Technical & Professional Communication, Book Arts Lab, Creative Writing, and First-Year Composition Program
Technical and Professional Communication
Commercial, academic, governmental, and non-profit organizations employ technical and professional communicators as writers, editors, public relations experts, information designers, documentation and project managers, and mixed media creators. The technical and professional communicator is, first and foremost, an accomplished writer who produces clear, precise, timely, and effective prose. However, technical communicators are also adept at designing information layouts, integrating images with text, working in teams, translating technical concepts for diverse audiences, and engaging with users to ensure the usability of documents. Individuals interested in technical and professional communication enjoy the process of continually learning and sharing information with others. Learn more about the Technical and Professional Communication Program.
Creative Writing
Cal Poly’s English department houses one of the best undergraduate creative writing programs in the West. The university’s excellent academic reputation and the exquisite natural environment of the central coast attract creative students from all over California and the nation. Many of Cal Poly's creative writing students continue on to prestigious graduate writing programs, accept internships as editors and writers for national publications, and eventually teach writing at universities. Learn more about the Creative Writing Program.
First-Year Composition Program
The First-Year Composition Program teaches students to approach writing as a process of intellectual inquiry motivated by the complexities of their rhetorical situations. The program believes that writers work best when they can engage in conversation with thoughtful readers around meaningful projects, and they learn best when they are given time to reflect on the qualities of their own writing. From the start, students learn to examine and craft rhetorically grounded arguments across a wide range of genres responsive to social, cultural, and linguistic differences. Writers learn not just to objectively analyze the relationship between a claim, evidence, and a line of reasoning, but also to identify the motives for and uses of arguments. The program provides students with a sequence of two linked writing-intensive courses that satisfy GE Area A2 Written Communication and GE Area A3 Critical Thinking. By completing the program, students will learn to see themselves as savvy thinkers and purposeful writers who have stories to share, and whose voices are urgently needed in the world. Learn more about the First-Year Composition Program.