The Professional Writing MA has a breadth of course offerings that provide students with the foundation for solving communication issues in the workplace. Students take practical classes in Management Writing, Writing in Digital Spaces, and Writing in the Disciplines. Courses in rhetorical theory, such as Classical and Modern Rhetoric and Applied Linguistics, provide a theoretical foundation for the practices in all of the course work. Students also learn a variety of research methods aside from traditional library research in the Writing Research Methods class that are applicable to a wide range of problem solving. There is also flexibility to pursue depth if students wish to focus on teaching with additional courses in Professional Writing Pedagogy, Online Writing Instruction, or Teaching with Technology, or on Digital Media production with courses such as Cybercultures and Digital Writing, Writing with Film, New Media Theories and Practices I and II.

Program Highlights

What makes Professional Writing at ODU unique?

Opportunity for students to receive credit for a graduate level writing-based internship

Students have opportunities to engage in a wide variety of communication technologies and practices

Opportunity to present at national conferences, such as SIGDOC, CCCC, ATTW, and CPTSC

Students are encouraged to develop a professional portfolio

Evening and video streaming courses to accommodate work schedules