Minor in Writing Studies and Composition

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Because strong writing skills are essential to success both in academics and in the workplace, the Department of Writing Studies and Composition has announced a new minor in writing studies valuable for students in every discipline.

Hofstra Career Center reports that the overwhelming majority of their job postings now include a requirement for well-developed writing skills.  Most major professional exams such as the MCAT and LSAT require successful completion of a writing assignment.  Employers and graduate schools routinely require writing samples prior to interviews or admission.  And all of this is preliminary to the real work of writing actually demanded in the various fields.  Clearly, knowing how to write well is a central requirement for professional and academic advancement in fields as diverse as business, law, medicine, communications, education and all social sciences.

The new minor consists of the successful completion of 18 semester hours chosen from at least two of the areas shown below. At least nine of the 18 hours must be taken in residence, but that leaves ample room for transfer credit from other schools.  Writing studies minors must register with the department so as to keep informed of the newest developments and program activities. Courses are taken after consultation with an adviser.

i. Professional Writing

• WSC 30 - Business Communication -- Semester Hours: 3
• WSC 50 - Technical Communication -- Semester Hours: 3

ii. Composition and Rhetoric

• WSC 40 - Argument and Analysis -- Semester Hours: 3
• WSC 102 - Grammar -- Semester Hours: 3
• WSC 103 - Structure of English -- Semester Hours: 3
• WSC 120 - (AA) Public Writing, Private Lives -- Semester Hours: 3

iii. New Media Literacy

• WSC 121 - (AA) From Pictograph to Pixels: The Impact of Technologies on Literacies -- Semester Hours: 3
• WSC 122 - (AA) Navigating the Information Ocean: Research, Writing, and the Web -- Semester Hours: 3