Grove City College is home to a robust Writing Program that allows students to pursue specific types of writing in the form of either a writing minor or a writing concentration. Writing minors carry more weight in terms of credits than concentrations, but they offer a broader approach to the subject as Grove City offers either a general writing minor or a creative writing minor.
Writing concentrations allow students to take classes that teach them about specific styles of writing. At the Grove, students can concentrate in Business, Professional, Technical, Scientific or Creative Writing. Because writing concentrations are smaller in terms of credits, they allow students from majors unrelated to English or Communications to hone their writing skills and even specialize in writing that serves their craft and career pursuits. From mechanical engineers to accounting majors, students can add a writing concentration to any major, whether they are looking to write a novel or translate an instruction manual.
Grove City’s Writing Program is unique because of its offerings, but its professors are pivotal in fostering a passion for and understanding of writing in students. For this article, we asked some of Grove City’s writing professors for their input on the program.
Sometimes students shy away from writing classes thinking these courses will be the bane of their semesters and that writing is only for people who are good at it and who like it. We asked our professors what their approach is for the writing-wary student:
Dr. Joshua Mayo, Assistant Professor of English, spoke to this dread for writing and responded,
My experience suggests that nobody really dislikes writing. What most students actually dislike is the difficulty of writing, the frustration involved in articulating one’s thoughts. Aristotle says in the opening of his Metaphysics that ‘all people by nature desire to know’ math, music, physics, history: When we get it, we love it. The same goes for the art of rhetoric and writing. Who wouldn’t want a facility with words and ideas? That’s what the Writing Program is here for: to help with that innate (though sometimes abandoned) human aspiration.
Professors understand the dread some students feel for the required Writing 101 class that refuses to budge on their schedule, but instead of forcing students to go blindly into the writing process, they equip them with the understanding they need to write informatively, persuasively, and to put their ore in an age-old conversation of writers and thinkers.
Dr. David Hogsette, Director of the Writing Program and Professor of English and Writing, spoke to what differentiates Grove City’s Writing Program and how it prepares students for success in their chosen careers. He suggests,
One of the main distinctives of GCC’s Writing Program is the interdisciplinary nature of its two minors and five concentrations. In addition to taking required WRIT courses, students also take courses in such areas as communication arts, accounting, business, entrepreneurship, computer science, design, the natural sciences, and literature. Students learn the craft of writing as it manifests in various disciplines, depending upon which concentration or minor they choose. This practical interdisciplinarity lends a greater degree of legitimacy to the program.
The Writing Program at Grove City allows students of all levels of interest, confidence, and backgrounds to pursue writing as a skill to complement their craft and equip them for success.
