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.

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Theses/Dissertations from 2009

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A Thousand Crowns, Brent Schnee

Before We Knew That Things Could Break, Bernhard A. Schneider

Yes, Black Girls Eat Sushi, LaShelle Turner-Gaston

Twenty Extra Pounds and a Divorce, Jessica Uhrinek

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Technical Writing for Software Documentation Writers: A Textbook on Process and Product, Elizabeth Warnke

Web 2.0 and the Classroom., Rochelle Spears Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2008

Benches: A Memoir, Teresa Price Bagwell

First Impressions: Editing Pacific Municipal Consultant's Statement of Qualifications, Sharrissa Beckford

Style and Usage Guide, Lindsay Blackstone

The Healing Art: Writing to Cope with Anxiety and Panic Disorders, Callie C. Brown

A Stranger in a Not So Strange Land, Lina R. Bustos

Wings of the White Dove, Krystle Coombs

Dipped, Cydnie Daniel

My Soul's Journey to Peace, Tahnee Eubanks

Creative Writing Portfolio: The Priest, the Cop, and the Convict and Creative Nonfiction Selections, Sarah Goldberg

Style Guide and Writing Handbook for a Public Relations Organization, Lauren Highfill

Groundstories, Christi Jones Hobgood

Collection of Travel Articles, Wanda Freeman Hullender

Developing a Case Statement for the Atlanta Audubon Society, Joann Jordan

Paying the Price: Twelve Generations Fight for America's Freedom, Robert G. Knowles Jr.

Ghostwriting: Mystery Solved, Haylie C. L. Kramer

Bringing Order out of Chaos: Developing an Online Learning Center for Chattahoochee Technical College, Kathleen Kvinge

OxyMoron, Michael Lipoma

A Writer's Chrysalis, Martha Kramer Lyons

Creating the Theta Stream, Edward G. Reeves

Rescue Me -- Solitude & Blind Faith -- Pilot, Elizabeth E. Seaver

Feminagerie: A Collection of Women's Voices, Julie Senger

Before the Crow, Melissa LeJeune Stiers

Seeking Tiresias, Sarah R. Sturdivant

NCSC Handbook: Tips and Tricks for Coordinating the National Collegiate Sales Competition, Bethany Lynn Swafford

Creating a Web Presence for Reinhardt College's School of Mathematics and Sciences, Lauren Holt Thomas

Manual of the Ashram Management Committee, Teresa Valentine

The Search for Funding to Find Homes for Special-Needs Cats: A Grant Proposal for a Non-Profit Organization, Kathleen Walker

Brass Ring, David M. Williams

A Massachusetts Earthquake, Nancy N. Wilson

Broadening Horizons through Collegiate Study Abroad: A Narrative Experience, Katrina Wood

Dating Cancer...It's a Whole New Set of Rules, Jennifer Kreitzer Yarber

Writing to Raise Money: A Practicum in the Non-Profit World, Caryn Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2007

Drug of Preference, Saul Adler

A Place to Belong, Gloria J. Bennett

KB Photography Marketing & Business Plan, Katherine Birkbeck

Brunch with the Virgin Mary, John R. Brooks, III

Parenting Adosescents, Deborah Burke

Out of Good, Joshua M. Carstens

Informing, Instructing, and Connecting Internal Organizational Constituencies through Print and Online Communications: A Professional Portfolio, Celeste T. Dickson

Ponyboy, Elisha Eppihimer

Intercultural Explorations: Writing Effectively Across Cultures, Samra E. Fleschner

Collections Management Policies and Procedures for the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era, Sonya Fowler

Value of the Ordinary, Mary Frances

Writing Korean in English: An Intercultural Writing Portfolio, Kenzie R. Freeman

Establishing Presence: An Applied Writing Practicum for The LOT Foundation, Inc., Shayla Arline Gordon

Developing a Web Site for a Dental Practice, Gordana Goudie

Twist, Angie Jennings

A Moment in Time: Thirty Years in the Making, 1973-2003, Cynthia T. Jordin

Domestic, Morgan A. McLaughlin McFarland

Flight of the Dragonfly, Kevin McKenzie

Good Grief and Other Tales for Television, Charity L. Miller

One in a Million: Living Courageously with a Traumatic Brain Injury, Cheryl K. Miller

Into the Roots, Cathy Ray

The Secret Mantra: Poems, Flash Fiction & Short Stories, Cathleen Salsburg

Write Way Workbook, Stephanie A. Salter

The Web Content Strategist's Bible: The Complete Guide to a New and Lucractive Career Path for Writers of All Kinds, Richard G. Sheffield

A Cultural Exchange: A Study Abroad Survival Guide, Kia Smith

Look at Me: Refugee and Immigrant Women Speak on Coming to Georgia from 1995-2006, Rosita Smith

Turning Concepts into Bylines: An Examination and Analysis of a Professional Writer's Portfolio, Jason Taylor

Achieving Connectedness through Writing Style: A Multi-Genre Portfolio, Carolyn Elizabeth Thomas

Teaching English and Writing to Speakers of Other Languages, Alla Umanskiy

Theses/Dissertations from 2006

Theory of Project Management: Guiding Principles for Effective Project Management: Putting the Logical before the Physical, Lori Alvin

Remediation, Genre, and Blogs: A Reexamination of Blogs as Genre, Mark David Anthony

Pop Rhetoric: A Thesis in Four Movements, Richard Todd Campbell

Second Thoughts, Noelle Crisafulli Gregg

The Used Gifts Project: A Writer's Journey to Share Tales along the Road of Organ Donation and Transplantation, Jan Heidrich-Rice

Writing Portfolio, Mark Holmberg

Letters from a Southern Sunset: Travels in Argentina, Jonae M. Jackson

Whose Internet?: Understanding Audience in Intercultural Web Design, Ida Loudermilk

Making Connections: Composition/Rhetoric and Literature Intertwine in the Classroom, Pamela S. Nehlig

30 Women Turning 30, Colette Petersen

The Colors in Between: Culturally Layered Individuals in 21st Century America, Rashida Powell

Bite Me, Elizabeth Raby

From Spanish to English: A Cultural, Linguistic, and Literary Odyssey, Natalia Schust

Georgia Musings: A Collection of Writings, D. Lea Stone

Jimmy Bullee and Other Stories, Sussan K. Sutphen

Small Moments, Big Milestones: Becoming an Effective Writer through Teaching, Victoria Walker

The Write Decision, Connie Hulsey Watjen

A Journal Publishing Practicum for the KSU Press, Emily Wehby

Burn Your Roses, Rhyea White

Writing a Picture of the Past: Expressing Life on Life's Terms, Bobbie J. Whorton

Talking to Myself: A Writer's Journey toward Writing for an Audience of More Than One, Crystal T. Wright

Theses/Dissertations from 2005

The Courage to Market, Heather Alice Blasingame Ayer

The Darker Side of White: Stories Inspired by The Beatles's White Album, Chrysta Lea Baker

Stella Barkley, Kendall Baumann

The Chronicles of a Speechwriter, Melva Bell

The Business of Writing History: Case Studies in Organizational History, Leslie A. Cook

Mount Hope, Christopher Dowd

Valeria and Her Lovers, Marc Fitten

The Ghosts Are Mine, Patricia Fulton

Zip Codes: Stories and Essays, Patti Ghezzi

In the Knob, Jennifer L. Gibbs

Coo: An Original Full-Length Screenplay, Phillip Maury Harrold

Claiming a Professional Writing Space: The Writing Journal of Nellie Arnott, Margie G. Chastain Hendrix