Course Information
"Your major may get you hired, but your writing skills will get you promoted."
Prof. Rachael Bailey, professional writing instructor
General Education Courses
The Professional Writing Program offers a number of 400-level general education courses that each address a distinct area of writing: multimedia writing (419), business writing (420), technical writing (421), and medical writing (422). Each has a different focus, and you should choose the right course based on your advisor’s recommendations and your program’s plan of study. Online and summer sections of Business Writing and Technical Writing are also available.
Prerequisites
In order to enroll in ENGL 419, 420, 421, 422, students need to have fulfilled their written communication and information literacy requirements. We prefer that students fulfill those requirements through the four-credit ENGL 106 or its accelerated three-credit equivalent ENGL 108, which were developed with the specific needs of Purdue’s students in mind. While we recognize that AP, Bridge program, and dual enrollment courses have value, they do not include key curricular elements of ENGL 106 and ENGL 108, namely our focuses on information and technological literacy, group work, and research methods.
For this reason, we cannot approve requests to recognize ENGL 1XUWC alone as fulfilling this requirement. Nor can we waive these prerequisite for students who wish to take PW courses, even if they have earned credit for ENGL 1XUWC and/or similar courses. Students who transferred only ENGL 1XUWC could consider enrolling for an accelerated class like ENGL 108.
Accepted Prerequisites
In addition to ENGL 106 and 108, we accept SCLA 101, ENGL 304, or ENGL 380 as prerequisites for our Professional Writing courses.
We specifically recommend ENGL 304 or ENGL 380 for more advanced students since they both fulfill the written communication and information literacy requirements in the university core curriculum.
Courses within the Major
Students majoring, minoring, or otherwise interested in Professional Writing coursework take a variety of classes centered around technical writing, writing and publishing, digital design and production, medical writing, grant writing, games and writing, editing and publishing, and more. The program places a heavy emphasis on internships and other high-impact learning experiences.