Professional writing students are taught to generate a wide range of non
ction prose appropriate for a wide range of rhetorical situations. Writing majors in the professional writing track gain practice in literary writing, persuasive writing, and informational writing. Students become sophisticated analysts of communication situations and self-reective about their own rhetorical skills. By graduation, professional writing students will feel con
dent writing and designing pamphlets, newsletters, magazines, Web pages, presentations, and a variety of other forms and genres.

This emphasis is designed for students seeking careers in writing, publishing, or other fields in which specialized skills in written communication are required. many students combine the professional writing emphasis with a minor in a professional area such as advertising and public relations, business, computer science, English, information systems, or international relations. Students are encouraged to create major-minor combination that suits their own interests and career plans. Graduates typically find careers as editors, grant writers, program administrators, technical writers, freelance writers, teachers, and authors.

All Writing majors will need 42 credits:
12 from the core + 27 from the track + 3 from the capstone.

Core Requirements (12 credits):
WRT 200 Introduction to Professional Writing
WRT 210 Writing with Style
WRT 219 Introduction to Creative Writing
ENG 226 American Literature II

Rhetoric and Design (6 credits):
COM 203 Argument & Analysis
WRT 251 Document Production and Design

Internship (3 credits):
WRT 490

Professional Writing (9 credits):
WRT 350 Writing in the Workplace
WRT 351 Writing for the World Wide Web
WRT 360 Intermediate Nonfiction


Professional Emphasis (9 credits): choose one triplet
1. English (ENG 225, ENG 261, ENG 313)
or 2. Journalism (CJR 236, CJR 256, CJR 270)
or 3. Public Relations (CAP 220 & 321, CJR 256)

WRT 495 Genre and Writing (Capstone)
Explores the historical and ideological boundaries that define conventional writing genres—poetry and prose; fiction and non-fiction; literary fiction and genre fiction; academic writing and professional writing; text and hypertext; and so on. The course considers disciplinary and professional influences on genre definition as well as various ethnic, gender, and economic conceptualizations of genre.