Concentration in Public and Professional Writing (Bachelor of Arts in English)

Students on Summer 2019, Fall 2019, or Spring 2020 requirements ENGPPWRCON

The Concentration in Public and Professional Writing emphasizes the critical analysis and production of writing and written discourse in professional, academic, and civic contexts. This concentration provides English majors with a strong core of abilities in reading and writing, as well as an opportunity to build rhetorical knowledge in a variety of modes, sites, and genres of language use.

Successful completion of the Public and Professional Writing concentration will prepare students for effective participation in language-intensive professions. Its guiding aim is two-fold: 1) to foster critical literacy—the ability to see and intervene in the cultural forces that shape the conventions of language use in the many professions and fields that students will enter upon graduation; and 2) to encourage an understanding of how the expansiveness of language helps us describe the workings of written communication in different modes and contexts.

View Degree MapA semester-by-semester path to completing degree and major requirements

Requirements

The concentration requires at least 15 credit hours (with at least 3 credit hours at the 400–499 level), including the requirements listed below.

Introduction to Professional Writing. One (1) course:
- ENG-W 231 Professional Writing Skills
ENG-W 231 Professional Writing Skills

Credits
3
Prerequisites
Completion of the English composition requirement
Description
Designed to develop research and writing skills requisite for most academic and professional activities. Emphasis on methods of research, organization, and writing techniques useful in preparing reviews, critical bibliographies, research and technical reports, proposals, and papers.
Advanced Expository Writing. One (1) course:
- ENG-W 350 Advanced Expository Writing
ENG-W 350 Advanced Expository Writing

Credits
3
Prerequisites
Completion of the English composition requirement
Description
Advanced writing course focuses on the interconnected activities of writing and reading, especially the kinds of responding, analyzing, and evaluating that characterize work in many fields in the university. Topics vary from semester to semester.
Advanced Public and Professional Writing Electives. Two (2) courses:
- ENG-G 302 Structure of Modern English
- ENG-G 405 Studies in English Language
- ENG-R 301 Advocacy and Debate
- ENG-R 305 Rhetorical Criticism
- ENG-R 321 Rhetoric, Law, and Culture
- ENG-R 323 Speech Composition
- ENG-R 330 Science, Advocacy, and the Public
- ENG-R 339 Freedom of Speech
- ENG-R 340 The Rhetoric of Social Movements
- ENG-R 342 Rhetoric and Race
- ENG-R 348 Environmental Communication
- ENG-R 355 Public Memory in Communication and Culture
- ENG-R 397 Visual Rhetoric
- ENG-R 398 Culture, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Place
- ENG-R 396 The Study of Public Advocacy
- ENG-W 321 Advanced Technical Writing
- ENG-X 473 Internship in English (Up to 3 credit hours with approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies)
ENG-G 302 Structure of Modern English

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Focuses on linguistic analysis of present-day spoken and written English, with attention to its phonemic, morphemic, and syntactical systems and its system of expressive features.

ENG-G 405 Studies in English Language

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Topics vary from semester to semester.

ENG-R 301 Advocacy and Debate

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Covers the role of debate in public life and its applications for public advocacy and democratic institutions. Students will read foundational theories of the role of debate in democratic societies and engage in multiple competitive debates against other classmates. Culminates in a group advocacy campaign related to the topics debated over the course of the semester.
ENG-R 305 Rhetorical Criticism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The development of standards for evaluating and methods of analyzing rhetorical texts. Significant historical and contemporary texts are studied to exemplify critical principles.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 305 or ENG-R 305.
- Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE SHcourse
ENG-R 321 Rhetoric, Law, and Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines the range of ways in which rhetoric, law, and culture intersect in the production and maintenance of social and political community.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 321 or ENG-R 321.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 323 Speech Composition
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Focuses on speech content as well as the theory and practice of informative, persuasive, and ceremonial speaking. Topics include the principles of organization, exposition, and argumentation, and language and style.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 330 Science, Advocacy, and the Public
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores the ways that scientists can better communicate their research and concerns to the public. Covers topics related to public perceptions of science, examines how best to present and explain research to non-expert audiences through both speaking and writing, and explores recent public and scientific controversies.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 339 Freedom of Speech
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
An examination of the concept of freedom of speech as a historical, philosophical, legal, and rhetorical concept.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 339 or ENG-R 339.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 340 The Rhetoric of Social Movements
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduces rhetorical theories and practices which inform and are informed by the study of social movements. Topics vary and focus on a specific social movement or a range of social movements.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum total of 6 credit hours in CMCL-C 340 and ENG-R 340.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 342 Rhetoric and Race
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores the relationship between rhetoric and race, including the possibilities and implications entailed by an understanding of race as a rhetorical artifact, and rhetoric as a necessarily raced phenomenon.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 342 or ENG-R 342.
- Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2024CASE DUScourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE DUScourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE DUScourse
ENG-R 348 Environmental Communication
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
This class is grounded in the perspective that symbolic and natural systems are mutually constituted and therefore, the ways we communicate about and with the environment are vital to examine for a sustainable and just future. The focus of the class may vary to engage topics such as environmental tourism or environmental disasters.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 348 or ENG-R 348.
- Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE SHcourse
ENG-R 355 Public Memory in Communication and Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines the contested nature of public memory from a communication and culture perspective. Focuses on the nature of public memory, its methods of perpetuation, its role in shaping citizens, and its implications for society.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 355 or ENG-R 355.
- Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE SHcourse
ENG-R 397 Visual Rhetoric
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Focuses on distinctive rhetorical features of visual discourse to examine the political, cultural, persuasive, and ideological functions of media images in United States' public culture. Explores examples from advertising, journalism, and entertainment across media, including print, television, and film. Interrogates the consequences of conducting public communication through commodified imagery for contemporary social life.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 432 or ENG-R 397.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 398 Culture, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Place
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Invites advanced undergraduate students to consider the rhetorical dimensions of places with a particular focus on theories of culture and identity (e.g., race, gender, and nationality). Students will critically examine how places are the product of strategic communication choices that have been made to influence how human beings think and behave.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 425 or ENG-R 398.
- Fall 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE AHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE AHcourse
ENG-R 396 The Study of Public Advocacy
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study of great rhetorical works in English. Focus on understanding the nature and role of public discourse in addressing significant human concerns.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMCL-C 406 or ENG-R 396.
- Fall 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Summer 2024CASE SHcourse
  
  Spring 2024CASE SHcourse
ENG-W 321 Advanced Technical Writing

Credits
3
Prerequisites
ENG-W 231
Description
Offers instruction in preparing technical proposals and reports, with an introduction to the use of graphics.

ENG-X 473 Internship in English

Credits
1–3 credit hours
Prerequisites
English major; minimum GPA of 3.000; 12 credit hours in English at the 200-level or above (including ENG-L 260); and prior arrangement with faculty member
Notes
Only 3 credit hours from a combination of ENG-L 498, ENG-X 373, ENG-X 471, ENG-X 473, and ENG-Y 398 may count toward the major
Description
Supervised experience with a departmentally based journal or allied publication.
Repeatability
May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours in ENG-L 498, ENG-X 373, ENG-X 471, ENG-X 473, and ENG-Y 398.
Grading
S/F grading.
General English Elective. One (1) course:
- Additional ENG course at the 200–499 level (excluding ENG-W 202, and ENG-W 205)
Concentration GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
1. At least 9 credit hours in the concentration must be completed at the 300–499 level.
2. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the concentration.
3. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the concentration—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
4. Exceptions to concentration requirements may be made with the approval of the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.