Writing, Speaking and Argument Program

Tag: Publishing

  • WRTG 262/BIOL 274W

    WRTG 262/BIOL 274W

    Katherine Schaefer

    M/W 4:50-6:05

    4 credits

    Prerequisite: Successful Completion of the Primary Writing Requirement

    Why take this course?

    • You want to better understand the expectations of your audiences, particularly in the natural, social, and health sciences
    • You want to develop strategies to better meet those expectations
    • You are interested in attending graduate school or joining the health professions

    Key skills and experiences

    • The ability to identify key patterns and stylistic choices in a text
    • The ability to understand what communities value through analysis of how their texts are constructed
    • You will interview experts in your field
    • You will analyze texts to explore the “why” behind the words

    Full course description


    Drawing on the concepts of discourse community and rhetorical genre analysis (e.g., Bazerman, Berkenhotter & Huckin, Swales), this course investigates ways of understanding the choices writers make when communicating about the natural, social, or applied sciences, with the goal of better understanding how to read and write as an insider in your chosen discipline. You will develop a technical vocabulary and set of skills that allow you to describe recurring patterns and writer choices within those patterns. Using these tools, and talking to experts in your chosen discipline(s), you will investigate disciplinary and interdisciplinary boundaries, how writers convey meaning in different situations, and why they make the writing choices they do. Through a final research project of your choice, you will practice using what you have learned to communicate the results of your own research. This course is especially suitable for dual-major students, or those heading to graduate or health professions schools.

  • WRTG 252/ENGL 136

    WRTG 252/ENGL 136

    Dustin Hannum

    M/W 11:50-1:05

    4 credits

    Why take this course?

    • You want to learn more about how the intricacies grammar, usage, and style affect meaning and audience understanding.
    • You want to be able to implement that understanding to improve your own writing.
    • You want to put that understanding to use in a professional setting, including publishing, corporate communications, and collaborative authorship in STEM fields.

    Key skills you’ll gain

    • Learn the principles of copyediting and put these principles into practice in a number of contexts.
    • Improve knowledge of grammar, usage, and style.
    • Rethink and better understand the relationship between correctness and style, and develop the judgment to know which to prioritize in specific situations.
    • Complete a real-world copyediting project for publication.

    Full Course Description

    While the term “copyediting” may be associated with journalism or literary fiction, in fact it is a vital component of the publication of almost any textual materials—from scholarly and popular publishing in arts and sciences to corporate and technical communications. So what do copyeditors do? Is copyediting simply about enforcing rules of correctness? When is it okay to break those rules, or to allow others to do so, and what guides such decisions? How do copyeditors understand and negotiate the relationships and interests of readers, writers, and the publications they work for? How has the information age—including the advent of AI—changed the way copyeditors think about and approach textual editing? In this class we will address both the principles and practices of copyediting. Students will learn the principles that guide copyeditors, and then put these principles into use in a workshop setting, practicing copyediting in a variety of contexts, including a real-world project for external stakeholders.