Professional Writing Major

DIRECTOR: K. LEWIS (HUA)

CORE FACULTY: K. Fontenot (HUA), S. Lessing (HUA), R. Madan (HUA), S. Riddick (HUA), Y. Telliel (HUA)

AFFILIATED FACULTY: E.Boucher-Yip (HUA), A. Danielski (HUA), B. Faber (BME)

ADJUNCT INSTRUCTORS: S. Duguay, S. Runstrom

The goal of the Professional Writing program is to prepare professionals to communicate scientific or technical content to a variety of specialized and non-specialized audiences in useful and accessible ways.

Professional Writing is an interdisciplinary major or double major that combines work in written, oral, visual, and data- based communication with a strong concentration in a scientific or technical field. Students receive individual attention from academic advisors as they design a plan of study that fulfills the program’s distribution requirements and best suits their intellectual interests and career aspirations. Majors can select courses and projects in a variety of areas, such as:

• Science writing, medical writing, health communication
• Technical writing, user documentation, online documentation
• Digital media, visual communication, information design
• Writing in the public interest, writing for non-profits
• Bilingual professional communication, translation

The Professional Writing major provides excellent preparation for students interested in careers in technical and scientific communication, writing and editing, web authoring, information design, public relations, medical writing, translation, and intercultural communication. It prepares students for graduate work. Finally, it prepares professionals in scientific or technical fields to be lead communicators in their careers.

MQP advisors will help students design projects that focus on the student’s specific area of interest.