Principles of Professional Writing

This course introduces students to the theory, research and practice of professional writing by means of lectures, assigned readings, and writing workshops, and by means of the production of a range of professional documents. Students develop specific writing-focused skills, including the effective use of tables, charts, and graphs to convey information. Linguistic principles are applied to word choice, sentence creation, and paragraph construction. The course also focuses on mastery of non-writing skills that are essential to produce great professional writing, including how to conduct all necessary research, to consider audience expectations, to analyze how a general format will need to be adapted to specific purposes, and how to organize the hierarchy of information in a specific writing product. The course includes seven major writing assignments culminating in a major report presented online in PowerPoint.