Professional Writing (BA)
Matthew Bridgewater, PhD
Chair
Introduction
Welcome to the Writing Department. The Writing Department consists of the following two programs:
The Professional Writing Program (BA)
The Professional Writing major teaches students to be strong and creative writers ready for a variety of careers, including careers in media, journalism, publishing, public relations, and editing, among others. In addition, most of our students finish the major with a published, creative manuscript in hand. Students who minor in Professional Writing combine their talents for writing with their passion for their major to become a very strong and marketable job candidate.
The Academic Writing Program
The Academic Writing program is a component of Woodbury University’s General Education curriculum and is designed to develop students’ written communication skills at both the lower-division and upper-division level.
The Professional Writing Program (BA)
Overview
Professional writers make complex ideas, processes, and procedures readily understandable. The Professional Writing degree provides students with advanced study and practical experience in writing for print, digital, and multimodal formats. Based on a strong foundation in rhetorical and sociolinguistic theory and discourse analysis, the degree combines the effective communication that is an intrinsic feature of a liberal education with clear career orientation. The degree takes a transdisciplinary approach to adapting genre-specific skills to a variety of communication contexts. It bridges disciplinary considerations to create new forms of practical knowledge and build a sequence of course experiences categorized as foundations, contexts, and explorations, culminating in a capstone thesis project. This learning process helps develop articulate, audience-oriented writing processes that incorporate analytical thinking and problem solving. By extending the function of design thinking inherent in writing processes to digital and multimedia applications, writing is integrated with the public spheres of entrepreneurial innovation and community- oriented civic engagement.
Students complete their studies within the Professional Writing program prepared to be effective advocates for positive processes of cultural, institutional, and technological change. The Professional Writing degree fits with the University’s mission, vision, strategy, resources, and existing programs by offering a degree that supports our commitment to providing a liberal arts education within the context of professional study.
Mission
The Professional Writing degree at Woodbury University prepares people to be imaginative, ethical, and well- prepared to work individually and collaboratively in a variety of relevant environments and genres while integrating writing and evolving new media.
Additional Learning Opportunities
Internship
Students are required to complete a four-unit internship of 160 hours through a business or organization selected in consultation with their faculty advisor(s). The purpose of the internship is to reinforce knowledge and skills gained in the classroom and provide students with practical workplace experiences. Internship possibilities include media outlets, print and digital publishers, broadcasting outlets, advertising and public relations firms, health science organizations, government offices, non- profits, software and game developers, entertainment industry entities, university offices, and independent writers and artists. The internship may include self- reflective journal writing, supervisor evaluations, and a final reflection paper.
Senior Project
Students complete a capstone senior project that consists of:
- a planning and research phase; and
- the production of an original monograph or monograph-equivalent work of creative or research- based professional writing.
The senior project allows students an opportunity to synthesize knowledge and skills gained during their major in a focused and sustained format and specialize in areas of interest to them. Senior projects bridge students’ academic work and their professional aspirations.
Program Learning Outcomes
A student completing the Professional Writing degree will:
- Acquire the ability to write professionally in various environments and genres.
- Cultivate skills in collaborative workplace writing.
- Integrate writing and new media according to rhetorical design principles.
- Demonstrate understanding of the marketability of writing.
- Apply rhetorical strategies as an imaginative and ethical writer.
Curriculum Summary
Program Major Curriculum
| Unit Type (UT) |
Number of Units (U) |
| Major (MA) |
48 |
| General Education (GE) |
52 |
| Unrestricted Electives (UE) |
16 |
| Internship (IN) |
4 |
| Minimum Total Units Required |
120 |
Suggested Sequence of Courses
First Year
Fall Semester
| WRIT 113 | First-Year Academic Writing | 3 |
| MDST 120 | Public Speaking | 3 |
| INDS ___ | Interdisciplinary Core Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | General Education Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16 |
Type:
WRIT 113, MDST 120, INDS (Interdisciplinary Core Elective), and General Education Elective: GE.
Unrestricted Elective: UE.
Spring Semester
| WRIT 130 | Foundations of Creative Writing | 3 |
| PHIL 210 | Ethical Systems | 3 |
| LSCI ___ | Information Sources Elective | 1 |
| ____ 2__ | Mathematics Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Art History Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | General Education Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16 |
Type:
WRIT 130: MA.
PHIL 210, LSCI (Information Sources Elective), Mathematics Elective, Art History Elective, and General Education Elective: GE.
Second Year
Fall Semester
| WRIT 200 | Technical Writing | 3 |
| WRIT 325 | Scriptwriting Workshop | 3 |
| WRIT 400 | MORIA Literary Magazine | 3 |
| ENVT 220 | Environmental Studies | 3 |
| ____ ___ | General Education Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Spring Semester
| WRIT 201 | Digital Composition | 3 |
| | Or | |
| WRIT 241 | Professional Blogging and Social Media | 3 |
| | Or | |
| WRIT 300 | Web Authoring Theory and Practice | 3 |
| | | |
| WRIT 210 | Fiction Writing | 3 |
| WRIT 320 | Collaboration and Editing | 3 |
| MDST 314 | Digital Journalism | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Natural Science with Lab Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Third Year
Fall Semester
| WRIT 220 | The Law as/in Literature | 3 |
| WRIT 235 | Poetry Workshop | 3 |
| WRIT 315 | Rhetorical Theory and Practice | 3 |
| WRIT 313 | Advanced Academic Writing | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Humanities Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Spring Semester
| WRIT 221 | Proposal and Grant Writing | 3 |
| | Or | |
| WRIT 240 | Writing and Civic Engagement | 3 |
| | | |
| WRIT 330 | Nonfiction Workshop | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Social Science Elective | 3 |
| ____ 3__ | Upper Division Interdisciplinary Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 12 |
Fourth Year
Fall Semester
| WRIT 491 | Senior Thesis | 3 |
| WRIT 490_ | Internship | 4 |
| WRIT 47_ | Topics in Professional Writing | 3 |
| ____ 3__ | Upper Division General Education Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16 |
Type:
WRIT 491 and WRIT (Topics in Professional Writing): MA.
WRIT 490 (Internship): IN.
Upper Division General Education Elective: GE.
Unrestricted Elective: UE.
Spring Semester
| WRIT 401 | Freelance Writing | 3 |
| ____ ___ | General Education Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Type:
WRIT 401: MA.
General Education Elective: GE.
Unrestricted Elective: UE.