Courses Offered
A variety of courses are offered in the Professional Writing & Rhetoric major and secondary major. Please refer to the course description booklet published each semester by the English Department for more detailed descriptions, special course offerings, and themes/topics of courses.
2000 Level Courses
PWR 2314 Introduction to Professional Writing and Rhetoric
Introduces students to core theories of writing and rhetoric in a variety of professional genres and familiarizes students with the range of careers that they might pursue as professional writers. Fulfills Core Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
3000 Level Courses
PWR 3300 Technical Writing
Emphasizes theories, principles, and practices of effective technical and scientific writing. Students will compose technical genres such as reports, proposals, memos, and documentation with an emphasis on usability, accessibility, data analysis, information design, ethics, writing style, and collaboration. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3303 Argumentative and Persuasive Writing
An advanced writing workshop that focuses on the analysis and production of texts written for specific rhetorical situations and discourse communities. Emphasis on genre, persuasion, and rhetoric. Practice in various types of expository, narrative, persuasive, and academic writing. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3309 Creative Nonfiction
Focuses on popular nonfiction addressed to a wider audience. Students will practice creative nonfiction research methods and compose genres such as travel writing, memoir, autobiography, biography, profiles, and history. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3313 Literacy Studies
Examines histories, theories, and practices of literacy in relation to questions of ideology, education, schooling, identity, social class, technology, and/or composition. Fulfills Lecture Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3316 Women’s Writing and Rhetoric
Examines and defines women’s rhetorical methods, the evidence they have used, affordances provided, constraints and conventions they have faced, and the rights they have pursued. Ultimately, the course looks at how women have used rhetoric to claim the right to speak and write, pursue an education, participate in civic life, enter male-dominated professions, and defend feminine ways of engaging with the world. Fulfills Lecture Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3317 Rhetoric of Race
Explores how specific words and ideas are used to define groups of people, how certain attitudes about racial and ethnic minorities become part of the national consciousness, and how behaviors enacted against and for them illustrate the enduring power of everyday speech. Students in this class will read various genres such as letters, speeches, memoirs, etc., from the 17th century to the present moment to better understand how these rhetorical acts help to form the basis of race as it is understood in the United States. Fulfills Lecture Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3318 Professional and Workplace Writing
Investigates professional writing in workplace contexts, with attention to audience adaptation, project management, collaboration, work with clients, professionalization, and style. Students will compose a range of workplace writings (i.e., letters, proposals, reports, web documents, design documents) and create application materials for career positions or graduate study. Culminates in a digital portfolio. Required of all PWR majors. Fulfills Core Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3321 Tutoring Writing
A practice-based course that examines theoretical issues and pedagogical methods for tutoring writing one-on-one. Examines how people best learn to write, how to talk with writers about their writing, and how one-on-one tutoring facilitates learning to write, including writing process theory, tutoring methods, revision and editing strategies, transfer, genre and disciplinary conventions, and working with special client populations. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3326 Studies in Public and Civic Writing
Examines public and civic rhetoric. This includes the use of rhetoric in political, social, and cultural debates as well as rhetoric by both well-known and unknown individuals. Ultimately, all individuals engage in public and civic life as both rhetors and audiences. By studying and applying rhetorical concepts, this course aims to make you astute and effective participants. Fulfills Lecture Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 3385 Special Topics in Writing Workshop (repeatable)
A writing workshop centered on a particular topic (e.g., food writing, travel writing, sports writing, grant writing). Students practice writing genres that are related to the course theme. Repeatable for a maximum of 6 credits with permission of department. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
4000 Level Courses
PWR 4309 Undergraduate Research and Publication
Students will learn and apply key concepts, theories, and methods used to produce scholarship in the field of rhetoric and writing. Students will complete a major research project using writing studies research methodologies, such as empirical, archival, case-study, ethnographic, digital, qualitative, quantitative, and text and discourse analysis. Required of all PWR majors. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 4311 Writing for Social Change
Emphasizes practical skills necessary for effective civic, public, or advocacy writing. Students use writing and related media to explore, analyze and advocate on issues of public concern with opportunities for students to create texts and campaigns. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 4321 New Media Writing and Rhetoric
A hands-on course designed to develop skills in composing in multiple modes and media for different audiences, purposes, and situations. Students will analyze and compose a range of multimodal texts that integrate words, images, and sounds, such as digital stories, podcasts, websites, video essays, and digital- and print-based documents using digital tools like Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 4323 Editing and Publishing
A survey course that explores the vocation of an editor in the context of global academic publishing, including acquisitions and list building, development of a publishing project, shepherding a project through a publishing house, and bringing a project to market. The course will root the work of an editor in both the history and philosophy of publishing and examine current changes in the publishing field. Fulfills Lecture Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 4348 Religious Rhetoric and Spiritual Writing
A writing workshop that provides experience writing from and critically analyzing spiritual perspectives. Students compose in a range of genres (creeds, spiritual autobiographies, and analyses of religious texts) in order to explore spiritual questions, religious experiences, and rhetorical concerns. Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 4349 Advanced Creative Nonfiction
An advanced workshop on the craft of writing creative nonfiction (e.g., flash nonfiction, collage essays, literary journalism, found essays, nature writing, lyric essays, feature stories, place profiles, personal essays, memoir). Students learn about the publishing process—from writing query letters and proposals to pitching projects for publication and gain familiarity with various outlets for publishing creative nonfiction (e.g., magazines, feature sections of newspapers, literary journals, non-print venues, and nonfiction books). Fulfills Workshop Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 4375 Special Topics Lecture in Writing and Rhetoric
Close study of a topic in writing, rhetoric, literacy, or a related field. Topic announced each semester. Repeatable for a maximum of 6 credits with permission of department. Fulfills Lecture Course Requirement in the PWR degree.
PWR 4377 Writing Internship
An internship to provide students in the PWR program supervised writing experience in a business or professional setting. Required of all PWR majors. Fulfills Core Course Requirement in the PWR degree.