The Simpson Undergraduate Writing Fellowship is an opportunity for select students to work as discipline-based, undergraduate peer writing tutors. Fellows provide writing support to undergraduate students in courses within a discipline. In offering oral and written feedback to students they tutor, fellows share  disciplinary and writing knowledge with their peers, provide guidance on writing assignments, help students to make their own writing choices, and direct students to other relevant resources. Simpson Fellows also serve as ambassadors for their departments or programs by publicizing tutoring opportunities, creating posters, videos, and/or social media content.

CAS Departments and Programs: Simpson Undergraduate Writing Fellowships are available for students majoring in the following academic departments and programs: Biology, Classics, Economics, English, History, History of Art & Architecture, Neuroscience, Pardee School/International Relations, Philosophy, Sociology, and World Languages & Literature. 

Training: The fellows selected for this discipline-specific writing tutoring program receive training through a required 2-credit course, Tutoring Writing in the Disciplines, which meets Mondays at 4:40-5:55 in Fall 2025. 

Applications for the Fellowship are here. Application deadlines depend on the particular academic department or program, though typically these are in mid-April. To learn more about the fellowship, contact Associate Director for Writing in the Disciplines, David Shawn, at dshawn@bu.edu.

Students: See our tutors and sign up for a tutoring session.

CAS departments and programs with TWID programs

What is the Simpson Undergraduate Writing Fellowship and is it right for your department or program? Take a look at this video on TWID, produced by the Shipley Center for Digital Learning & Innovation in 2023.

We are actively recruiting additional partners. If you are interested in this fellowship for your department or program, please contact wid@bu.edu.

Funding for the Simpson Undergraduate Writing Fellowship Program, formerly known as Tutoring Writing in the Disciplines, (TWID) comes from a grant from Psalm 103 Foundation, a special foundation of University Advisory Board member and College Advisory Board member Jennifer Simpson (CAS 2000). The program, formerly known as TWID, was piloted in 2018-2022 with grant funding from the Shipley Center for Digital Learning & Innovation and the College of Arts & Sciences. Initially supporting writing in three CAS academic units, the program has now expanded to support more than ten distinct academic units in CAS. Read more about the history of TWID.

    Simpson Undergraduate Writing Fellowship Application: Apply to be a Simpson Undergraduate Writing Fellow.