Longwood Professional Writing

LATEST UPDATES AND OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Congratulations to Haley Vasquez, one of our recent Longwood Professional Writing alumni, for being hired as a senior technical writer at PlayStation/Sony! Haley was one of our superstar Professional Writing students who has recently also received an M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition from Washington State University.

 

Chris Crider, one of our recent Professional Writing Program alumni, has been hired as a Digital Content Writer at VMek, an international agricultural technology company based in Richmond, VA. Chris has been an active student in the program, previously completing an OSR/CURIO project with Dr. Elif Guler as well as internships with organizations such as  Steps, Inc.

In his reflection on his internship at Steps, Inc, Chris wrote:

Right away, I was able to examine principles and practices of effective professional communication, including visual and written communication, in a workplace setting at Steps, Inc. I accomplished this goal by creating different types of documents, such as employee assessments, client referral forms, satisfaction surveys based on employee performance, volunteer documents outlining volunteer responsibilities as well as a volunteer sign-in form, and finally the annual report. Through the research and creation of these documents, I was able to analyze rhetorical situations in online written communication with attention to audience, purpose, format, and context. Each professional document’s audience varied, so it was essential that I took the opportunity to analyze the rhetorical situation being addressed for a particular document before sending out my final draft.”

Congratulations, Chris! The Professional Writing Program is proud of your accomplishments!

Congratulations to Karyn Keane, one of our Professional Writing concentrators, for winning the Rosemary Sprague Endowment Scholarship at the EML Awards Banquet on March 26, 2019! The Professional Writing Program at Longwood is proud of her continuous accomplishments!

Marissa Del Priore, who graduated from Longwood University with a degree in English and a concentration in Professional Writing (2015), has recently become Specification Writer II at Fleet Support Group, a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries. Before and after her graduation, Marissa worked as a Technical Writer and in other capacities (such as Purchasing Manager) at various companies in different parts of the U.S.

Congratulations, Marissa! We are proud of your continued accomplishments and everything you are doing with your Professional Writing education.

Karyn Keane, a current English student with a concentration in Professional Writing, has gotten awarded a scholarship from SNVC Institute for Leadership and Innovation. The scholarship is awarded to a Longwood University undergraduate student in good academic standing who has demonstrated quality leadership. Congratulations, Karyn!

Our recent Professional Writing graduate, Chelsea Smith, has recently got hired as Front-End Coordinator at Progressive Therapy in Farmville, VA. Congratulations, Chelsea!

In Spring 2018, our recent Professional Writing graduate, Colin Deans, successfully completed an internship with the Robert R. Russa Moton Museum.
“As an intern for Moton, I utilized my writing skills from a public relations standpoint. I was responsible for researching, writing, and hosting/presenting the museum’s historical/cultural podcast. [My assignments at the Moton Museum] allowed me to demonstrate many professional writing skills including oral and written communication, document design, research, and analysis.”
Congratulations, Colin!

Today, four students of the Professional Writing Program have presented their Senior Seminar papers–which marks their successful completion of the English Program at Longwood University. The students’ papers included the following (click on the link for the related tweet):

Chris Crider: “‘Nevermore’: The Sense of an Ending in Poe’s The Raven”

Colin Deans: “No Exit? A Sartrean Critique of Palahniuk’s Fight Club”

Selected students of the Professional Writing (PW) Program have effectively presented the top rhetorical analysis papers from ENGL 301-Rhetorical Criticism at Longwood University’s Spring Symposium. (CLICK on the link for the related tweet.) Held on April 24, 2018, the panel symposium featured Karyn Keane (English, concentration in PW), Kim Daucher (Criminal Justice, minor in PW), Savannah Dyer (History, minor in PW), and Breanne Henshaw (History, minor in PW). The students’ rhetorical studies included the following:

– ’Don’t Ever Give Up’: A Rhetorical Perspective to How Jim Valvano Refused to ‘Shut Up and Dribble’ (Savannah Dyer)

– A Different Use of Rhetoric in the Criminal Justice System: An Aristotelian Critique of Barack Obama’s Address to the NAACP (Kimberly Daucher)

– The Rhetoric of the Spare in Dumbledore’s Eulogy for Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Karyn Keane)

– A Neo-Aristotelian Criticism of Ashley Judd’s Speech at the 2017 Women’s March on Washington D.C. (Breanne Henshaw)

Congratulations, All!

Chelsea Smith has recently presented her paper, “Fluid Manifestation of Gender in Louise Erdrich’s The Last Report at Little No Horse: The Ojibwe Tradition,” at the 2018 Big South Undergraduate Research Symposium (BigSURS) held at Liberty University from April 13-14, 2018.

Chelsea’s paper focuses on Louise Erdrich’s The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse which, Chelsea states, “has sparked countless scholarship regarding how several genders are practiced by a single character. The complexity of expressed gender is further complicated alongside the multiple identities that Father Damien exhibits along his journey throughout the social constraints, religious acquiescence, and cultural semblance of western culture, ultimately ending in the complete assimilation to the Ojibwe culture, and the completely fulfilled spiritual journey that Father Damien desires.” Chelsea argues that “the only way to fully understand Father Damien’s gender is to understand its complexity as designed by and within the Ojibwe tradition–which practices a complete acceptance of the fluidity and hybridity of Father Damien’s physical body and religious beliefs.”

Congratulations, Chelsea!