The GMU Professional Writing programs view professional writing as a distinct field of practice: professional writers may have many different job titles, ranging from editor to technical writer, to information architect or project manager, but the core practices of the professional writer are rooted in an understanding of the rhetorical nature of communication and the development of composition, research, and problem-solving skills.
What is Professional Writing?
Anne Surma provides a comprehensive definition of professional writing that neatly sums up the Mason approach to understanding the field:
"The scope of professional writing embraces any written communication—other than that produced or circulated as art-text—disseminated or displayed in the public domain and having as one of its functions the communication of a specific intention or objective in relation to specific or general reader(s). It comprises those texts designed to affect readers directly or indirectly: to elicit response; to encourage or circumscribe action; to instruct; to persuade; to modify or extend information, knowledge, and perceptions; to affirm shared goals; and so on. Examples of professional writing would include, but not be limited to, academic writing; corporate, government, and organizational writing (internal and external documents, such as letters, reports, emails, proposals, tenders, forms, and manuals); representative texts, such as codes of ethics and service charters; corporate and government newsletters; and public notices and leaflets. Professional writing can be communicated or exchanged between individuals or groups of individuals representing themselves or writing on behalf of public or private organizations; or between organizations and their individual clients or their general publics."
PWR Programs at GMU
The English department at GMU offers three professional writing programs: a Master of Arts in Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR), a graduate certificate in Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR), and an undergraduate concentration in Nonfiction Writing and Rhetoric (NWR).
MA Concentration in Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR)
The MA concentration in professional writing and rhetoric is oriented to workplace
uses of language. In addition to training in pragmatic skills, the concentration
is characterized by a self-reflexive attention to workplaces as institutions and
sites for rhetorical action. Courses on research and theory in nonfiction writing
complement instruction in rhetoric, editing, technical communication, digital
publication, and ethnography to prepare students for roles as writers and
communicators in the private and public sectors. Instruction in research
methodologies melds archival research with the most current technological advances
to equip students with valuable research tools and strategies, while courses in
literature, media studies, folklore, and linguistics provide insight into language
and writing practices across a variety of contexts.
Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR)
Following the MA concentration in professional writing and rhetoric, the certificate
is centered on workplace uses of language. Students who do not seek a full master's
degree may be interested in a Certificate in Professional Writing and Rhetoric. The
certificate program enables a student to attend graduate courses associated with
writing and rhetoric without requiring those in the study of literature or literary
research or the writing of a thesis. It is an eighteen hour program, a full and
unified course of study in itself.
BA Concentration in Nonfiction Writing and Rhetoric (NWR)
This concentration is designed for students who want to write publishable
nonfiction, write in workplace settings, or study writing and technology.
Students may choose from several courses that provide instruction and
guided practice in diverse types of nonfiction, including technical writing,
web writing, ethnography, and various forms of essay writing. Students in this
concentration will be encouraged to pursue opportunities for internship credit
in writing professions.
PWR Contacts
- Internship Coordinator: Erica Jacobs, ejacob1@gmu.edu
- Director, BA concentration in NWR: Susan Lawrence, slawrenb@gmu.edu
- Director, MA in PWR: Byron Hawk, bhawk@gmu.edu
- PWR Website Editor: Douglas Eyman, deyman@gmu.edu