The Professional Writing major offers many opportunities for students to write for real-world, community organizations, gaining valuable knowledge, skills and experience.
“I am proud that in my senior year I worked with local organizations in two Professional Writing classes, helping them with their communication needs while also learning so much about working with a client. I’ve mentioned these projects many times during the interview process, and I firmly believe these real-world experiences were one of the reasons I have my job upon graduation.”
—Alex Arend, Professional Writing, Class of 2023
Students learn about creating writing projects from ideation to drafting and user-experience testing to copy editing and publication; they engage in project management and team collaboration; and they communicate frequently with local community members. Here is a sampling of some of the projects.
Hueston Woods Nature Center
Working closely with the naturalists from the Hueston Woods Nature Center and conducting research with people visiting the State Park, students created signs for the animal exhibits, a detailed hiking trail map, a brochure, and educational materials for the Center.
Historic Hopewell Church
Residents in the Oxford area in the 1800’s were active in the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to freedom. One of the significant locations on the railroad is the Historic Hopewell Church, which is on the National Registrar of Historic Places. This church did not have a website or other publicity materials, so students researched, designed and wrote a website for the church. They also created a brochure that is distributed at area hotels and visitor bureaus. To read more about this important project, please see this news story.
Reily Township
Students in the Grant Writing course worked closely with citizens and elected officials from Reily Township to help the community by identifying funding needs and writing grants to apply for funding. Students went on a field trip to Reily where they hosted a pizza dinner for 50 people, talking during dinner with community members about their needs and hopes for their community. The students wrote grants seeking funding for AED devices, new fire equipment, new playground and exercise equipment, new sidewalks, AV equipment and more. This class project was supported with funding from Miami University Career Services and the English Department.
Enjoy Oxford
Students in the capstone course partnered with Oxford’s visitor bureau to create more social media campaigns, including video interviews and showcases of local business and non-profits. They also analyzed and redesigned Enjoy Oxford’s website, and they created a brochure for the community. At the end of the semester they showcased their work to Miami faculty and Oxford community members.