The first-year composition (FYC) program at North Carolina A&T State University provides an introductory college writing curriculum designed to develop students’ critical thinking, rhetorical awareness, and academic writing skills within culturally responsive and socially conscious frameworks. Rooted in the HBCU tradition of empowerment and advocacy, our FYC program often centers Black voices, histories, and experiences to foster both literacy and identity development.
First-Year Composition at N.C. A&T
Write with Purpose. Speak Your Truth.
Meet Our Director
Kendra N. Bryant Aya, Ph.D.Associate Professor of English and First Year Composition, Director
GCB A436 | 336-285-3517
Our Mission
In addition to the student learning objectives set forth by North Carolina A&T’s General Education Committee, the first-year composition program aims to cultivate confident, critical, and effective communicators who are grounded in the rich intellectual and cultural traditions of the African-American experience. Our program empowers students to use writing as a tool for academic success, personal expression, and social change.
- foster students’ critical reading, writing, and thinking through culturally responsive pedagogy;
- center Black voices, histories, and rhetorical traditions in composition instruction;
- equip students with transferable writing skills for academic, professional, and civic contexts;
- promote writing as a means of self-discovery, resistance, and community engagement; and
- support students in developing their unique voices within affirming classroom spaces.
FYC Course Requirements
- ENGL 100: Ideas & Their Expressions (3 credits):
an introduction to college-level expository writing that invites students into critical thinking about themselves in relationship to others by way of reading, writing, and revising practices. Through class discussion and regular in class writing practices, students will develop their critical reading, thinking, and writing skills in preparation for the researching activities expected in ENGL 101 and other university courses. -
ENGL 101: Ideas & Their Expressions (3 credits):
an introduction to college-level research writing designed to complement the ENGL 100 course. By providing students practice in various composition processes that emphasize academic research skills, the course reviews the foundational elements of college writing while introducing students to the techniques of research writing in the disciplines.
