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• Undergraduate Spring 2026
• Prof Writing & Publishing

Undergraduate Prof Writing & Publishing

2026 Spring Term

Class Schedule

FOUNDATIONS OF PROFESSIONAL WRITING AND EDITING

PWP 230

Students will be introduced to current practices in and theories behind what makes a good professional writer/editor, attending to context, purpose, and the needs of various audiences.

Class Schedule

WRITING ABOUT FILM AND MEDIA

PWP 272

This course will teach students to conceptualize, structure, and produce analytical writing in multiple forms within digital contexts. Since such contexts are often multi-modal--layered with visual images and sound--instruction will include the analysis and appropriation of the visual and auditory in critical writing.

Class Schedule

THE GRAMMAR OF STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH

PWP 310

This is a course in the grammar of relatively formal and planned written English. We will review a vocabulary for talking about the structural choices that are available to writers of English, and use this vocabulary to practice analyzing and constructing sentences and parts of sentences. The course is meant primarily for people whose professional plans include writing or editing.

Class Schedule

WRITING FOR THE WEB

PWP 332

Writing for the Web is designed to survey the many forms of online writing, focusing on community contributions, blogs, Web pages, Wikis and writing for the Web in students' particular academic disciplines. Students will examine each of these forms' conventions, create and contribute to such texts, and reflect upon the cultural significance of those forms.

Class Schedule

VISUAL STORYTELLING

PWP 356

This course is a theoretical and practical study of story-based visual media and how audiences understand what they see. It introduces principles of narrative and traces how these have changed (or not changed) through the evolution of both the media we consume and the nature of our media consumption. Primary materials include comics, tv, film, and video games.

Class Schedule

TOPICS IN PROFESSIONAL WRITING

PWP 366

Variable topics course that will focus on particular subsets of professional writing, editing, or rhetorical analysis relevant to these fields. Topics might include discourse analysis, argumentation, technical editing, content strategy, translation studies, or writing and editing for specific fields (e.g. science, medicine, environmental studies, etc.).

Class Schedule

WRITING IN THE SCIENCES

PWP 371

Instruction on the nature of writing in the sciences, including features of scientific genres and strategies for producing effective texts.

Class Schedule

TECHNICAL AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING

PWP 372

Students will learn a rhetorical approach to producing common technical and professional writing genres, such as memos, reports, technical descriptions, and instructions. This course addresses practical skills of professional and technical style, as well as ethics, data visualization, and user experience in international contexts.

Class Schedule

PUBLICATION DEVELOPMENT

PWP 430

The course will survey the function of the editor in planning and developing a major publication. The course examines different editorial roles, gives an overview of publishing processes, and focuses on acquiring texts, developing the author-editor relationship, organizing and restructuring texts, checking facts, and developing production specifications.

Class Schedule

INTERNSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL WRITING/EDITING

PWP 493

Offered on a satisfactory/no credit basis only. Professional experience, as available, for suitably prepared students wishing to make careers in professional writing and/or editing. Repeatable for a maximum of six credits in degree.

Class Schedule

INDEPENDENT STUDY

PWP 498

Study of a selected topic or topics under the direction of a faculty member. Repeatable.