Return to Communication | Courses Index
Creative Writing courses use a new prefix—CRWR—beginning in Fall 2017. See the CRWR course page for details.
[1] Courses in Writing (WRTG)
1310 INTRODUCTION TO COLLEGE WRITING Part of the lower-division UCA Core (general education) program and required of all students during the first semester they are eligible to enroll. This course introduces students to the writing process, focusing on audience, invention, and arrangement, and will be conducted as a workshop. Prerequisite: ACT English score of 19 or higher or prerequisite/corequisite completion of UNIV 1300 with a grade of C or higher. [ACTS: ENGL1013]
1320 ACADEMIC WRITING AND RESEARCH Part of the lower-division UCA Core (general education) program and required of all students during the first semester they are eligible to enroll. The course introduces students to academic argument based on substantiating, evaluating, and proposing claims. Research strategies are central to the course, which will be conducted as a workshop. Prerequisite. WRTG 1310 with a grade of C or higher. [ACTS: ENGL1023]
1374 FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR IN DIVERSITY IN CREATIVE WORKS The FYS in Diversity in Creative Works provides students with a small-classroom environment designed to promote community, develop skills necessary for success, and reinforce the importance of written communication. Topics will vary depending on instructor.
2325 INTRODUCTION TO RHETORIC This course acquaints students with basic rhetorical knowledge demanded by their academic growth in rhetoric, technical/professional writing, and composition studies. It will introduce students to three key areas of rhetoric: (a) a brief historical account of rhetoric, (2) basic concepts of classical rhetoric, and (3) basic forms of rhetorical analysis. In addition to class discussions and lectures, students will be tested and write critiques of rhetorical discourse. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
2330 INTRODUCTION TO WRITING STUDIES Introduction to Writing Studies provides a survey of the history, key concepts, and practices of the field. These include social history of writing as a technology; theories on writing and identity, ideology, and politics; writing as a mode of expression, cognition, and memory; and writing as recognizable form and genre. Students will complete a variety of reflective, analytical, and practical writing projects over the course of the semester. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
3305 WRITING AS INFORMATION DESIGN Upper-division workshop course for writing majors and minors and students in other programs. Focuses on academic and professional forms of writing. Student will use advanced strategies for print and electronic writing and examine how to shape the composition process for specific writing tasks and purposes. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
3306 INFORMATION DESIGN II: USABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY An advanced course in rhetorical approaches to writing for digital media. Students create multimodal digital texts and leave the course with portfolio items. The course takes students through the writing process from proposal development through the recursive global and local drafting and revision stages to the final reflective piece. Required for the Writing major and minor, Professional Writing track. Elective in the Writing major and the minor, General Writing track. Prerequisite: WRTG 3305.
3307 INTRODUCTION TO EDITING Introduces fundamentals of comprehensive editing and hones basic copyediting skills. Students learn to work with writers as comprehensive editors from the concept stage of the writing process through analysis of audience and purpose, focus, organization, development, and more, finally moving to basic copyediting at the sentence level. One of a group of five courses from which students choose three for the Writing major, Professional Writing track. Elective in the Writing major and minor, General Writing track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Professional Writing minor. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320 and at least junior standing.
3310 TECHNICAL WRITING A workshop course in professional and technical writing. Students work on several writing projects, both in groups and as individuals. Some sections will use writing internships with state agencies and businesses to give students the opportunity to write in the workplace and examine the issues of professional communication. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320 and at least junior standing. [UD UCA Core: C]
3315 CENTER FOR WRITING AND COMMUNICATION PRACTICUM Training course for tutoring in the UCA Center for Writing and Communication. This course is an elective in the TESOL minor. Exposure to rhetorical and linguistic concepts that enhance the tutoring of writing and communication. Prerequisites: WRTG 1320, COMM 1300, and consent of the CWC director. [UD UCA Core: C]
3340 WRITING ACQUISITION: THEORY AND PRACTICE Designed for the mid-level teacher education candidate, this course introduces basic theories behind the teaching of writing and addresses the literacy benchmarks established for mid-level grades. Students will learn strategies for teaching the writing process. Prerequisite: 1320.
3390 DISCOURSE ANALYSIS An elective for Writing majors and minors, and Linguistics majors (Track 4) and minors. Students will examine texts of several types to analyze how a text means and why it means as it does. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies will be used in written analyses of texts of the student’s choosing. Discussion, workshop. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320. [UD UCA Core: I, R]
4V80 DIRECTED STUDY IN WRITING (Variable credit: 1-3 credit hours) Provides opportunities for advanced study of specific topics in writing. It is designed for students who have completed basic and intermediate courses and who want to study specific topics that are not offered in the curriculum. Directed Study is especially useful to students who plan to go on to graduate study and to students seeking professional careers in writing. Prerequisite: WRTG 1310 and 1320.
