Student ID:__________________________ Student Name:_______________________ Adviser Name:_______________________ Bulletin: 2024-2025 Undergraduate Bulletin Program: English Major, Professional Writing and Rhetoric Emphasis, B.A./B.S. Minimum Credits Required:__________________

English Major, Professional Writing and Rhetoric Emphasis, B.A./B.S.

College of Liberal Arts >> English 

42 hours; 2.0 major GPA required

Professional Writing and Rhetoric programs at the University of Southern Indiana are designed to develop skills valued by professions such as marketing, business, law, technical writing, education, health care or publishing. A blend of marketplace-oriented writing courses in technical writing, grant writing, and web authoring offere real-world  writing experience, often through service learning projects for regional community partners, while foundational courses in rhetorical and composition theory prepare students to teach writing or to pursue graduate study in rhetoric and composition.

Professional writing and rhetoric courses complement degrees in education, business, science, healthcare, engineering and social services, as well as all other fields where creativity, critical thinking and clear communication are prized.

Each writing and rhetoric student is encouraged to consult with faculty advisors to design a flexible program of study that best fits desired career goals. Writing and rhetoric faculty work with students to find local internships, complete individual research projects and create professional writing portfolios for the modern workplace.

The English department offers a major in English with an emphasis in Professional Writing and Rhetoric as well as a minor in Professiojnal Writing and Rhetoric.

English Major

Note: ENG 101 - Rhetoric and Composition I: Literacy and the Self and ENG 201 - Rhetoric and Composition II: Literacy and the World do not fulfill any requirements for any major or minor in English or English Teaching.

English Courses (21 hours)

Shared English Core (12 hours)

All English and English Teaching majors are required to complete a 12-hour shared core of courses:

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
ENG 205 - Introduction to English Studies and Ways of Reading
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 255 - Introduction to British Literary History
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 265 - Introduction to American Literary History
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 301 - Advanced Composition

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Writing


Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Credits: 3

Shared English Electives (9 hours)

All English and English Teaching majors are required to complete 9 hours of shared electives at the 300- and 400-level:

English Language (3 hours) Selected From

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
ENG 314 - Approaches to Grammar
Term(s) Offered: Spring (even-numbered years)
Credits: 3
ENG 417 - History of English Languages
Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3

Theory (3 hours) Selected From

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
ENG 387 - Women’s Literature and Gender Issues: 19th- and 20th-Century Theory
Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 415 - History of Rhetoric
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 416 - Contemporary Issues in Rhetoric
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 448 - Literary Criticism and Theory
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3

World and Multicultural Literature (3 hours) Selected From

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
ENG 330 - Ethnic Literature in America

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Diversity


Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 331 - African American Literature

USI Core 39: Embedded experience - Diversity


Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 371 - Non-Western World Literature

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Global


Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 372 - Western World Literature

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Global


Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 375 - Modern Canadian Literature
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 386 - World Mythology

USI Core 39: Ways of Knowing-World Languages and Culture


Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3

Professional Writing and Rhetoric Emphasis (21 hours)

ENG 415 and ENG 416 can be taken to fulfill one of three different requirements. However, each course can be counted toward one requirement only.

Theory (3 hours)

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
ENG 415 - History of Rhetoric or
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 416 - Contemporary Issues in Rhetoric
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3

Applied Courses (9 hours)

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
ENG 210 - Technical Writing

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Writing


Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 316 - Critical and Investigative Writing

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Writing


Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 319 - Fundamentals of Grant Writing

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Writing


Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 411 - Writing in the Digital Age
Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 419 - Advanced Grant Writing
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 498 - Internship in English
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Credits: 3

Senior Seminar (3 credits)

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
ENG 412 - Writing for the Professions
Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3

Open English Electives (6 credits)

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
ENG 302 - Creative Writing

USI Core 39: Ways of Knowing-Creative and Aesthetic Expression


Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 303 - Poetry Workshop
Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 305 - Creative Non-Fiction Workshop
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 307 - Screenwriting Workshop
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 244 - Writing in the Secondary Schools
Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 314 - Approaches to Grammar
Term(s) Offered: Spring (even-numbered years)
Credits: 3
ENG 316 - Critical and Investigative Writing

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Writing


Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 319 - Fundamentals of Grant Writing

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Writing


Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 322 - The Short Story
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 330 - Ethnic Literature in America

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Diversity


Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 344 - Adolescent and Young Adult Literature

USI Core 39: Ways of Knowing-Creative and Aesthetic Expression; Embedded Experience-Writing


Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 361 - Playwriting

USI Core 39: Ways of Knowing-Creative and Aesthetic Expression


Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 371 - Non-Western World Literature

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Global


Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 372 - Western World Literature

USI Core 39: Embedded Experience-Global


Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 373 - Introduction to African Literatures
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 375 - Modern Canadian Literature
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 386 - World Mythology

USI Core 39: Ways of Knowing-World Languages and Culture


Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 387 - Women’s Literature and Gender Issues: 19th- and 20th-Century Theory
Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 411 - Writing in the Digital Age
Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 415 - History of Rhetoric
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 416 - Contemporary Issues in Rhetoric
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 417 - History of English Languages
Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 419 - Advanced Grant Writing
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 424 - Chaucer
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 425 - Milton: Prose and Poetry
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 426 - The Literature of the Renaissance
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 427 - Neo-Classical and Eighteenth-Century Literature
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 431 - Nineteenth-Century Literature
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 432 - Twentieth-Century Poetry
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 435 - The Novel to the Twentieth Century
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 436 - The Novel of the Twentieth Century
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 437 - Contemporary Fiction
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 442 - Literature of the Middle Ages
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 444 - Literature in the Secondary Schools
Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 448 - Literary Criticism and Theory
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 449 - Major Author
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 451 - Shakespeare’s Histories and Tragedies
Term(s) Offered: Fall
Credits: 3
ENG 453 - Shakespeare’s Comedies and Romances
Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 459 - Special Studies in English
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 1-6
ENG 473 - History of Western Drama I
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 474 - History of World Drama II
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
ENG 491 - The Writer at Work
Term(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 3
ENG 498 - Internship in English
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Credits: 3
ENG 499 - Seminar in Literature and Language
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered
Credits: 3
Notes: