Rhetoric, one of the oldest liberal arts and developed in ancient Greece to prepare citizens for active participation in democratic society, has long been focused on connecting itself to "the life of the polis." The English major concentration in Professional Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) reflects a national trend in higher education, as well as a long tradition within the discipline of rhetoric, to more clearly connect the liberal arts to worlds beyond the walls of academia.
Though distinctly not a pre-professional program, PWR prepares students to be more critically reflective, civically responsible communicators in their daily lives and, primarily, workplace contexts.