The department offers students first-year composition, a variety of specialized courses to help improve writing skills, a bachelor’s in professional and technical writing, and a master’s degree in professional and technical writing.

The Department of Rhetoric and Writing strongly advises that, as much as possible, majors take required courses in the following sequence immediately after declaring the major:

RHET 3322 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing

RHET 3301 Editing for Usage, Style, and Clarity

Note that RHET 3315 Persuasive Writing, RHET 3317 Nonfiction, and RHET 3326 Technical Writing are prerequisites for most 4000-level courses, so they should be taken as soon as possible after the introductory courses. RHET 4305 Document Design applies to all types of professional writing and should also be taken early in the major.

Major (36 hours)

College and/or Program Foundation Courses (21 hours)

RHET 3322 Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing

RHET 3301 Editing for Usage, Style and Clarity

RHET 3315 Persuasive Writing

RHET 3326 Technical Writing

RHET 3317 Nonfiction

RHET 4305 Document Design

RHET 4301 Theories of Rhetoric and Writing

RHET 4190 Colloquium in Rhetoric and Writing