Writing Minor

The Writing Minor, a curriculum that rounds out virtually any major, accommodates students with diverse career goals and writing interests.  Students can choose six three-credit courses, including those about the history of the English language, theories about writing and peer tutoring of writing, professional and journalistic writing in digital media, and creative writing across four genres-fiction, poetry, scriptwriting, and creative non-fiction essay writing.  Students even may pursue studying select professional and creative genres at a more advanced level, or they may complete an internship in a corporate or professional work environment.  

Increasingly, the ability to write effectively is emphasized as an important and distinguishing characteristic of most work environments.  In the most recent Occupational Outlook Handbook Online (17 December 2015), competence in writing, combined with advanced ability to manage text production through digital media, is emphasized.  To develop such valuable digital literacies, for this minor, students also may select courses in digital media and communications.  The Occupational Outlook Handbook describes how those who are flexible and comfortable writing with diverse “electronic and digital tools should have an advantage in finding work” (“Job Prospects” par. 2).

Learning Outcomes for the Writing Minor

Upon successful completion of requirements for the Writing Minor, students will:

• Demonstrate writing and oral presentation skills necessary to achieve aims to inform, persuade, or entertain for a targeted audience in a specific genre.
• Engage in processes of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and when needed, presenting.
• Compose focused and organized written texts in clear, coherent, and correct style for specific genres.
• Demonstrate in written texts a facility with language and genres, including a mature vocabulary and effective choice for structures.
• Demonstrate both breadth and depth of mature investigative techniques across a variety of traditional and electronic bibliographic and research media, [and through interview processes.]
• Prepare written texts as manuscripts that adhere to professional or publication standards