Schedule of Courses

Please be aware that this schedule is subject to change.
Please refer to Programs of Study and Course Descriptions for concentration/support course listings and descriptions.

PRWR 6000: Issues and Research in Professional Writing
(Core class is for new students unless you are enrolled in the Graduate Certificate Program)

Fall 2007

• Mon 6000: Issues and Research (Barrier)
  

Fall 2008

• Mon 6000: Issues and Research in Professional Writing (Barrier)
  

Summer 2009 TBA

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Creative Writing Courses

Fall 2007

• Mon 7500/01: Advanced Fiction Writing (G. Johnson)
• Tues 6520: Creative Nonfiction Writing (Niemann)
• Wed 6470: Poetry Writing (Wilson)
• Thurs 6460: Fiction Writing (Staff)
• Tues *7900/02: Research for Writers (Elledge) Regardless of genre or discipline, all writing is a site of research where the writer encounters, evaluates, and engages with practical and theoretical obstacles. The writer's job, then, is to respond to the obstacles in a manner that best suits his/her vision of the work at hand and that will guarantee as much success with the project as possible. This course will investigate one important aspect of that process: creative research. For the purpose of this course, “creative research” includes traditional research procedures and methods (e.g., libraries, special collections, archives), as well as nontraditional methods, such as electronic archives, interviews, the imagination, visual texts, etc. Prerequisite: admission to the MAPW Program, or permission of the Graduate Program Director and the instructor. This course is most appropriate for students who've been enrolled in the Program for at least a year and are planning their capstone projects. Although perhaps most appropriate for students in Creative Writing or Applied Writing, any will find it applicable to their careers in writing.
• Wed *7500/02: Advanced Screen & TV Writ (Stepakoff)

Spring 2008

• Mon 6460: Fiction Writing (Grooms)
• Tues 7500: Advanced Creative Nonfiction (Niemann)
• Wed 6800: Careers in the Literary Arts (Wilson)
• Thurs 6490: Screen & TV Writing (Stepakoff)
• Mon 6480: Play Writing (Levy)
• Tues 6470: Poetry Writing (Elledge)

Summer 2008

• The Writers Workshops of Puerto Rico
  Please click here for more details.
• Tues PRWR7900/01 Writing the Biography (Walters)
  Hybrid class - half in the classroom, Tuesday nights and half online.
  

Fall 2008

• Mon 6100: Readings for Writers, The Best Seller (Robbins)
  What makes a book a bestseller? How do bestsellers influence the writing and reading of other books? What kinds of decision-making during the writing process might help make a book a bestseller—or at least position it effectively for a particular “market” (or niche) of readers at a given historical moment? To address these and related questions, students in this course will draw mainly on our reading of bestsellers from a range of genres and sub-genres, but we will also explore a few highly influential (and accessible) texts from critical theory, along with some recent analyses of the American literary marketplace as seen from very pragmatic perspectives (e.g., managing the economics of publishing, applying studies of popular culture to writerly decision-making). Each student’s major course project will be tied to a particular professional goal—whether writing a bestseller someday or learning to read them more critically.
• Mon 7500/01: Adv Fiction Writing (Grooms)
• Tues 6520: Creative Nonfiction Writing (Staff)
• Tues 6470: Poetry Writing (Wilson)
• Wed 6460/01: Fiction Writing (G. Johnson)
• Wed 6100/03: Readings for Writers, Religious Rhetoric (Harper)
  We will examine early Christian texts to gain an appreciation of 1) the role of rhetoric in the early Christian church and 2) the use of rhetoric to analyze non-literary texts. Some of the items that we will consider:  The gospels and epistles as rhetorical genres; audience, author, and context of early church documents (those within and outside the Bible); the use of particular figures of speech and other stylistic devices for certain contexts (not surprisingly, for instance, Paul uses athletic metaphors in his letters to the Corinthians, near where many of the Pan-Hellenic games were held); early church liturgy, architecture, and iconography as alternative forms of rhetoric; rhetorical choices made by the early councils, choices that determined the texts of the Bible; rhetorical and legal training among the early church writers; citation and reinterpretation of Judaic texts in the Gospels and Epistles.

Spring 2009

• Mon 6520: Creative Nonfiction Writing (Niemann)
• Tues 6470: Poetry Writing (Elledge)
• Wed 7500: Adv Fiction Writing, Novel Writing (Grooms)
• Thurs 6490: Screen & TV Writing (Stepakoff)
• Mon 6460/01: Fiction Writing, Writing for Young Adults (Levy)
• Tues 6800: Careers in Literary Arts (Wilson)
• Thurs 6460/02: Fiction Writing (Sumner)
  

