Learn more about First-Year Writing at GVSU

WRT 120 Strategies in Writing--Stretch I. The first course in a two-course sequence designed for students who desire more time, practice, and support to complete the first-year writing requirement. Students will practice drafting and researching strategies and gain confidence in their writing and research skills. Students develop fluency and master conventions of standard academic writing. Offered fall semester. Credits: 3

WRT 130 Strategies in Writing--Stretch II. Continuation of WRT 120. Students learn strategies for research-based writing. They practice writing processes to build well-supported arguments and incorporate sources. Students must earn a grade of C (not C-) or better to fulfill the Foundations-Writing requirement. WRT 120 and 130 or WRT 150 are prerequisites to SWS courses. Offered winter semester. Credits: 3

WRT 150 Strategies in Writing. Students practice different kinds of academic writing and learn strategies for rhetorical research-based writing. They practice writing processes to build well-supported arguments and incorporate sources. Students must receive a grade of C (not C-) or better to fulfill the Foundations-Writing requirement. WRT 150 is a prerequisite for any SWS course. Credits: 4

Learn more about the Writing Major or about the Writing Minor.

WRT 200 Introduction to Professional Writing. This course serves as an introduction to professional writing, providing the skills necessary for writing, presenting, and interacting in professional contexts. This course introduces students to some of the most common genres in professional writing and emphasizes the importance of audience and context for composing effective professional documents. [SWS Credit.] Prerequisite: WRT 150.

WRT 210 Introduction to Style. Students will identify and analyze stylistic techniques and the rhetorical effects of style in writing. The course will help students discover and examine the intersections among style, genre, historical and cultural contexts, and technology. Students will also experiment with stylistic techniques for different audiences, purposes, genres, and effects. Prerequisite: WRT 150.

WRT 219 Introduction to Creative Writing. Introduction to the theory and practice of various forms of creative writing. Students may write poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction and also read literature in each genre. [Fulfills GenEd Foundation--Arts] Prerequisite: WRT 150.

WRT 253 Document Design and Production. This course provides an introduction to electronic layout, design, and typographic principles as well as the technical foundation and practical experience to produce documents for print production. Students will work from a foundation in rhetoric and basic graphic design principles to write, design, and produce a range of document types.  Prerequisite: WRT 150.

WRT 307 Consulting with Writers. Examines the role consultants play in the development of writers and writing. Students will observe and analyze situations in which writers work together as well as practice response techniques. Readings and assignments focus on different kinds of work associated with assisting writers: consulting, responding, collaborating, and ghostwriting. Offered winter semesters. [SWS Credit.] Prerequisites: WRT 200 or by permission of instructor.

WRT 308 Editing and Publishing. This course helps students work with unpublished manuscripts intended for publication in several venues. Students will assess manuscripts' potential and make editorial recommendations about the content, structure, length, style, and techniques appropriate to a manuscript's genre and potential audience. Students will also learn copy-editing techniques and conventions. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: One WRT Core Course (WRT 200, 210, 219, or 253) or Junior Standing.

WRT 316 Style and Technique. Students will study the rhetorical and artistic dimension of writing techniques in multiple genres from fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This class focuses particular attention on forms and techniques on the micro-level of the line, paragraph, chapter, scene, and section. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: WRT 210 and WRT 219.

WRT 320 Intermediate Poetry Workshop. Students will read and write poems. The class will feature analysis of published poetry as a path to learning the craft elements that make up successful poems. Students will learn to provide feedback on classmates' poetry in peer-review workshops. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: WRT 219.

WRT 330 Intermediate Fiction Workshop. Students will read and write fiction. The class will feature analysis of published work as a path to learning the craft elements that make up successful fiction. Students will learn to provide feedback on classmates' writing in peer-review workshops. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: WRT 219.

WRT 350 Business Communication. Training in the communication skills for business and the professions. Assignments cover varieties of information management, including handling research, gathering data, writing reports, manuals, directions, and correspondence, and making oral presentations. Offered fall and winter semesters. [SWS Credit.] Prerequisite: WRT 150.

WRT 351 Writing for the Web. Emphasizes learning rhetorical structures best suited for writing for the web. Students practice professional writing as they learn to build web documents for community and commercial internet audiences. Additional topics will include designing with HTML/CSS, building websites with content management systems, user experience design, and search engine optimization. Prerequisites: Junior Standing or CIS Major

WRT 353 Visual Rhetoric and Design. Drawing on research in visual rhetoric, this course examines document design as an audience-oriented form of writing. This course also introduces students to cross-cultural iconography, visual storytelling, and the quantitative display of information. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: WRT 253 and junior standing.

WRT 354 Writing in the Global Contexts: Culture, Technology, and Language Practices. This course prepares students for the challenges of writing in the global context. Through analysis and practice, students will learn to write and design documents that respond to the needs of local and global audiences in the 21st century workplace. Focus: communication competence, cultural dimension of language and design. Part of the Globalization Issue. Offered fall semesters. [SWS Credit.] Prerequisite: Junior standing. 

