Congratulations to Ireland Seagle, an English major with a concentration in Professional Writing, for getting hired as a consultant at Longwood’s Writing Center! Ireland will begin her training next semester.
In the fall of 2021, Ireland completed an internship with Dr. Heather Lettner-Rust to create a Canvas site for Civitae, Longwood’s general education program. Ireland collected information, created and/or edited content, and edited graphics for the site.
Ireland’s fall activities also included working as a Website and Social Media Manager for our Professional Writing Program as part of her Multimedia Project for Dr. Elif Guler’s “Introduction to Digital Writing” course. Ireland collaborated with Claire Lesman, also a Professional Writing concentrator, to design a new website for the Professional Writing Program. Ireland also regularly created effective digital content (with sound and graphics) for the Professional Writing Program’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
In addition to her writing endeavors, Ireland is a member of the Stampede Athletic Pep Band that plays at Longwood’s men’s home basketball games.
The Professional Writing Program is proud of Ireland’s drive for success and continued accomplishments!
Senator Mark Warner has recently recognized Amber Thomas, an English major with a concentration in Professional Writing and a member of Cormier Honors College, for her academic achievements and professional work at Longwood University.
Senator Mark Warner congratulates Amber Thomas
In the fall of 2021, Amber worked for Longwood Writing Center (both as a consultant and an assistant director), where she participated in the job search committee for new consultants (hired 11 new consultants who will go through training in the spring semester). Amber also revised and finalized the Center’s new mission statement and co-managed the Center’s Instagram page, where she introduced a new trend of “Meme-Monday” posts that have become quite popular with our students.
In addition, Amber has been serving as the Director of Longwood’s 2022 Big Event (a Community Service Organization), which will be held on Saturday, March 26th. The event is open to students who wish to thank the local Farmville community by completing various community service projects in town. Amber enhanced the Big Event’s public relations efforts by participating in the Involvement Fair handing out candy and flyers on Halloween.
During the semester, Amber also held a roundtable event with representatives from various student organizations that support marginalized populations on campus and volunteered for the annual Campus Safety Walk.
In addition to her campus service and professional work, Amber has recently completed an independent study on Professional Writing Pedagogy; for this study, she collected and created a handbook of open educational resources that she could also use in her future professional writing and teaching endeavors.
Amber’s goals for the next semesters include mentoring incoming Honors students and participating in Longwood Work Shadow Program with two alumni in the fields of marketing and real estate training.
The Professional Writing Program is continuously impressed with Amber’s accomplishments! More information on Amber’s experiences and activities can be found in her portfolio: Amber Thomas ePortfolio
Congratulations to Emily Robertson, one of our new Professional Writing minors, on a successful semester serving as a Feature Writer and on being elected to serve as a leader at two major student organizations at Longwood!
During the fall of 2021, Emily has served as a Feature Writer for The Rotunda, Longwood’s Student Newspaper, where she wrote weekly articles about student’s accomplishments and special events on campus.
Emily has also recently been elected as Vice President of Longwood’s Honors Student Association and President of Longwood College Democrats, a student organization for which Emily worked as a Social Media Manager and coordinated canvassing events for political campaigns across Virginia.
Emily’s fall semester successes also include a national journal submission, a rhetorical analysis completed in Dr. Elif Guler’s English 165, to UReCA: The NCHC Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. Emily had presented this analysis at Longwood’s 2020 Student Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry.
Emily’s goals for the next semesters include completing an internship with Longwood’s Communication Studies Department.
Keep up the good work, Emily! It’s great to have you on board in our Professional Writing Program!
Congratulations to Chris Crider, an alumnus of our English/Professional Writing Program at Longwood, for being promoted to a Junior Copywriter at Mission Lane Visa®!
“I have been really enjoying [the position of Junior Copywriter] at this company. I have the privilege of copywriting and revising inbound copy requests across departments, so the copies are very diverse — from mobile app updates to internal documents,” said Chris, who has been with his company for over a year (previously in a different role).
Congratulations, again, Chris! The Professional Writing Program is so proud of your accomplishments!
Congratulations to Haley Vasquez, a star alumna of our English/Professional Writing Program at Longwood, for accepting the position of Creative Director at Letterpress Communications!
Haley is returning to her home state, Virginia, after two years of working as a technical writer at PlayStation in San Diego, California.
Digital card Haley’s colleagues put together for her last day at PlayStation!
Haley notes: “I’m so thankful to all my amazing colleagues who made my time at Sony truly incredible, and I’ll miss working with them. This was definitely one of the toughest decisions to make, but I’m excited to take this next step, and return to my home communities.”
Congratulations, Haley! We are so proud of your accomplishments!
Longwood’s Professional Writing Program has finished Spring 2021 on a great note! Congratulations to our brilliant Professional Writing students on receiving multiple awards of excellence from the Department of English and Modern Languages this year!
