The Academic Writing group at the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong Joint Institute focuses on developing reading, writing, and research skills that enable students to navigate many forms of communication at the university and beyond. Since its founding in 2005, it has been a place for students to push the limits of their writing skills and take pride in their accomplishments. In the required two-course sequence, VY100 and VY200, students select sections designed around topics in each professor’s specialized academic discipline. By the end of the sequence, students combine their skills to produce a polished evidence-based argument paper. The courses enable students to succeed as critical thinkers, writers, and researchers at some of the top corporations and universities in the world.

The JI Academic Writing Competition was started in 2019 as a means to showcase some of the top essays from our courses. Pieces are nominated by professors and judged anonymously by both senior students and faculty to determine the winners. The criteria for the judges are the same that inform the curriculum in academic writing: analysis, argumentation, research, and organization. All the professors in the department take great pride in the students and are glad their work can be shared with a larger community.