The Master of Arts in Professional Writing program (MAPW) is a professional graduate degree program that prepares candidates for a wide variety of writing-related positions in business, education, publishing, and the arts. Coursework in three concentrations applied writing, composition and rhetoric, and creative writing allows students to gain theoretical and practical knowledge in various fields of professional writing. As students become experienced in producing and analyzing business, technical, journalistic, and creative texts, they develop a sophisticated understanding of style, structure, and audience. MAPW students will become writing professionals who can move in many directions during their careers. They will become flexible writers who can tune in to the writing conventions of a given genre, adapting their writing style to the requirements of various rhetorical contexts.
What is the MAPW Capstone Project?
A project designated as a thesis, portfolio or practicum and accompanied by a rationale for its purpose and design that involves electronic and/or print media and is relevant to the student’s concentration in professional writing. After submitting an approved capstone proposal, the candidate works under the direction and advice of two faculty members to produce the project. The candidate must submit the capstone project at least two weeks before either 1) a discussion about the project with the faculty committee, or 2) a public presentation about the project or a reading from the project for an audience of faculty and peers.
Theses/Dissertations from 1998
Into the Woods: The Search for Direction within My Creative Writing Process, Kathleen Suzanne Hart
Writing as a Process: A Portfolio, Susan Lynn Wimberly Hartley
Creativity in Business Writing: One Student's Transformation, Patricia B. Long
Long Gone: A Novel, Man Martin
Collaborative Writing: Professional Accounts, Personal Discoveries, Lisa A. Mirando
The Evolution of a Professional Writer: A Writing Portfolio, Regina C. Rameizl
Paper Doll: A Writing Portfolio, Karen Diane Stewart Shelnutt
A Writing Portfolio, Cheryl A. Shinall
A Writer's Portfolio, Beverly C. Smith
Writing in the 21st Century: Essays on Adaptation and Change, John C. Snipes
A Journey of Personal and Professional Expression: A Writing Portfolio, Dian Stevenson
Giving Voice to Life's Experiences, Lynda S. Wheeler
Theses/Dissertations from 1997
The Role of Revision in Workplace and Creative Writing, Anne Marie Bennett
Getting There: A Writing Portfolio, Sean Andrew Brumfield
Writing For: Audience and Marketability, Marsha Proser Cohen
The Legal Power of the Written Word: A Rhetorical Analysis of Appellate Briefs, Althea Craig Curry
Love Is Signified with a Kiss, Necessity a Knot: A Portfolio of Poetry, Annette Harvill Davitte
Toward Defining Collaboration: A Writing Portfolio, Diane Dorland Dyer
The Roles of Genre, Audience, and Collaboration in Composing for Diverse Discourse Communities, Andrea Galloy
Reading, Writing, and Multimedia: A Writing Portfolio, Kathy A. Lynn
Teacher as Narrator, Researcher, and Facilitator: A Writing Portfolio, Milka Mustenikova Mosley
The Impact of Social Construction on Writing Centers, Jan Readling
A Writing Portfolio, Sarah Anne Shope
The Silence Within: A Writing Portfolio, Audrey Eitel Skinner
The Professional Portfolio: From the Workplace to the Realm of Fiction, Gary R. Smith
A Writing Portfolio, Len Sugar
A Writing Portfolio, Allen A. Thompson
A Writing Portfolio, Kathleen Marie Vetromile
Have Pen, Will Travel: A Professional Writer's Sojourn, Susan Nichols Weiss
The Wurffleins of Philadelphia: Artisan Gunmakers at the End of an Era, Ronelle Willadsen