Course Descriptions for Spring 2026 Offerings

WR 200.01: Intro to Creative Nonfiction

Counts as a Peace and Justice Minor Studies elective.

Instructor:  Prof. Jane Satterfield 
TTH 4:30-5:45pm

Creative nonfiction is true stories artfully told. Nonfiction writers hail from all disciplines and walks of life; they top bestseller charts with styles that range from the traditional to the experimental. They pay witness to and advocate for the common good. In Introduction to Creative Nonfiction, you’ll learn strategies successful writers use to protest, persuade, and entertain while drawing on the dynamic energy of great fiction.  
 
We’ll read personal essays and profiles with a special focus on today’s cutting-edge flash nonfiction to help you explore outlets for your publishing future. Our class will offer a supportive atmosphere where you can receive feedback and cultivate creativity. By semester’s end, you’ll have a portfolio of work that showcases your unique take on stories that matter most to you. 
 
Whether you want to preserve the people and places and things you love, share your discoveries with the world, or speak out for social justice, our class will help you harness the power of real-life stories to reach a wider audience in the classroom, in the workplace, and beyond. All majors and levels of experience welcome! 

WR 220: Introduction to Rhetoric

Instructor: Dr. Martin Camper
TTH 10:50-12:05

We know that great speakers and writers—from Cesar Chavez to Shirley Chisholm—are able to persuade their audiences to change their beliefs and actions. But how? To answer this question, we will mine the rich tradition of classical rhetoric, developed by Greco-Roman language theorists, such as Aristotle and Cicero. As you will learn, rhetoric is more than the verbal spin of politicians, though we will certainly examine political discourse. Rhetoric is the art of writing and speaking to move people to enact change. Rhetorical theory also reveals how we are constantly persuading other people and being persuaded ourselves. As a diversity-justice designated course, we will be especially concerned with the connections between persuasion, diversity, identity, and power in the United States. Through the close analysis and production of non-fiction texts, you will learn and practice how to produce prose that is sensitive to diverse audiences and capable of addressing complex social issues in a variety of academic, public, civic, and professional settings.

WR 230: Introduction to Poetry and Fiction

Instructor: Prof. Karen Fish
TTH 10:50-12:05

This is a foundational course for those with little or no experience with fiction and/or poetry. You might simply want to “try it out.” I find it impossible to teach writing without teaching close reading. Students will learn to read like writers and gradually notice the many technical choices that authors regularly make. Reading closely can give us ideas and provide context. I am interested in inspiring you and fostering an atmosphere where it is enjoyable to experiment and practice, rewrite and revise. Writing is finally about studying good writing and finding things worth writing about.

WR 305: Writing for the Web and Social Media

Instructor: Dr. Andrea Leary
MWF 1:00-1:50

 “Billions of people use digital tools and technologies every day to communicate. It is worth examining how these tools can be used effectively and ethically.”–Dan Lawrence, Digital Writing

Why? Because nearly everyone is writing for the web, and you want to do it well—you want to stand out. How will you do that? With your voice. We will focus on developing your own brand voice and writing with the voice of your service partner. A clear, unique voice will set your writing apart.

Writing for the Web will focus on the practicalities of web writing—ethics, distinctiveness, persuasiveness, vivid writing style. You will produce social media marketing packages, reviews, e-newsletters, blogs, infographics, press releases, and a website. You’ll use multi-modal strategies appropriate for your audience and genre as you write persuasively. And nearly every assignment will be produced for your service partner—a nonprofit who will be able to use the portfolio of materials that you produce. By the end of this course, you’ll have honed your own distinct voice, have a portfolio of a variety of genres of web writing that are ready for your next internship or job opportunity, and you’ll have served an organization in our community. A win-win.

WR 311: Style

Instructor: Dr. Martin Camper
TTH 12:15-1:30pm

In this course, we will explore the rhetorical art of style. We will study and use a number of tools for recognizing, discussing, and shaping forms of discourse at the levels of the word, sentence, and paragraph. Throughout the semester, we will consider the intimate relationship that style has with argument, audience, and ethics. To help us achieve these ends, we will read and analyze a variety of texts, past and contemporary, to strengthen your understanding of the connections between stylistic choices and persuasive effects. We will also explore how to apply stylistic concepts to images for the purposes of analyzing and composing multimodal texts. For the major assignments, you will take on the role of a marketing, messaging, or public relations consultant, wielding your stylistic knowledge and skills to advance a campaign for a cause, public figure, organization, or product, etc. The stylistic skills you will acquire in this course can be adapted for a variety of academic, creative, and professional situations. 