WRT 357 Professional Writing in International Contexts. This course helps students understand the theory, principles, and research of effective professional writing in international contexts while studying abroad. Students will address and solve communication problems typically encountered by international non-governmental organizations through the writing and researching of professional writing genres (grants, proposals, brochures, and other workplace documents). [SWS Credit.] [Note: This course is only offered as part of the Writing in Action study abroad program.] Prerequisite: WRT 150.

WRT 358 User Experience Writing. Students will conduct user experience research and apply their findings for writing user-friendly and intuitive copy to improve interactions between users and digital technologies. Using an iterative process, students will develop prototypes that incorporate language and visual elements to facilitate seamless and human-centered experiences. [SWS Credit] Prerequisite: Junior Standing.

WRT 360 Intermediate Creative Nonfiction. Students will read and write creative nonfiction. The class will feature analysis of published work as a path to learning the craft elements that make up successful creative nonfiction. Students will learn to provide feedback on classmates' writing in peer-review workshops. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: WRT 219.

WRT 365 Intermediate Magazine Writing. This course will introduce students to common forms of magazine and long-form nonfiction. Students will pitch and develop article ideas and replicate magazine page layouts for their writing. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: WRT 210 or Junior Standing.

WRT 380 Special Topics in Writing. Topics will be announced in the class schedule and prerequisites may be listed. May be repeated for credit.

WRT 381 Sports and Writing. Examines sports and culture from a range of perspectives in a range of genres, including those related to journalistic forms, commentary, the personal essay, fiction, and poetry. The theory and practice of these genres will be emphasized through student writing. Offered spring or summer semester. [SWS Credit.] Prerequisite: WRT 150.

WRT 399 Independent Study. Students may work with a faculty member to plan an independent study related to an area of writing or writing research that does not exist in the curriculum. Please see the independent study policy for more information.

WRT 411 Style and the Book. Students will study the rhetorical and artistic dimension of writing techniques in multiple genres from fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This class focuses particular attention on forms and techniques on the macro-level of book-length works by notable contemporary writers, genre conventions, and cultural and commercial concerns related to publishing. Offered fall semester. Prerequisites: WRT 210 and WRT 219.

WRT 420 Advanced Poetry Workshop. The class will feature advanced analysis of published poetry as models for students' own original work. Students will participate in peer review, reflect on their creative processes and artist aesthetic, and learn revision techniques as they write poems appropriate for a portfolio or publication. May be repeated once for credit. Offered winter semester. Prerequisite: WRT 320.

WRT 430 Advanced Fiction Workshop. The class will feature advanced analysis of published fiction as models for students' own original work. Students will participate in peer review, reflect on their creative processes and artist aesthetic, and learn revision techniques as they write fiction appropriate for a portfolio or publication. May be repeated once for credit. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisite: WRT 330.

WRT 451 Advanced Writing for the Web. Emphasizes writing and designing websites using web content management systems (CMS). Students will learn to configure the CMS for drafting, revising, managing, and organizing documents, and they will use the CMS to create websites for various types of communities and different organizational needs. Offered winter semesters, even years. Prerequisite: WRT 351.

WRT 455 Writing with Digital Tools. Students create texts using digital tools and different modes of meanings such as visuals, sounds, words, and motion. Working across genres (animated poems; podcasts; kinetic typography), students use a variety of software programs and learn how to make informed choices to produce texts for different contexts and audiences. Prerequisites: WRT 253 or Junior Standing.

WRT 460 Advanced Creative Nonfiction Workshop. The class will feature advanced analysis of published nonfiction as models for students' own original work. Students will participate in peer review, reflect on their creative processes and artist aesthetic, and learn revision techniques as they write nonfiction appropriate for a portfolio or publication. May be repeated once for credit. Offered winter semester. Prerequisites: WRT 360.

WRT 490 Internship. Student-initiated supervised work experience in potential career interest area; planned with internship coordinator and worksite supervisor. Student spends 45-field hours per semester for each credit in addition to a weekly academic seminar. The internship must be at least 50% writing/editing. Credit is awarded when student, coordinator, and supervisor complete evaluations. Prerequisites: Writing major, junior-level, minimum 2.75 major GPA, and internship coordinator permission. Students must have taken WRT 200, WRT 210, WRT 219, and WRT 253. Writing minors may only take this course with internship coordinator permission.

WRT 495 Genre and Writing (Capstone). Capstone course required of all writing majors. Explores the historical and ideological boundaries that define conventional writing genres: poetry and prose; fiction and nonfiction; literary fiction and genre fiction; academic writing and professional writing; text and hypertext; and so on. The course will consider disciplinary and professional influences on genre definition as well as various ethnic, gender, and economic conceptualizations of genre. Offered fall and winter semesters. Prerequisites: Writing core courses and senior standing.