B.A. in Writing and Media

Program Mission

The Writing and Media major is housed in the English Department and offers students a writing, media, and literary focused education in the Catholic, Benedictine liberal arts tradition. Students are provided with an understanding of the complexities of human nature in light of the Western tradition through intensive study and analysis of rhetorical situations, target audiences, literature, and contemporary digital media. Students who participate in the major will develop flexible strategies and skills for writing and communicating in various contexts and professions; engage writing as a complex, situated, and socially consequential practice; strengthen their capacity to understand, critique, and craft arguments; and gain confidence and demonstrable achievements as writers. This major addresses a growing need for college graduates to understand and know how to write in a variety of settings, understand rhetorical situations, and use technology, answering Ex Corde Ecclesiae's special call for Catholic universities to "respond to the problems and needs of the age."

 

Program Learning Goals

Students in the Writing and Media program will:

  1. Develop theoretical, practical, and analytical abilities in writing, media, and literature fields.
  2. Utilize these abilities to create well-crafted communication appropriate to the audience, purpose, context, and medium with which they are interacting.
  3. Apply these abilities and integrate the theories, methodologies, and competencies within these fields.
  4. Employ Benedictine considerations in their roles as theorists, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of writing and media.

 

Student Learning Objectives

  1. Students will foster narrative skills, attention to tone and style, and aesthetic sensibilities that are valuable in writing and media fields.
  2. Students will propose, design, and complete written projects appropriate to different rhetorical situations and audiences.
  3. Students will be prepared for the increasingly global and digital nature of writing and media in a variety of settings.

 

Overview

Honors College students may have different requirements for the major. Please contact the Department Chair for details. NOTE: Students must meet the following conditions: 1) The last eighteen (18) credits taken to fulfill the requirements of the Writing and Media major must be taken at Belmont Abbey College; students transferring from accredited institutions may transfer a maximum of nine (9) credits at the 300 and 400 levels.

It is the student’s responsibility to see that all degree requirements for graduation are fulfilled.

Curriculum Requirements

The Core Curriculum (50-53 hours)

Please reference the Core Curriculum Requirements

Writing & Media majors are recommended to take EN 106, EN 207, EN 208, EN 215, EN 216, or an approved upper level EN course (EN 316 or 370) to fulfill the Fine Arts requirement. 

Major Program Requirements (31 hours)

The following 6 courses (16 credits) are required for the Writing and Media major:
EN361Writing for Social Media

3

EN363Professional and Technical Writing

3

EN430WRhetoric, Research, and Writing

3

EN431Senior Thesis Tutorial

1

*One course in literary analysis, a literary genre, or a major author

3

**A language course

3

 

Other Courses

Choose 15 credits from the following list:
EN106Intro to Digital and Multi-Media Arts

3

EN198Journal Production

1

EN199Newspaper Production

1

EN207Creative Writing

3

EN208Intro to Poetry Reading and Writing

3

 

EN215Introduction to Film Criticism

3

Or

EN216Film Criticism II

3

 

EN260Found of Language: Intro to Linguistics

3

EN305Introduction to Literary Studies

3

EN316Poetics: Reading & Writing

3

EN360History of the English Language

3

EN362Editing & Writing for Publication

3

EN370Contemporary Poetry: Reading and Writing

3

EN380Teaching & Tutoring Writing

3

EN402Chaucer

3

EN403Medieval Literature

3

EN409Flannery O'Connor

3

EN410Shakespeare

3

EN413Dante

3

EN418The Rise of the Novel

3

EN419The Short Story and Related Forms

3

EN453Internship

3

DH300/HI300Intro Digital Humanities

3

BU315WBusiness Communications

3

Any W (Writing Intensive) Class in any department (including Senior Thesis W Classes)

*One course in literary analysis, a literary genre, or a major author

Options for This Requirement:

Literary Analysis

  • EN305 Introduction to Literary Studies

Literary Genres

Major Authors

**A language course

Options for This Requirement:

  • EN260 Foundations of Language 
  • EN360 History of the English Language

Note: A second semester of a foreign language may be substituted for one of these courses, in which case the first semester of that language may count as one of the additional 15 credits needed for the major.