College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Academics > Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse > Undergraduate > Professional Writing (Minor)

Professional Writing (Minor)

The Minor in Professional Writing, offered by the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, & Discourse (WRD), is a 5-course minor available to any undergraduate student in the university. The department understands the term professional writing to refer broadly to the kinds of literate activities taken up by individuals whose work is creative, intellectually challenging, and ethically grounded. Core courses in the program are designed to prepare students as effective writers for any context in which writing is a key competency. Because nearly all professional writing today takes place in digital environments, digital writing—the combination of alphabetic text with other modes, such as sound and image—is central to the program core and an element of many electives.

The breadth of choices within the Minor in Professional Writing makes it an excellent complement to any major and a fine choice for students pursuing graduate school in any discipline, including law. The Professional Writing Minor allows a wide range of choices: you may take courses in which your own writing—in various genres and contexts—is the focus, or you may study theories of language, rhetoric (how to make effective choices as writers), and discourse (the way writing structures human activity) to develop an understanding of the role of the individual writer within communities of writers.

The program comprises two required core courses and twelve hours of electives, which may be chosen from among all of the department's undergraduate offerings numbered 203-205 and 207-399.

Course Requirements​

Course Title Quarter Hours
WRD 201DIGITAL WRITING4
WRD 206PROFESSIONAL WRITING4
Select 12 additional credit hours from WRD courses 203-205, 207-226, 230-399:12
WRD 203
STYLE FOR WRITERS
WRD 202X
PROFESSIONAL WRITING FOR BUSINESS (FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS)
WRD 204
TECHNICAL WRITING
WRD 205
HISTORY OF LITERACIES AND WRITING
WRD 207
INTRODUCTION TO WRITING AND RHETORIC
WRD 208
INTRODUCTION TO REASONED DISCOURSE
WRD 209
GENRE AND DISCOURSE
WRD 210
CULTURAL RHETORICS
WRD 220
HOW LANGUAGE WORKS
WRD 231
GOOGLING GOD: RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN DIGITAL CULTURE
WRD 232
THE LANGUAGE OF DISABILITY
WRD 240
ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING
WRD 241
THE ESSAY FROM PRINT TO NEW MEDIA
WRD 242
WRITING WITH AI
WRD 260
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
WRD 261
DIGITAL CULTURE
WRD 262
THE RHETORIC OF EVERYDAY TEXTS
WRD 263
READING BETWEEN THE GROOVES: THE RHETORICAL POWER OF POPULAR MUSIC
WRD 264
LANGUAGE, SELF AND SOCIETY
WRD 265
SOCIAL MOVEMENT, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND AMERICAN IDENTITIES
WRD 266
LEVELING UP: THE SOCIAL RHETORIC OF VIDEO GAMES
WRD 270
ACADEMIC READING FOR INTERNATIONAL/MULTILINGUAL STUDENTS
WRD 280
WRITING IN THE SCIENCES
WRD 281
WRITING CENSORSHIP
WRD 282
ETHICS OF PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING
WRD 283
ENVIRONMENTAL WRITING
WRD 284
SPORTS WRITING IN AMERICA: MYTHS, MEMORIES, HEROES AND VILLAINS
WRD 285
TRUTH IN DISGUISE: THE RHETORIC OF SATIRE
WRD 286
WRITING WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
WRD 287
THE COMIC BOOK AS VISUAL ARGUMENT
WRD 288
RHETORIC AND POPULAR CULTURE
WRD 289
WRITING ABOUT RIGHTS
WRD 290
WRITER'S TOOLS WORKSHOP
WRD 291
THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH POSTER
WRD 300
COMPOSITION AND STYLE
WRD 301
WORKPLACE WRITING: THEORY AND PRACTICE
WRD 306
RHETORICAL TRADITIONS
WRD 309
TOPICS IN WRITING, RHETORIC AND DISCOURSE
WRD 320
TOPICS IN PROFESSIONAL WRITING
WRD 321
WRITING IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION
WRD 322
WRITING AND METADATA
WRD 323
EDITING
WRD 324
WRITING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
WRD 325
RHETORIC IN CRISIS CONTEXTS
WRD 326
GRANT AND PROPOSAL WRITING
WRD 327
CONTENT WRITING
WRD 330
LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS
WRD 340
WRITING AND REVISING
WRD 345
GHOSTWRITING
WRD 360
TOPICS IN RHETORIC
WRD 361
TOPICS IN ALTERNATIVE RHETORICS
WRD 362
SEMIOTICS
WRD 363
VISUAL RHETORIC
WRD 364
CHICAGO WOMEN RHETORS
WRD 365
MIGRATION & STORYTELLING
WRD 368
GLOBAL ENGLISHES
WRD 371
MENTORING YOUTH IN COMMUNITY WRITING GROUPS
WRD 372
DIGITAL STORYTELLING
WRD 376
FIELDWORK IN ARTS WRITING
WRD 377
WRITING AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
WRD 378
TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN CHICAGO
WRD 390
RHETORIC AND PUBLIC WRITING
WRD 395
WRITING CENTER THEORY & PEDAGOGY
WRD 396
WRITING FELLOWS THEORY AND PRACTICE
WRD 398
INTERNSHIP
WRD 399
INDEPENDENT STUDY

Students majoring in Writing and Rhetoric (BA) are restricted from earning this minor.

Professional Writing Minor Online

The required courses in the Professional Writing minor and many WRD electives are also offered online. Interested students may therefore complete the Professional Writing minor entirely online.​

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