanding of writing to her work.
The work has recently paid off, as AoW was awarded a $125,000 grant through UC Berkeley’s Reimagining Higher Education initiative, a funding opportunity designed to support innovative approaches to undergraduate learning. The grant will allow AoW to significantly expand its Writing Fellows program — which so far has been rooted in humanities courses — into STEM and social science classrooms.
Writing Fellows are trained student tutors embedded directly into courses, where they support their peers through feedback and guidance on writing assignments. With the expansion, fellows will work alongside faculty in disciplines where writing instruction is less expected, but no less necessary.
The upcoming academic year will serve as a pilot, with fellows placed in approximately ten courses across these new fields — some of them significantly larger than those AoW typically serves. While the project’s reach is still growing, Egger anticipates that it will impact hundreds of students in its first year.
The initiative reflects the long-standing goal of AoW’s leadership to break down the idea that writing belongs only to certain disciplines.
“The humanities is already built around a recognition that writing is important,” Egger says. “But we want that to be the case in fields far outside the humanities.”
Despite her administrative role, Egger remains closely connected to the program’s impact, often through the stories that reach her secondhand. Course evaluations, conversations with colleagues, and student testimonials all point to a vibrant and supportive community formed through AoW.
“I know that students who’ve been interns in our writing-intensive internship program have really benefited,” she says. “Often it makes a difference in the job they get after college.”
She recounts a particular story of a former student who fully immersed herself in AoW by taking courses, tutoring, completing an internship, and even winning the Art of Writing essay contest. That student eventually went on to become a professional writer in New York. She later reached out to Egger with the message that Art of Writing had profoundly shaped both her college experience and her career.
“That was just so gratifying to hear,” Egger reflects.
Moments like these underscore what Egger finds most meaningful about her work. Even from behind the scenes she witnesses the tangible impact AoW has on students — especially during workshops, which take place at the Townsend Center, next door to Egger’s office.
In one recent workshop session led by Berkeley alum Sanjay Shah on pitching scripts in Hollywood, Egger observed that students arrived early, stayed late, and reached out to Shah for additional guidance.
“It was clear there was just a real hunger,” Egger says. “When I can see that we’re providing students with that kind of valuable experience, it gives me a lot of satisfaction.”
Looking ahead, Egger hopes that AoW’s influence will become more deeply embedded within Berkeley’s academic structure. Ideally, courses and initiatives that begin under AoW will eventually be adopted and sustained by departments themselves, growing to be permanent fixtures in the curriculum.
At the same time, the program faces an ongoing financial challenge. AoW operates almost entirely on grants and donations, making long-term stability a constant concern.
Still, the program’s momentum, and the passion of those involved, suggest a strong path forward. For Egger, one of the most rewarding aspects of her role is the people AoW brings together, from instructors to graduates to students to staff who are all deeply committed to writing and its possibilities.
“People who care about writing and teaching writing . . . it draws a very generous, insightful, thoughtful group of people. I feel fortunate that I get to interact with so many people like that.”
With the new grant opening doors across disciplines, Art of Writing is poised to reach more students than ever before, redefining what it means to write and who writing is for.