Technical Communication and Professional Writing BA

This class begins with students self-assessing their digital skills in several areas, including design for print and digital documents; web tools; visual tools; and project management tools. Students work with the instructor to create a learning contract with the goal of acquiring tools in a certain number of these areas. In order to acquire knowledge of these tools, students complete online tutorials. Only offered S/N.

Full course description for Digital Tools for Writing and Communication

Students learn about the skill set required to succeed professionally and how they might acquire these skills through coursework. They also learn about career opportunities for professional writers and technical communicators through presentations by guest speakers and readings. Students also begin to develop an online portfolio.

Full course description for Professional and Technical Writing Careers

A student completing this course understands the process of finding, synthesizing, evaluating, and documenting sufficient and reliable information appropriate to a variety of purposes including upper division coursework, senior capstone papers or professional writing, and communication tasks. Students also explore a number of the contemporary issues surrounding information in society, have opportunities to use and/or visit primary resource collections and learn a variety of research techniques. Specific sections of the course will structure assignments around a course theme identified in the class schedule. Prior themes have included Civil Rights, Holocaust and Genocide, Crime and Punishment, Food, Immigration, and Health Care. Both themed and non-themed sections are offered every semester as are online and in-class sections.

Full course description for Searching for Information

This is a mandatory workshop to help undergraduates prepare for academic internships (350I) in the following areas: ARTS; COMM; INFS; MDST; MUSC; RDNG; SCRW; THEA; WRlT. You cannot be registered for an academic internship unless you are registered in this workshop.

Full course description for SCWA Internship Workshop

Content strategy encompasses the creation, management, testing, and governance of content, whether that be a website, printed document, social media, or other forms of information. In this class students will gain a comprehensive understanding of content for contemporary information-intensive organizations as well as hands-on skills to create effective, user-friendly, and culturally sensitive content.

Full course description for Content Strategy

This course covers editing principles and techniques. Topics include how readers use and comprehend texts, the editor's role in the publication process, the writer/editor relationship, and editing for organization, format, style, grammar, punctuation, usage, consistency and accuracy. Students edit a variety of texts, including technical documents and newsletter articles in print and online.

Full course description for Editing

Methods and techniques of document and information design, including principles of graphic design, audience analysis, portfolio development, and use of professional software tools.

Full course description for Document and Information Design I

This course introduces students to the principles, processes, and techniques of front-end Web development. Students gain solid knowledge and practical skills in HTML, CSS, website genres, design patterns, Web writing, and usability. Students will analyze and build websites. Students must already possess basic satisfactory digital literacy, such as managing files and folders, and adding and removing programs.

Full course description for Writing and Designing for the Web I

This class provides a bridge between academic study and professional careers in writing or technical communication. Students assess and reflect on their academic study; research and write a non-fiction essay, produce a capstone project, and complete a writer's portfolio. Projects may focus on a wide range of topics, including writing-related careers.

Full course description for Writing and Technical Communication Capstone

In this course, students create a variety of documents, including technical memos, manuals, proposals and reports. Emphasis is placed on document design, effective organization and readability. This course especially benefits managers or technical employees who need to communicate technical information to business or general audiences.

Full course description for Technical Writing

This course focuses on usability and user experience for technical and information products. Students learn concepts, principles, processes, and methods of usability and user experience. Students work in teams and conduct a usability study systematically to improve an information product. Topics also include usability in business and organizational settings, usability workflow and governance. Students will also interact with user experience professionals.

Full course description for Usability and User Experience

This course focuses on the multidisciplinary field of environmental communication and helps students understand the ways in which environmental issues and conflicts develop, the values underlying the ideologies on these issues, the ways in which these values are presented, and the variety of scientific and technical communication genres involved in understanding environmental communication messages. Significant focus is given to issues of race and racism.

