Academic Programs

Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing
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.
Learn about MSU Denver’s generous scholarships for English students.
Program Options
- No concentration
- Literature, film and media studies
- Writing
- Secondary school teaching, leading to licensure
- Literature
English Teacher Licensure 7-12th Grade
Minor in Film and Media Studies
- Literature concentration
- Writing Concentration
- Linguistics emphasis
- Language emphasis
Benefits of Earning Your Degree at MSU Denver
The English program at MSU Denver offers you opportunities to stretch intellectually, creatively and professionally through internships, student teaching, the Sigma Tau Delta Honors Society and the following:
- MSU Denver’s Annual Writing Contest
- Writing Center Internships
- Annual Undergraduate English Conference
- Metrosphere Arts and Literary Magazine
- Indian Cinema Study Abroad Course
- Student Organizations
Career Opportunities for Our Graduates
An MSU Denver Minor in Rhetoric, Composition, and 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
Faculty
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.
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Featured Alumni
“I’ve had wonderful professors who’ve inspired me to continue my education and get the best out of my education.”
Janet Hernandez, MSU Denver ’17, is the first student in MSU Denver history to receive a Fulbright Scholarship. During her Fulbright year she will teach English and Spanish to elementary school children in South Korea.
Read more about Janet.
Alumni at Work
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
Sample Classes
There are a great variety of informative classes for Film and Media Studies Minor students. Some examples include:
- ENG 2505 - Rhetoric of War
- ENG 2512 - The Rhetoric of Social Media
- ENG 3503 - Rhetoric and Visual Literacy
- ENG 3506 - Academic Editing and Composing
- ENG 3507 - Writing Reviews and Criticism
- ENG 3526 - Writing in the Sciences
- ENG 3535 - Essentials of Grant Writing