Posted on April 21, 2008
The writing and rhetoric studies and technical and scientific communication have decided to merge between the current departments to create a writing major that will be offered next fall. The writing major has yet to be named.
The program at JMU began about 10 years ago when the writing and rhetoric studies minor broke off from the English department to develop a program more focused on the theories of writing. The interim director of the new major is Shelley Aley, of JMU’s writing program.
As the writing and rhetoric studies minor matured and the technical and scientific communication major became more popular, the departments saw a need to consolidate and enhance the major through a merge of the two programs.
The new curriculum will include writing intensive courses such as written argumentation and visual rhetoric. Potential majors might be interested in careers in editing, publishing and education.
The major will be open to all students. Aley estimates that there will be several hundred students in the majors within the first year due to positive feedback and the current reputation of the program. An additional benefit to this type of program is that it provides the structure for an online curriculum, which some students in the minor have already taken advantage of from abroad.
Students can start informally declaring the major in fall ’08 semester, but the complete curriculum will not be outlined until the 2009-2010 school year in the JMU catalogue.