Here are the upcoming Professional Writing course offerings:
SUMMER I – 2021
ENGL 210 Introduction to Digital Writing – Online/2 sections – Guler OR Lettner-Rust: “What happens when we hit ‘enter’? And how can we ensure our efforts are being received with our intentions? Employing persuasion theories, we will create texts addressing multiple audiences, bringing together visual and alphabetic texts that involve readers in the construction of those texts. *For students in the catalog year of 2020-21, this fulfills an elective for the PW Concentration and Minor.”
ENGL 319 Technical Writing – Online/Lettner-Rust: “You will create documents that clearly and concisely convey complex, technical or scientific information to targeted audiences, demonstrating effective visual and verbal elements. Last semester, we watched the film Dark Waters and developed documents communicating an understanding of the properties of the manmade chemical C-8 in water and soil for the local residents in the film. Fulfills a requirement for the English major. Also required for PW concentrators.”
ENGL 470-B01 Professional Writing Skills – Online/Guler: “Writing for workplace settings from a rhetorical perspective. Students will study the foundations of professional communication, document design, persuasive writing, and promotional strategies. The course will culminate in a portfolio of documents commonly found in the professional world (e.g., applications, brochures, professional profiles, etc).”
FALL 2021
ENGL 210: Introduction to Digital Writing (Guler/2 sections/TR 12:30-1:45 OR TR 2:00-3:15): See the course description above.
ENGL 219 Introduction to Rhetorical Studies (Lettner-Rust/TR 9:30-10:45): We will examine the works of our modern world–monuments, architecture, speeches, and more–through the lens of classical and modern rhetorical concepts, design multimodal communication for specific academic audiences. Along the way, we’ll sharpen our concision, cohesion, and layout skills in written communication. Pre-req: ENGL 165
ENGL 303 Visual Rhetoric & Document Design (Green/TR 11-12:15): Students will learn the art of communication through visual elements. We will explore how messages are communicated and arguments are made in both two- and three-dimensional contexts, including, but not limited to, fashion, photography, architecture, marketing, film, and restaurant menus.
ENGL 470 Professional Writing Skills (Guler/2 sections/MW 4:00 pm-5:15 OR MW 5:30 pm-6:45: See the course description above.
Important Note for Longwood Students who have declared PW as a concentration or minor before the 2020-2021 catalog year: the new courses won’t appear in your DegreeWorks , as you will still see the older versions of some courses. So, please plan your courses according to the following:
*ENGL 302 History of Rhetoric has now changed to ENGL 219 Introduction to Rhetorical Studies: The next offering of ENGL 219 is in Fall 2021 (this course is offered only on a rotation every other fall semester). If you still need to take ENGL 302 for your concentration/minor, please plan to take ENGL 219 in Fall 2021; ENGL 219 will automatically substitute for the ENGL 302 requirement.
*ENGL 301 – Rhetorical Criticism will be offered next in Spring 2022. Currently, the theme for the course is “Rhetorical Criticism of Popular Culture.”
*ENGL 305 (Special Topics in Rhetoric/PW) will be offered next in Fall 2022. If you still need ENGL 305 to complete your concentration/minor requirements and you need to graduate before Fall 2021, contact Dr. Guler at gulere@longwood.edu so we can find a course to substitute for ENGL 305.
Please contact Dr. Guler with any other questions/concerns as well.
Congratulations to Amber Thomas for recently receiving the Maria Bristow Starke Scholarship Award, nominated and awarded annually by Longwood’s English and Modern Languages Department to one student for excellent performance in English studies!
Ms. Amber Thomas is a junior Longwood student who is majoring in English with a concentration in Professional Writing and a minor in Communication Studies. Ms. Thomas is also working as a consultant for Longwood’s Writing Center, where she is gaining valuable insight into undergraduate students’ common needs to be confident and successful writers.
Congratulations to Karyn Keane, one of our senior Professional Writing students, for receiving fully funded offers from the Rhetoric and Composition Master’s programs of multiple universities such as UMass Amherst, University of Tennessee, and Michigan State!
Karyn was also invited to fly out to Miami University in Ohio and has just announced that she’s committed to its MA program in Composition and Rhetoric, with full funding!
Karyn said: “I’m so happy to have found my next home, and I’m so thankful for all of the friends and mentors who helped me get to this point. I’ve never felt so excited and prepared for what lies ahead.”
Breanna Henshaw (on the left) has successfully been working as a licensing specialist for the Virginia Department of Professional & Occupational Regulation.
Savannah Dyer (on the right) was recently hired as a researcher at a security company in McLean, VA.
According to a survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, 93% of employers seek in their future colleagues a demonstrated capacity to
think critically,
communicate clearly,
solve complex problems.
Employers also noted that they wanted a stronger focus on written communication skills at the college level.
Payten Bovat: The Marion Camper Fuller Award 