4305 COMPOSITION THEORY AND PEDAGOGY An upper-division elective for writing majors and minors and students interested in teaching writing. This course examines composition theory and pedagogy through both readings and direct observation of composition classrooms. The first half of the course concentrates on the history of contemporary composition theory and the key issues fundamental to the development of the disciplines. The second half of the course concentrates on how these theories are applied in today’s composition classroom. Students will analyze the composition teaching they observe and relate it to theories discussed. Lecture, discussion. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
4306 WRITING FOR DIGITAL MEDIA III: CLIENTS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT Building on the theoretical and practical work undertaken in Writing for Digital Media II, students work with an organization in the community to develop one or more substantial multimodal digital texts for that organization. Students leave the course with portfolio items and connections to writers in the community. One of a group of five courses from which students choose three for the Writing major, Professional Writing track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Professional Writing minor. Elective in the Writing major and minor, General Writing track. Prerequisite: WRTG 3306 or permission from instructor.
4307 PRACTICAL RHETORIC: THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WRITING IN THE WORKPLACE Upper-division course examining practical applications of rhetoric and writing in the professions and the workplace. Students will research rhetoric and writing in an academic, non-academic, and non-profit organization, analyze the use of techne and phronesis as they apply in one of those organizations, and conduct interviews with organization personnel regarding their professional writing practices. Required for the Writing major, Professional Writing track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Professional Writing minor. Elective in the Writing major and minor, General Writing track. Prerequisite: WRTG 2325 or permission of the instructor.
4308 WRITING FOR CHANGE: ADVOCACY WRITING Students research political, environmental, socioeconomic, and/or historical conditions of a particular issue/event. Through both primary and secondary research, students produce writing to promote action from their target audience. Advocacy writing through service learning may play a pivotal role in this course. Students gain greater understanding of national issues and how writing can evoke change within the community, private business, nonprofit organizations, and local and national government. Required for the Writing major. Professional Writing track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Professional Writing minor. Elective in the Writing major and minor, General Writing track. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320 and at least junior standing or permission of the instructor. [UD UCA Core: Z]
4309 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLISHING Fundamentals of publishing writing for print and digital media. Focus on contrast between designing and delivering information for print versus digital media. Considers publishing variables such as color, graphics, preparation, file formats and document design. One of a group of five courses from which students choose three for the Writing major, Professional Writing track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Professional Writing minor. Elective in the Writing major and minor, General Writing track. Prerequisite: WRTG 3305.
4320 INTERCULTURAL RHETORIC AND WRITING Elective for writing majors and minors and other students interested in persuasion. Provides students with an understanding of the impact of rhetorical traditions on written and oral communications in non-Western cultures. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320. [UD UCA Core: D]
4360 RESEARCH METHODS IN WRITING STUDIES Required upper-division seminar for Writing Studies majors and minors. Focuses on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches to research in Writing Studies. Student will examine various approaches to research, consider ethical implications, and create original research plans. Prerequisite: WRTG 2330 and Junior standing.
4370 EXEMPLARY STUDIES SENIOR THESIS This course satisfies a requirement for graduation from the Exemplary Studies Undergraduate Scholars Program and for graduation with honors from the major department. The student will enroll in the course in order to prepare for submission, no later than the last day of instruction for the semester in which the student will graduate, an honors thesis (a research paper, project, performance, or presentation) of twenty to thirty pages or the performance equivalent demonstrating original, reasoned research or creative work. Discussion, writing, and group work. Prerequisite: Acceptance in major department’s Exemplary Studies Program.
4381 SPECIAL TOPICS IN WRITING An elective for majors and minors in Writing. In-depth investigation of a significant figure, group, historical period, genre, or issue in rhetoric or writing. Content varies. Course may be repeated for credit. Offered Lecture, discussion, research, writing. Prerequisite: senior status and writing major or minor.
4V85 INTERNSHIP IN WRITING (Variable credit: 1-4 credit hours.) Emphasizes professional writing experience from work sites either inside or outside the university. Interns are supervised by department faculty and work site manager. May be repeated for credit with a different internship project if recommended by the internship coordinator and approved by the department chair. Prerequisites: WRTG 1320, at least one 3000-level writing course, and consent of department chair.