Academic
Catalog August 2009 - August 2010 Undergraduate
and Graduate
This MA program prepares students for successful careers as writers and communication specialists in the working worlds of business, industry, education, and government. Graduates from this program have gone on to a wide variety of careers, such as:
Teaching writing at the college or university level
Editing for a publishing house or newspaper
Completing an advanced degree, such as a PhD or JD
Working as a technical writer or editor for a corporate or government agency
Working in another profession, such as the law, business, marketing, or public relations
Working on document preparation as part of a team of scientists, engineers, and business persons in laboratory, office, or managerial settings
Serving such a variety of student needs as we do, we try to maximize each student’s opportunity to tailor his or her own program. We are proud of our program’s practicality. We want what each student does in every class, every project, and every internship to be practical, yet also have a solid theoretical basis.
Courses focus on rhetorical analysis, theories of writing, document design, editing and usability testing, document management, Web design, and literacy studies. Areas of study include written and visual rhetoric, recognizing and understanding professional, educational, and business contexts, and using professional composition tools. Online and face-to-face courses allow students to study writing, literacy, and document design on campus and on the Internet.
Students learn the explicit requirements to produce such documents as reports, proposals, argument papers, manuals, and Web pages. They also learn about the implicit social contexts and processes in which such documents function. The program offers a mix of theory, application, and hands-on experience, including opportunities for professional internships as well as building e-portfolios or Web sites to showcase skills to potential employers and clients. Throughout the program, students are encouraged to create useful documents and projects for both academic and working-world audiences.
For this 36-unit plan, you take:
9 hours of focus courses chosen from the following ENG courses:
3 hours from Professions and Organizations: 502, 503, 522
3 hours from Literacy, Language, and Technology: 519, 520, 521
3 hours from Theory and Argumentation: 511, 606, 631
9 additional hours from courses in Professions and Organizations and/or Literacy, Language, and Technology, and/or Theory and Argumentation
(Note: students who enter the program with a professional writing certificate [18 hours] will have fulfilled the above requirements)
An additional 18 hours of courses chosen from the following lists below:
Application: 3-6 hours of project courses, internship, thesis credit, or e-portfolio and Web site construction: ENG 608, ENG 685, ENG 697, ENG 699. Students select from these options in consultation with their advisors. Only the ENG 699 Thesis option has formal requirements (in conjunction with those designated by the Graduate School).
Electives: 12-15 hours. These can be English courses or courses from outside the department that are germane to a student’s plan. For example, students wishing to write in the area of medicine may wish to take health science or biochemistry courses. Students wishing to write in the area of ecology and wilderness may wish to take forestry or ecology courses to learn vocabulary, methods, and context for the discourse community in which they plan to write. Students wishing to work in the area of education may wish to take courses in educational leadership, bilingual and multicultural education, or educational psychology courses.
The following courses from the area (Literacy, Technology, and Professional Writing) include students’ choices for focus courses (9 hours), additional hours taken from courses in Literacy, Technology, and Professional Writing (9 hours), application courses (3-6 hours), and possibilities for elective courses in the area (12-15 hours):
Eng 502: Advanced Technical Writing
Eng 503: Written Communication in Organizations
Eng 517: Professional Editing
Eng 522: Rhetoric and Writing in Professional Communities
Eng 549: Document Design and Usability Testing
Eng 569: Document Project Management
Eng 605: Writing Effective Proposals
Eng 608: Fieldwork Experience
Eng 501: Graduate Composition
Eng 511: Writing Theory and Practice
Eng 606: Issues in Technical and Professional Writing
Eng 631: Argumentation
Eng 519: Technology and Visual Literacy
Eng 520: Literacy Studies
Eng 521: Language and Diversity
Eng 570: Introduction to Multimedia Design
Eng 610: Autobiographical Literacies
Eng 672: NAWP Summer Institute (6 hrs.)
Eng 608: Field Work
Eng 685: Graduate Research
Eng 697: Independent Study
Eng 699: Thesis Credit
Click here for more information about English graduate courses and English faculty.