Requirements

The Professional Writing (PW) program is concerned with the theory, ethics, research, and practice of representing information in a variety of communication media-computer documentation, instruction manuals, hypertext, multimedia presentations, graphics, video, brochures, newsletters, public relations, scholarly writing, journalism, and literary nonfiction. The goal of the program is to prepare communication professionals who can bridge the gap between scientists and engineers and the public by presenting technical information in useful and accessible ways.

The PW program is an interdisciplinary major that combines work in written, oral, and visual communication with a strong concentration in a scientific or technical field. In consultation with a faculty program review committee, majors design a plan of study that fulfills the distribution requirements of the program and best suits their intellectual interests and career aspirations.

The PW major provides excellent preparation for students interested in careers in technical and scientific communication, editing, journalism, public relations, education, and publishing and for students who intend to pursue graduate studies in fields such as communication, education, journalism, and rhetoric and composition.

MQP opportunities are available on campus and with local companies, newspapers, public agencies, and private foundations.

PROFESSIONAL WRITING Minimum Units
1. Scientific and/or technical concentration (Note 1) 6
2. Writing and Rhetoric concentration (Note 2) 3
3. MQP 1


Notes:

  1. The student's scientific and/or technical concentration must be a plan of study, approved by the student's program review committee, with a clear underlying rationale in mathematics, basic science, computer science, engineering, and/or management.
  2. The Writing and Rhetoric concentration consists of 1 unit in each of the 3 following categories of courses. Courses taken to fulfill these distribution requirements will not include courses that fulfill other degree requirements, such as the Humanities and Arts Requirement and the Social Sciences requirement. Exceptions to this restriction, not to exceed 1 unit, must be approved by the student's program review committee, and will be granted only under unusual circumstances.
    1. Written communication (1 unit)
      Recommended courses:
      EN/WR 2210 Introduction to Professional Writing
      EN/WR 2211 Elements of Writing
      EN/WR 3011 Peer Tutoring in Writing
      EN/WR 3210 Technical Writing
      EN/WR 3214 Writing About Disease and Public Health or equivalent writing courses or ISPs
    1. Rhetoric and communication studies (1 unit)
      Recommended courses:
      RH 3111 The Study of Writing
      RH 3112 Rhetorical Theory
      RH 3211 Rhetoric of Visual Design or ISP or any of the courses listed in Category A not used to fulfill that requirement.
    2. Electives (1 unit)
      The 1 unit of electives must be coherently defined and approved by the student's program review committee.

      Students may draw on:
      Courses in science, technology, and culture studies (such as AR/ID 3150, CS 3041, CS 3043, EN 2252, HI 2330, HI 2334, HI 2402, HI 3331, HI 3333, HI 3334, HI 3342, IMGD 2000, IMGD 2001, STS 2208, GOV 2302, PSY 2406);

      Philosophy and ethics courses (such as PY 2711, PY 2713, PY 2714, PY 2716, PY 2717, PY/RE 2731, PY/RE 3731);

      Foreign language courses; Management courses.
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Last modified: September 05, 2008 11:12:43