Graduate Program in Professional Writing

You must complete these two courses for the graduate certificate or master's degree program.

PRWR 601 Writing and Grammar Learn to craft prose that is clear, concise, and correct and to apply your knowledge to a variety of professional writing situations.

PRWR 605 Research Methods Learn to conduct research using both print and electronic sources, and how to evaluate and integrate that research effectively into your work.

You must complete at least one of these courses for the graduate certificate.

You must complete at least two of these courses for the master's degree.

PRWR 611 Knowing Your Audience Learn to conduct intensive audience analyses and to craft your work for an audience. You will receive a solid grounding in the theory of audience analysis and practice evaluating and writing to real-world audiences.

PRWR 612 Ethics and Professionalism Learn the professional expectations required of writing professionals and the ethical issues related to professional writing, including issues of mass media law.

PRWR 613 Layout and Design Learn the basics of print and online layout and design. You will gain experience in using software layout and design programs.

PRWR 614 Social Media Learn the features of various forms of social media and how to extract news and contact information from these sources. You will learn how to create effective content, use management/scheduling tools, develop a consistent voice across various platforms, measure impact and connections through analytics, and avoid controversy.

PRWR 615 Proposal Writing Learn the theory and practice of writing solicited and unsolicited proposals. You will learn to locate opportunities, conduct appropriate research, organize your documents and format and present your work.

PRWR 616 Collaboration and Writing Project Management Learn to write collaborative documents and manage workflows for projects. You will learn how to work with other writers, maintain version control, and use electronic document and writing project management systems.

You may complete up to two of these courses for the graduate certificate.

You may complete up to seven of these courses for the master's degree.

PRWR 621 Advertising and Marketing Learn about advertising and marketing strategy, research, design and implementation, branding, and globalization.

PRWR 622 Visual Communication Learn to analyze and interpret images, to locate images available for public use, to create your own images, and to successfully integrate images into professional documents.

PRWR 623 Web Design Learn to build and edit websites and widgets using basic web coding. You will also learn to write specifically for online publications, to design for portable devices such as cell phones, and to convert a web design for portable devices.

PRWR 624 Writing for the Health Professions Learn to write for the health professions, including how to communicate clearly in a variety of settings and for multiple audiences, such as the public, patients, caregivers, and other healthcare professionals.

PRWR 625 Writing for Small Businesses Learn to write for small businesses, including creating a business plan, developing a marketing strategy, and writing grant proposals for small businesses.

PRWR 626 Writing for Nonprofits Learn to write for nonprofit organizations, including locating funding opportunities, developing marketing strategies, and writing funding proposals.

PRWR 627 Writing and the Law Learn the legal and ethical issues related to professional writing and how to write about the law, public policy, and legal matters.

PRWR 628 STEM Writing Learn the theoretical and practical aspects of non-academic writing about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including invention, research and citation, audience adaptation, and style.

PRWR 700 Practicum Gain supervised field experience in professional writing. Your experience may take the form of an internship, freelance project, or work-related project.