SOSC Writer

For Students

Writing for SOSC

The social sciences encompass a range of academic disciplines. Although the various core sequences emphasize different approaches, all of them address a single object of study, society. Since you will take three quarters of SOSC, the sequence offers an excellent opportunity to improve your skills as a writer. Our writing advisors will support you throughout the year with the myriad challenges that come with learning how to write for SOSC and at a collegiate level.

Your class section may have an assigned writing advisor, who will be working closely with you and your classmates throughout the quarter, and your instructor may require you to attend workshops and see your writing advisor before or after an assignment. Check your syllabus and with your instructor for more information on the requirements in your specific section. Even if your section doesn’t have an advisor of its own, you are welcome to make an appointment to see one, or you may simply stop by for a consultation on a writing project.

Harper Hours: Spring Quarter 2024

If you are working on an assignment and would like to see a writing advisor, consider booking an appointment or stopping by for a drop-in consultation during Harper Hours. The name Harper Hours refers to the fact that, in the era before Covid, advisors would meet students at Harper Memorial Library. Writing advisors will be available either online or at their office in Gates-Blake. The Harper Hours schedule holds from the outset of Week 2, January 8, through the end of Finals Week, March 8. Click on a name to access the Zoom room for a writing advisor’s office hours. If you have trouble getting into the Zoom room, contact College IT, and email the writing advisor.

Note that advisors are available Monday through Friday, from 11:00AM to 5:45PM (see schedule below). Most sessions (appointments or drop ins) occur over Zoom, but the slot from 1:15 to 3:30 PM has been set aside for in person drop in consultations at Gates-Blake 319.

Harper Hours Schedule
Time (CT) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
11:00AM – 1:15PM Joshua Wagner Elena Schafer Maggie Rothrock Wang Darren Brockes Daniel Jacobs
1:15PM – 3:30PM
G-B 319
Avi Waldman Graham Certain Sarah Jeffries Emma Adler Mia Thacker
3:30PM – 5:45PM Unavailable Annemarie Catania Hawkins Lewis Unavailable Justin Smolin

Our advisors are trained to work with you on academic essays and assignments with an eye toward strengthening arguments. Advisors can discuss aspects of rhetoric, structure, the use of evidence, and suggest meaningful strategies for revision with you. Writing advisors are not course teaching assistants, so substance from class is outside of their scope of work. Writing advisors are also not copy editors, who correct grammatical or style issues for you, nor can they forecast what grade you might earn on an essay or assignment.