Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, Minor

Giving you the information you need to make an educated decision about your English degree is a top priority for us, and so is delivering strong programs without breaking your bank. MSU Denver is among the most affordable four-year universities in the nation.

A minor in Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing provides a program of study to help students learn to use rhetoric and to see how language and writing shape actions and attitudes to form persuasive discourse in a variety of contexts. Students study contemporary and classical rhetoric and composition theory, as well as visual literacy, research methodologies, and professional writing.

This minor complements any major on campus and gives students the opportunity to improve critical reading, writing, and thinking skills, as well as to conduct original, undergraduate research, to compose and interpret texts using multiple modes, including written, digital, and visual, to learn to tutor or teach writing, and to acquire competence in critical analysis and effective communication.

The Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing minor at MSU Denver offers you opportunities to develop versatile communication skills valued across industries:

• Writing Center Internships — Gain hands-on experience tutoring writing and developing your own teaching and mentoring skills
• Professional Portfolio Development — Build a portfolio of written, digital, and visual texts that demonstrates your competence to employers
• Complement Any Major — Strengthen critical reading, writing, and thinking skills that enhance career prospects in any field

An MSU Denver Minor in Professional Writing can be your springboard to careers ranging from writing and teaching to law and public service. Here are a few career paths to consider:

• Web content strategist
• Social media manager
• Editor
• Journalist
• Technical writer
• Teacher
• Professor
• Lawyer
• Higher education consultant
• Fundraiser
• Nonprofit administrator
• Brand manager
• Grant writer
• Screenwriter

Chereka Dickerson

Assistant Professor Chereka Dickerson teaches African American literature and Black women writers. She is in the process of completing her Ph.D. dissertation in U.S. minority and women’s literature.

Cynthia Kuhn

Professor Cynthia Kuhn is the author of the Lila Maclean Mystery Series. Her debut novel, The Semester of Our Discontent, received the 2017 Agatha Award for best first mystery.

Jason Miller

Professor Jason Miller is a fiction writer, screenwriter and Pushcart-Prize nominee whose work has been published in the Starry Night Literary Review, Literary Potpourri, Ink Pot #2, Burning Word and Outsider Ink among others.

MSU Denver English program alumni have been hired by the following organizations:

• Colorado Office of the Attorney General
• Servicios de la Raza
• Brain Balance Achievement Center
• Aurora Public Schools Foundation
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Colorado Historical Society
• Cesar Chavez Academy
• Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
• California Department of Justice
• Colorado Office of the Governor
• Neighborhood Solutions
• University of Chicago Press
• Aurora Central High School
• Bear Creek High School

MSU Denver English alumni have been accepted for post-graduate study at numerous schools, including:

• University of Colorado, Boulder
• University of Denver
• Regis University
• University of London
• University of Oregon
• New York University
• University of California, Los Angeles
• McGill University