Summer 2009 TBA

________________________________________________________________

Applied Writing Courses

Fall 2007

• Mon 6240: Technical Writing (Richards)
• Tues 6550 Document Design & Desktop Publishing (Richards)
• Tues 7900/02: Research for Writers ( Elledge) Regardless of genre or discipline, all writing is a site of research where the writer encounters, evaluates, and engages with practical and theoretical obstacles. The writer's job, then, is to respond to the obstacles in a manner that best suits his/her vision of the work at hand and that will guarantee as much success with the project as possible. This course will investigate one important aspect of that process: creative research. For the purpose of this course, “creative research” includes traditional research procedures and methods (e.g., libraries, special collections, archives), as well as nontraditional methods, such as electronic archives, interviews, the imagination, visual texts, etc. Prerequisite: admission to the MAPW Program, or permission of the Graduate Program Director and the instructor. This course is most appropriate for students who've been enrolled in the Program for at least a year and are planning their capstone projects. Although perhaps most appropriate for students in Creative Writing or Applied Writing, any will find it applicable to their careers in writing.
• Wed 6260: Managing Writing in Organizations (Giddens)
  This course is a prerequisite for PRWR 7550: Advanced Applied Writing, which will be offered Spring 2008
  

Spring 2008

• Wed 7550: Advanced Applied Writing (Giddens) Prerequisite is PRWR6260, Repeatable, Topic: Organizational writing for external audiences
  The spring 2008 offering of PRWR 7550 will focus on the writing that organizational communicators do to inform and persuade external audiences. The class provides in-depth study of writing for the mass media, for investors, for donors and volunteers, and for the community. Students will analyze and practice genres such as press releases, pitch letters, features, newsletters, annual reports, speeches, organizational Web sites and blogs. This course builds on the foundation in organizational writing provided in PRWR 6260: Managing Writing in Organizations. Assignments involve substantial service-learning projects to prepare students for careers as professional writers in corporate and nonprofit organizations. Students will collaborate with clients and classmates as they plan, draft, and finalize short, long, and electronic texts. Note on pre-requisites: Students who have taken PRWR 6260: Managing Writing in Organizations, PRWR 6250: Corporate Communications, OR PRWR 6290: Public Service Writing are eligible to take PRWR 7550. If you have not taken one of these courses and are interested in the class, please contact the instructor, Dr. Beth Giddens, before enrolling. You can e-mail Dr. Giddens at egiddens@kennesaw.edu or phone her at 770/423-6766.
• Thurs 6860: Intercultural Communications (Walters)
• Thurs 7900/02: Disability: Contexts and Rhetorics (AW credit)” Richards
  Students will analyze selected texts in Disability Studies. The course will help advanced writers better understand disabled authors as well as disabled audiences by studying texts closely in light of their situations and arguments.
  

Summer 2008

• Four Week Session I - May 29-June 25, 2008
  Online course: PRWR 6850 Web Content Development (Richards)
  

• Four Week Session II- June 30-July 23, 2008
  Online course: PRWR 6550 Document Design and Desktop Publishing     (Richards)

• Eight Week Session - May 29-July 23, 2008
  PRWR 7900 Writing the Biography (Walters)
  Hybrid class - half in the classroom, Tues nights and half online
  

Fall 2008

• Tues 6410: Feature Writing (Richards)
  This applied writing course will help you polish the skills you need to work successfully as a freelance or in-house writer in government or nonprofit institutions or in business and industry. In PRWR 6410, you will study the art nd practice of writing featurestories for nonprofit and corporate newsletters and for iche magazinesand newspapers at the local and regional levels and beyond.You will earn how to do marketing research to arrive at successful themes, how to pitch your work based on your findings, how to research stories, to interview, to refine your style, to edit your work, to write sidebars, and to create visual interest. You will explore examples of stellar feature writing and create a portfolio of work in a range of genres that will help you apply for jobs whose responsibilities or desired qualifications include feature or nonfiction writing. During the semester, you will select two of your projects to submit to publications of your choice.
• Wed 6260: Managing Writing in Organizations (Giddens)
• Thurs 6550: Document Design & Desktop Publishing (Walters)
• Thurs 7900: Public Policy Writing (Giddens)
  Designed for students in both the Master of Arts in Professional Writing and the Master in Public Administration programs, the class is an intensive writing course intended for students pursuing careers in government and other policy research organizations. This course focuses on the contexts, audiences, documents, and writing processes that policymakers, program officers, and professional writers manage in order to establish policy and to communicate it to stakeholders and to the general public. Assignments include individual and team projects on policy handbooks and guides, rule revisions, action memoranda, policy reports, and proposals.
  Course objectives: To introduce students to how government and other policy writers strategize, plan, and perform their work. To give students practice in planning and writing typical public policy documents. To develop students’ understanding of the ethical and legal issues relevant to public policy writing. To provide students with insight into the careers available in public policy writing. Prerequisite: Admission to either the MAPW or MPA program or permission of either graduate program director.
  

