Professional Writing & Rhetoric
Welcome to Professional Writing & Rhetoric at Baylor!
Professional Writing & Rhetoric (PWR) at Baylor University prepares students to become effective communicators in diverse environments, for diverse disciplines, in a variety of workplaces and careers, and in a range of media. The major emphasizes a rhetorical approach to writing, where the audience, purpose, and context of writing are studied.
As a PWR major, students work closely with faculty to determine their areas of interest and the PWR degree plan is flexible enough so that it can be tailored to an individual's interest or to prepare an individual for a particular career. Our major aims to help students become lifelong learners who will use writing throughout their lives in public, personal, and civic arenas.
Professional Writing graduates work in a variety of jobs, including government, publishing, industry, education, or the non-profit sector. They may work as writers, editors, and researchers on a range of texts--both print and multimedia: reports, proposals, press releases, brochures, manuals, films, newsletters, novels, social media marketing, and web documents. They may also become screenwriters, nonfiction writers, creative writers, or technical writers. Many graduates of Professional Writing go on to graduate school or professional schools such as law or medicine.
The PWR major includes courses in composition, professional and workplace writing, editing and publishing, undergraduate research and publication, digital writing, creative nonfiction, and literature, amongst many other electives. Professional Writing & Rhetoric majors also complete an internship for course credit during their junior or senior year, an experience that our graduates view as vital to getting (and keeping) a job. By the end of their senior year, PWR majors will have compiled both print and digital portfolios that highlights their talents, skills, and interests and that they will use to go on the job market.
Check out this profile on the PWR major published in the College of Arts and Sciences Magazine.
For more information about the Professional Writing & Rhetoric program, please contact our Undergraduate Program Director, Michael-John_DePalma@baylor.edu.