WR326 Technical Writing 

Instructor: Dr. Tiffany Curtis  
MWF 3:00 – 3:50  

This course focuses on using industry-standard approaches to writing and research and on refining your communication skills for various audiences. To best prepare you for a workplace setting, you will produce conventional professional documents, as well as instructions, technical descriptions, and reports. Students will also practice project management and collaboration and engage in discussions of workplace ethics and basic research methods through usability testing. This course is designed to reflect the new needs of the market, encompassing those students in STEM fields, social sciences, and in the humanities. Our section will be a community-engaged course. We will have a community partner, and one of our assignments will be designed to work with our partner, allowing students to gain experience in tailoring their writing to meet the needs of a specific audience in a professional environment

WR 335:Advanced Fiction

Recommended Prerequisite: WR230 and WR333

Instructor: Dr. Marian Crotty 
MW 3:00-4:15

This course is an advanced fiction workshop focused on the short story. We’ll read contemporary short stories and study how they are put together. We’ll talk about plot and pacing, scene construction, characterization, and language, building on fundamental concepts and considering ways contemporary writers successfully break “the rules.” You’ll also write two short stories and receive feedback from me and your classmates. This course is designed for students who have some experience with creative writing and are eager to develop their craft in a collaborative and encouraging setting.

WR 340:Writing Poetry

Instructor: Prof. Karen Fish
TTH 3:05-4:20

You don't have to want to be a poet to take this class—just someone interested in experimenting and playing around with language. This class is for anyone interested in writing poems and deepening and expanding their knowledge of modern poetics.

We will look at the work of modern poets and gain context. I find it impossible to teach writing without teaching close reading. For me, the aim is to foster a creative environment that is supportive and conducive for you to generate poems. I am interested in creating an atmosphere where it is enjoyable to experiment and practice, rewrite and revise. Writing is finally about studying good writing and finding things worth writing about. Workshop and discussion format.

WR 343: Special Topics: Writing about Food

Counts as a Peace and Justice Minor Studies elective

Instructor: Dr. Terre Ryan
MWF 9:00-9:50

Like food? Are you hungry to learn about American food culture? This nonfiction writing course focuses on the craft of writing about food. With a special focus on justice, we’ll read a selection of contemporary and classic works of American food writing; analyze websites, ads, television programs, menus, etc.; and watch films exploring the relationship between food and American culture. We’ll engage in rhetorical analysis and practice techniques of nonfiction by writing a food memoir, a feature story, and other works. This course is for students who are interested in food and American culture, in writing nonfiction, or in sharpening their writing skills.

WR 352: Biography and Autobiography

Instructor: Prof. Jane Satterfield
TTH 12:15-1:30

Everyone’s life includes elements of drama, humor, and insight. In Biography and Autobiography, you’ll learn how to shape memory and experience into compelling writing.

Why do others’ life stories fascinate us? What challenges do authors face when their experience is at odds with cultural expectations? What are the social benefits and ethical dimensions of writing about our lives? About other people’s lives? We’ll answer these questions, and many more.

Our class will explore the varied traditions of life writing through works by celebrated contemporary writers whose subjects include culture, heritage, art, and leisure. We’ll look at the history and conventions of both memoir and biography to show how writers push boundaries and innovate within these genres. You’ll experiment with popular short forms, including micro-memoir, zuihitsu, and the flash essay.

Lively class discussion, informal writing exercises, and supportive workshop sessions will push your writing in new directions as you create a portfolio of work that blends your own unique voice with the key techniques of today’s best life writing. All majors and levels of experience welcome!

WR 355: Travel Writing

Instructor: Dr. Marian Crotty
Asynchronous Online

In this section of Travel Writing, you will read contemporary travel writing and use these essays as inspiration for your own writing. Throughout the course, you will maintain a travel blog of photographs and writing that documents your experiences studying abroad. You will also connect online with other Loyola students and learn about each other’s locations by reading and responding to each other’s writing. I hope this class will encourage you to more fully immerse yourself in your surroundings by prompting you to explore your location and to reflect upon the challenges and rewards of travel.

