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MA Professional Writing and Editing Track

The following specific degree requirements are in addition to the general degree requirements that apply to all graduate programs in the Department of English & Comparative Literature.

Specific Requirements:

Foreign Language: Students in the Professional Writing and Editing track not wishing to continue into the PhD program can satisfy the requirement for a foreign language through the Computer Applications course.

Internship: The student must arrange a one- or two-quarter project with at least 120 total hours of work, to be supervised by a professional writer or editor and approved by the faculty advisor. The internship culminates with a report that is approved by a committee of two faculty members chosen by the student.

Critical Paper: Optional. Professional Writing and Editing students may elect to complete a critical paper under the supervision of a faculty member. Typically, students would rewrite a seminar paper for publication or conference presentation.

Course Work:

• Introduction to Graduate Study (2 hours)
• Research in Professional Writing and Editing (4 hours)
• Editing Principles and Practices (4 hours)
• Online Documentation (4 hours)
• Principles and Practices of Desktop Publishing for Print (4 hours)
• Principles and Practices of Desktop Publishing for Web (4 hours)
• One of the following:
• Rhetoric (4 hours)
• Professional Writing Theory (4 hours)
• Two of the following:
• Science and Medical Writing (4 hours)
• Writing Manuals and Instructions (4 hours)
• Promotional Writing (4 hours)
• Reports and Proposals (4 hours)
• Free electives, as approved by advisor (12 hours)
• Internship (4 hours)
• Critical Paper or Extended Project (2 hours) - Optional
• MA Capstone Course (4 hours)

In place of a traditional MA Exam, students take a specialized capstone course. The course requires the application of the skills, principles, and knowledge gained from the graduate courses to a field project.