Spring 2009

• Mon 6440: Professional & Academic Editing (Dabundo)
• Tues 6240 Technical Writing (Richards)
• Wed 7900: Grant Writing (Giddens)
• Thurs 6860: Intercultural Communications in Contexts (Walters)
  

Summer 2009 TBA ________________________________________________________________

Composition and Rhetoric Courses

Fall 2007

• Mon 7900/01: “Evaluating Writing” (Robbins)
  The study of research on and practices for evaluating writing. Students will survey current theories of assessment and evaluation, examine “real-world” contexts where writing is assessed both formally and informally, and explore important issues associated with evaluating writing in sites associated with their own professional goals. Questions to be examined will include: How do literary gatekeepers evaluate submissions for publication? How is writing evaluated in a business/workplace context? How do teachers and other stakeholders and community leaders respond to and assess student writing? How does social context shape evaluation of writing? What are situations where evaluation of writing can be especially challenging (e.g., around cases of possible plagiarism, in writing using particular genres, in high-stakes testing of writing)?
• Tues 7900/03: Writing & Research for Academic Purposes(Odom)
  Writing & Research for Academic Purposes will offer students the opportunity to examine and hone their academic research and writing abilities by introducing them to different paradigms of knowledge and modes of inquiry in English Studies.  Throughout the semester, we will consider methods (specific research techniques) and methodologies (theories of research) in relation to research on writing, rhetoric, literacy, and teaching. As we investigate what it means to conduct research in the academy, students will also consider the particular nature of academic writing, including disciplinary conventions, audience, and style.   Readings will include both landmark and recent research studies as well as selections on issues pertaining to academic writing and research. Guest speakers addressing specific research and writing approaches will supplement class discussion and course readings. Assignments will include hands-on research exercises (e.g., interview, mini-ethnography, data interpretation, etc.), an annotated bibliographic essay pertinent to the student's selected research topic, and a formal research project proposal and presentation.  (Ideally, this work could evolve into a Capstone Proposal or potential conference presentation.)  While the course is grounded in the work of the Comp-Rhet discipline, our examination of research and writing will prove useful to students in all MAPW concentrations, particularly those considering the non-creative thesis option. 
  
• Wed 6500: Teaching Writ High Schools and Colleges (Harper)
  
• Thurs *6760: World Englishes (Johnson)
  

Spring 2008

• Mon 6650: Intro Literacy Studies (Daniell)
  
• Tues 6300: Understanding Writing as Process (Odom)
  
• Wed 6150: Context, Style, & Audience (Barrier)
  
• Thurs 7900/01: Visual Rhetoric (Harper)Visual Rhetoric introduces MAPW students to the analysis and interpretation of visual texts in a visual culture. This class will examine a number of issues ranging from basic definitions of visual texts, visual texts in relation to audio and print-based literacies, visual texts as arguments and rhetorical constructions, and the importance of visual texts in a culture that is largely visual.
  

Summer 2008

• Please visit http://www.kmwp.org, Core Programs and Summer Institute.
  

Fall 2008

• Mon 6100: Readings for Writers, The Best Seller (Robbins)
  What makes a book a bestseller? How do bestsellers influence the writing and reading of other books? What kinds of decision-making during the writing process might help make a book a bestseller—or at least position it effectively for a particular “market” (or niche) of readers at a given historical moment? To address these and related questions, students in this course will draw mainly on our reading of bestsellers from a range of genres and sub-genres, but we will also explore a few highly influential (and accessible) texts from critical theory, along with some recent analyses of the American literary marketplace as seen from very pragmatic perspectives (e.g., managing the economics of publishing, applying studies of popular culture to writerly decision-making). Each student’s major course project will be tied to a particular professional goal—whether writing a bestseller someday or learning to read them more critically.
  
• Mon 6750: Teaching Writing to Speakers of Other Languages (Johnson)
  
• Wed 6100 : Readings for Writers, Religious Rhetoric (Harper)
  We will examine early Christian texts to gain an appreciation of 1) the role of rhetoric in the early Christian church and 2) the use of rhetoric to analyze non-literary texts.Some of the items that we will consider:  The gospels and epistles as rhetorical genres; audience, author, and context of early church documents (those within and outside the Bible); the use of particular figures of speech and other stylistic devices for certain contexts (not surprisingly, for instance, Paul uses athletic metaphors in his letters to the Corinthians, near where many of the Pan-Hellenic games were held); early church liturgy, architecture, and iconography as alternative forms of rhetoric; rhetorical choices made by the early councils, choices that determined the texts of the Bible; rhetorical and legal training among the early church writers; citation and reinterpretation of Judaic texts in the Gospels and Epistles.
  

Spring 2009

• Mon 6460: Understnding Writing as Process (Odom)
  
• Tues 6100: Readings for Writers, Writing the Mediterranean (Harper)
  Writing the Mediterranean, which will explore the Mediterranean, especially Egypt,
  Greece, Italy, and Turkey, as an important region for the development of language and writing (literary, rhetorical, and technical). 
  

Summer 2009

• TBA 6750: Teaching Writing to Speakers of Other Languages (Johnson)
  

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Courses offered every semester:

• PRWR 7600 Practical Internship (Walters)
  Please refer to Practical Internship Application.
  
  
• PRWR 7950 Directed Study
  Please refer to Directed Study Guidelines and Forms.
  
  
• PRWR 7960 Capstone
  Please refer to Capstone Project Guidelines and Forms.