If students want to write for business and technology, our newly-revised emphasis in Professional Writing is a perfect fit. In the English Program, we encourage our English majors in whatever endeavor they wish to pursue. Students who follow this emphasis are guided through classes that will promote their business acumen and professional marketability.
Our faculty will give students the tools for document design, web design, and publications. The classes that are offered include: Theories and Technologies of Writing, The Art of Discourse, and Writing for the Public. This emphasis culminates in a professional writing internship during students’ last semester, which will give them real world experience and portfolio material for a head start in their business ambitions.
Although Professional Writing is based in the liberal arts tradition, the emphasis boasts a strong career-oriented focus. Students study the history of writing and writing technologies, develop their own digital literacies, examine public discourse, and write in the public sphere. They also write, design, edit, and manage texts for publication, as well as studying theories of composing and rhetorical canons. Students develop a portfolio of polished writing pieces to help secure an internship or a job.
A Bachelor of Arts in English with an Emphasis in Professional Writing prepares students for graduate study and for careers in writing, publishing, government, the non-profit sector, and corporate communications, among others.
The Department of English and Modern Languages offers baccalaureate degrees and a master’s degree program. Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) programs are offered in English and in Modern Languages. A master’s program is also offered in English. The department offers minors in English, English Teaching, Creative Writing, French, Professional Writing, and Spanish.