M.A. in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication

The specific goals of the master's degree in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication are to help students:

• Define what effective communication means in writing, rhetoric, and technical communication environments.
• Enhance their understanding of how and why communication works.
• Learn how to identify and eliminate barriers to effective communication.
• Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their communication management.
• Develop research skills.

To achieve these goals, the program combines work in theory, writing, text design, and analysis of communication systems and contexts to help students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to begin careers in writing, rhetoric, and technical communication. The programs emphasize scholarly, humanistic, and social scientific perspectives on the function and application of writing, rhetoric, and technical communication.

Consequently, the programs provide students with not only the knowledge and skills required for careers in industry, business, or government but also the research skills and communication theory that will prepare them for doctoral study in communication and rhetoric. The long-range goal of the degree, then, is to enable program graduates to grow as professionals and, ultimately, to contribute to the developing field of writing, rhetoric, and technical communication.

Students work with school advisers to design a program that fits their unique educational needs and career aspirations. Depending on their backgrounds and options they might choose to pursue while in the degree program, students may decide to take additional courses to obtain knowledge or skills in specialized areas. For example, students may choose to take extra coursework to enhance their skills in communication technologies or to deepen their academic training in the writing, rhetoric, and technical communication content areas in which they intend to work as professional writers or editors.

We know that success requires equal parts intellect and action. At JMU, that’s what Being the Change is all about.

When students graduating from James Madison University proudly walk across the stage to receive their diplomas, they’re more than just educated. They’re members of a fellowship of doers. They know how to make things happen. They’ve honed their ability to think critically. They’ve learned the importance of a strong work ethic and they’ve become committed to and skilled at collaborating with others. Diplomas in hand, they leave campus determined to live lives of meaning and pursue careers of purpose.

Only two hours from Washington D.C., JMU is fast becoming one of the nation’s leading lights in higher education. That’s because students enjoy unusually engaged relationships with world-class faculty who are at JMU because they want to pursue knowledge and teach talented students.

JMU students, faculty and alumni are using equal parts intellect and action to succeed in every sort of pursuit: they’re boosting innovation and discovery, leading in business, advancing culture, improving health care, reforming education, renewing civil society, competing in athletics — they’re Being the Change in every imaginable way.