Full course description for Environmental Communication

This course offers a rhetorically-based, process-oriented approach to strategic, effective writing of proposals and grants for individuals and organizations. The course is designed primarily for writers, artists and technical communicators who expect to find themselves, as freelancers or as employees, seeking funding for a variety of programs and projects in academic, nonprofit or corporate situations. This course provides a systematic process for analyzing audiences, writing needs statements and finding sponsors all within an electronic context.

Full course description for Writing Proposals and Grants

This course focuses on the theory and practice of writing across genres. The course examines what genre is and why its an important concept for those who seek flexibility and versatility as writers. Students create a complex project of some length that incorporates a variety of genres to communicate a message. In addition, the course focuses on prose style, including practice in imitation, use of rhetorical devices, sentence and paragraph variety, and many other topics. Additional assignments include a multimedia project.

Full course description for Advanced Writing

In this course, students hone and refine editing skills on a variety of levels. Topics include electronic editing, using electronic resources, dynamics of the editor-writer relationship, editing information graphics, advanced copyediting and developmental editing. Class exercises cover grammar, punctuation, and usage issues. Each student works with a writer to edit and develop an original text.

Full course description for Advanced Editing

This course is designed to provide an introduction to Learner Experience Design, which brings together principles of design and learning to create effective interactive training and learning experiences. The course draws on fields such as instructional design, user experience design (UXD), and learning and development. Students learn concepts and techniques to prepare them to analyze learners and learning situations and to choose appropriate strategies in order to create interactive, engaging, and effective learning experiences

Full course description for Foundations of Learner Experience Design

This course presents topics of interest to students in the undergraduate and graduate Technical Communication and Professional Writing programs. Topics vary with each offering of this course. Check the class schedule for details about topics and course prerequisites. This course may be taken any number of times for credit as long as the topic is different.

Full course description for Advanced Topics

This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to effectively promote and advocate for events, organizations, or issues using a variety of social media and multi-media. Students will combine online writing (or blogging) with other forms of social networking and media (wikis, YouTube, Facebook, and/or Twitter) to build a comprehensive online initiative promoting a timely and relevant issue or event either of their choosing or provided by the instructor. Students will increase their knowledge of online rhetoric, audience research, planning for media events, script or treatment writing, and evaluation of communication programs.

Full course description for Communicating with New Media

Digital storytelling is a growing area of multimodal communication that is part of a larger movement to empower communities and voices through the use of digital tools and platforms. Digital stories are short videos that combine narration, images (still and moving), sound effects, and music to tell a compelling story. Students will create two digital stories: a personal story and a story that promotes a cause or organization (e.g., a Kickstarter-style video). The process will include multiple rough cuts and a final version of each video, as well as extensive instructor and peer feedback.

Full course description for Digital Storytelling

This course considers books, like universities and libraries, part of "the knowledge industry," and emphasizes the gatekeepers who decide matters of a book's authorship, publishing, and readership. By tracking the evolution of the book pre-Gutenberg to the current e-book environment, we will explore the evolving publishing industry in society. In our exploration of the field of publishing, we will combine readings and discussion with field experiences. You will have the opportunity to meet with and ask questions of guest speakers who work in various aspects of the publishing industry.

Full course description for The Craft and Commerce of Book Publishing

In this course, students analyze principles and methods of news gathering and reporting for web, broadcast and print news media. They then prepare a weekly schedule of reporting assignments, similar to those that might be completed by a newsroom intern. Students also complete several major assignments employing various news writing styles for digital, broadcast and print media.

Full course description for Writing the News in a Digital World

This course examines writing as a full-or part-time business. Students learn to market their writing to appropriate publications, create effective book proposals, understand the conventions of the publishing industry and edit their own work.

Full course description for Writing for Publication and Profit

This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to effectively promote and advocate for events, organizations, or issues using a variety of social media and multi-media. Students will combine online writing (or blogging) with other forms of social networking and media (wikis, YouTube, Facebook, and/or Twitter) to build a comprehensive online initiative promoting a timely and relevant issue or event either of their choosing or provided by the instructor. Students will increase their knowledge of online rhetoric, audience research, planning for media events, script or treatment writing, and evaluation of communication programs.