WR  357: Writing About Film

Instructor: Dr. Brian Murray
TTH 4:30-5:45

In Writing About Film, students are asked to write in a clear and engaging way about our most popular art form.  It focuses mainly on mastering the film review while also encouraging students to develop or refine their own critical voices. We will watch mostly modern and contemporary movies while also reading reviews and essays that show a variety of approaches to writing about film. A somewhat longer essay/review on a relevant film topic is also required.  Students aren’t required to buy costly textbooks but will need access to Netflix and other sites (like Amazon) where recent or current films are made available.    

WR 386: Special Topic: The Rhetoric of America

Instructor: Dr. Martin Camper
TTH 1:40-2:55

Many contemporary debates over policy in the United States—whether over guns, healthcare, immigration, inequality, or policing—hinge on the interpretation of canonical American texts, like the constitution and the national anthem. This course examines how key legal documents, speeches, letters, and songs, constitute the canon of American civil religion as central, if contested, sites of democratic meaning-making. We will use rhetorical theory to understand disputes over America’s “sacred” texts and develop skills for crafting persuasive arguments about their meaning. We will also engage with multimodal responses to or interpretations of these key documents, from musical performances to visual memorials. The course has a peace and justice studies designation, and a diversity-justice designation is being sought as well. Additionally, we will participate in the 2026 Humanities Symposium, whose theme is the country’s 250th anniversary, with a focus on the Declaration of Independence and Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”

WR 400.01: Senior Seminar (Creative Writing)

Required capstone for Writing majors and minors

Instructor: Dr. Brian Murray
TTH 4:30-5:45pm

Senior Seminar invites graduating students to think about mainly non-fiction prose in a sophisticated way, focusing on matters of voice and style. It examines works by classic as well as contemporary writers, allowing students to consider how the essay form has changed and remained constant over the years. As importantly, Senior Seminar gives students the opportunity to write effective, well-crafted essays of their own, drawing on previous writing classes and on literary models examined in Senior Seminar. Senior Seminar encourages students to draw upon personal experience, but also to locate their writings within a larger literary conversation, using other resources and voices to add to their own. We read essays and watch relevant videos related to a variety of topics, including status, food, and various aspects of modern consumer culture.

WR 400.02: Senior Seminar (Rhetorical Theory)

Required capstone for Writing majors and minors

Instructor: Dr. Peggy O'Neill
W 6:00-8:30

This course is designed as a culminating course for writing majors and minors who are interested in developing their rhetorical knowledge and skill in non-fiction, persuasive texts. We will read primary and secondary sources in rhetorical theory to survey perspectives and debates about persuasion. Most of the rhetorical theory we read, or read about, will be from a diversity of rhetoricians in the Western rhetorical tradition (historical and contemporary), but we will also sample and read about theories from non-Western traditions. In addition to engaging with rhetorical theory through various modes and means, students will develop original projects—involving substantial revision aimed at contributing to a professional portfolio to use for application to work or graduate school or for other professional goals. Students interested in taking this course from a creative writing perspective should consider registering for the other section, WR400.01

WR 402: Writing Internship 

Restricted to junior and senior writing majors, interdisciplinary writing majors, or writing minors. Written or electronic permission of the internship coordinator or department chair.

Instructor: Dr. Andrea Leary

You have taken the classes, completed the assignments, and polished your writing. You’ve worked hard in each writing class to hone the skills you need to make your mark in the workplace. Taking the internship class will give you that extra edge. Not only will you gain valuable work experience in this course, you will leave with a professional portfolio, a potential supervisor recommendation, and opportunities for reflection and discernment.

WR402, the three-credit internship class, allows you polish your resume, locate a workplace that fits your future goals, and learn in that environment for 120 hours during the semester (essentially 8-10 hours per week). Because this is a class, you will be asked to do some reading and writing on your experiences, but we will not meet in a classroom in order to allow you ample time at your internship. Instead, much of our communication will occur online, as we discuss your goals, challenges, and successes. You will work with The Successful Internship: Personal, Professional, and Civic Development in Experiential Learning as a text, which will give you advice along with the opportunity to apply that advice to your experiences in your workplace. In addition, you will have the chance to read your classmates’ reflections and offer advice there as well.

Classroom learning builds your foundation. Combine classroom learning with an internship, and you’ll have the experience you need to help you land that first job.