Alumni Spotlight
Madiha Patel

Madiha Patel, WRTC, M.A., 2020

Madiha Patel earned her Master of Arts in WRTC in 2020. After completing a Bachelor’s in International and Religious Studies at Towson University, she sought to expand her understanding of how human rights, foreign affairs, and peacebuilding efforts in theory translated into practice locally and globally. This interest brought her to WRTC where she gained frameworks to enhance communication in peacebuilding spaces.

Madiha currently provides grant writing services and communication strategies to community-based nonprofits. Her WRTC training in professional writing, literacy building, and rhetoric are critical to her work in supporting nonprofits serving marginalized communities.

Greetings From The Director

"When you join our program, you become part of a supportive, high-energy community of faculty and students who are dedicated writers and content creators." Read More

— Dr. Lori Beth De Hertogh, WRTC Graduate Program Director

 

Program Advantages

Why we're one of the top graduate writing programs in Virginia: 
  • Assistantships to cover tuition and provide a stipend to qualified applicants.
  • Design & Technological Skills to pursue writing careers in digital storytelling, publication management, professional editing, content strategy, UX, and more.
  • Public & Professional Writing and Health & Science Writing tracks.
  • Students From Diverse Majors including science, English, sociology, business, education, writing studies, psychology, journalism, and more.
  • Career Support that includes close mentorship, career advising, job application guidance, and conference travel funding.
  • Internship or Thesis Option to pursue either an internship or write a research-based thesis.

ADMISSIONS INFORMATION

Writing Careers

WRTC graduates pursue writing careers in:

  • Technical Communication
  • Medical Writing
  • Professional Editing
  • Science Writing
  • Information Design
  • Digital Storytelling
  • Content Strategy
  • User Experience
  • Grant Writing
  • Teaching Writing
  • Publication Management

"There's a wide range of things within Writing Studies that you can focus on."

— Jessie Wiggins

Graduate Student Spotlight

saif_grad_spotlight.pngMohammed Saifullai is a second-year graduate student in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical communication (WRTC) at James Madison University.

Saif is currently interning at the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. where he assists with writing, documentation processing, and content creation. Post-graduation, he plans to pursue doctoral studies in rhetoric and composition.

When asked how WRTC prepared him for his internship, Saif underscored that “Our graduate writing program has helped me build skills in creating professional communications such as emails, reports, and other workplace documents that are applicable in diverse professional settings such as the Embassy of Ghana. WRTC has also improved my knowledge of workplace tools and technologies such as collaboration platforms and content management systems.”

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Upcoming Courses

In the 2024-2025 academic year, our graduate writing program will offer electives on:

  • user-experience
  • document design
  • communication ethics
  • teaching writing
  • how to launch a writing career

Want to know more? Contact Dr. Lori Beth De Hertogh, WRTC Graduate Program Director, at dehertlb@jmu.edu.

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