Full course description for Communicating with New Media

This course examines writing as a full-or part-time business. Students learn to market their writing to appropriate publications, create effective book proposals, understand the conventions of the publishing industry and edit their own work.

Full course description for Writing for Publication and Profit

This course offers a rhetorically-based, process-oriented approach to strategic, effective writing of proposals and grants for individuals and organizations. The course is designed primarily for writers, artists and technical communicators who expect to find themselves, as freelancers or as employees, seeking funding for a variety of programs and projects in academic, nonprofit or corporate situations. This course provides a systematic process for analyzing audiences, writing needs statements and finding sponsors all within an electronic context.

Full course description for Writing Proposals and Grants

This course focuses on the theory and practice of writing across genres. The course examines what genre is and why its an important concept for those who seek flexibility and versatility as writers. Students create a complex project of some length that incorporates a variety of genres to communicate a message. In addition, the course focuses on prose style, including practice in imitation, use of rhetorical devices, sentence and paragraph variety, and many other topics. Additional assignments include a multimedia project.

Full course description for Advanced Writing

This course explores questions such as, How does place shape a writer's voice? How do writers see nature in urban environments? Students use memory, imagination, research, experience and analysis to write about places important to them. Students work toward achieving advanced skills in creative nonfiction, an individual written voice, and a thoughtful approach to place and environment. Prerequisites: a 300-level Writing course or instructor's consent.

Full course description for Writing about Place

In this course, students hone and refine editing skills on a variety of levels. Topics include electronic editing, using electronic resources, dynamics of the editor-writer relationship, editing information graphics, advanced copyediting and developmental editing. Class exercises cover grammar, punctuation, and usage issues. Each student works with a writer to edit and develop an original text.

Full course description for Advanced Editing

This independent study examines the principles and techniques of writing substantial professional or creative projects such as longer business documents, articles, grant applications, proposals, and works of fiction or creative non-fiction. Through consultations with the instructor, students determine their specific organizational or stylistic problems. Evaluation is based on written projects. Students should have in mind a writing project of either one long piece or several short ones on related topics. Course may be repeated for credit.

Full course description for Writing Major Projects

This course presents topics of interest to students in the undergraduate and graduate Technical Communication and Professional Writing programs. Topics vary with each offering of this course. Check the class schedule for details about topics and course prerequisites. This course may be taken any number of times for credit as long as the topic is different.

Full course description for Advanced Topics

In advertising and marketing today copywriting is more important than ever. Effective copy needs to cut through the clutter whether for digital or traditional media. This course focuses on learning how to write compelling copy incorporating positioning, audience research, creative briefs, features and benefits, creation of an advertising premise (USP) and copy organization. It also covers content development, design basics, working relationships and digital and traditional advertising production terminology/best practices

Full course description for Advertising Copywriting, Design and Production

Digital storytelling is a growing area of multimodal communication that is part of a larger movement to empower communities and voices through the use of digital tools and platforms. Digital stories are short videos that combine narration, images (still and moving), sound effects, and music to tell a compelling story. Students will create two digital stories: a personal story and a story that promotes a cause or organization (e.g., a Kickstarter-style video). The process will include multiple rough cuts and a final version of each video, as well as extensive instructor and peer feedback.

Full course description for Digital Storytelling

This course considers books, like universities and libraries, part of "the knowledge industry," and emphasizes the gatekeepers who decide matters of a book's authorship, publishing, and readership. By tracking the evolution of the book pre-Gutenberg to the current e-book environment, we will explore the evolving publishing industry in society. In our exploration of the field of publishing, we will combine readings and discussion with field experiences. You will have the opportunity to meet with and ask questions of guest speakers who work in various aspects of the publishing industry.

Full course description for The Craft and Commerce of Book Publishing