Stony Brook University has received approval to launch a new bachelor’s degree program in rhetoric and writing.
Current Stony Brook students will be able to enroll in the major beginning in the Spring 2025 semester. It will be available on the Stony Brook new student application for students applying for Fall 2026 admission.
“Strong writing and other communication skills are consistently rated as among the most important skills employers look for when they are hiring new employees,” said Peter Khost, director of the College of Arts and Sciences Program in Writing and Rhetoric. “Yet many of those same employers say they fear most job applicants lack those skills. Graduates of this program will absolutely have those vital writing skills, as well as analytical and critical thinking skills that can take them so far both professionally and personally.”
The program is offered jointly by the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, which will soon become the Department in Writing and Rhetoric in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Communication and Journalism. With 39 credits in the major, the program was designed with the flexibility to be a second major.
“This program is for students who are fascinated by the power of language in everyday life,” said Patricia Medved, undergraduate program director. “The rhetoric and writing program will help students analyze and produce written communication, for different purposes and in different contexts.”
Culminating in a bachelor of arts degree, the rhetoric and writing major prepares students for careers in various forms of professional writing, including speech writing, technical writing, policy work, and grant and proposal development. It also serves students interested in careers in education, law and fundraising.
In the program, students learn to critique, write, and disseminate the messages that shape society, culture, and social identity. They will take core courses in intercultural and interpersonal communication, theories and methods in rhetoric and writing, professional writing, and choose from a variety of elective classes in different forms of writing and communication in areas including health, medicine, AI, culture, the environment, and much more.
This is the Program in Writing and Rhetoric’s first degree program. Its two minors, in writing and rhetoric, and professional writing, are among the most popular humanities minors at Stony Brook.
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