This advanced writing course is designed for all students who will write and communicate professionally in international contexts, where different cultures interact. We will learn and practice how symbols (e.g., text and visual) can be used to mediate knowledge, values, and actions in international professional communication. To achieve this goal, we will study the rhetorical elements of writing and communication, including audience, purpose, and exigence; we will practice different genres, such as e-mails, memos, proposals, reports, resumes, and cover letters; we will create clear, readable, and persuasive documents; we will study and apply intercultural communication theories to designing professional documents; we will discuss how persuasive strategies differ in different cultural contexts; we will compare globalization and localization strategies in professional communication; we will learn how to work in a multicultural team.

Course Requirements:

Canvas discussions

Inquiry email for an unsolicited job

Customized cover letter and resume

Collective proposal for team project

Individual memo on persuasive strategies across cultures

Team project on introducing a foreign product

Intended Audience:

All students who are interested in professional and technical writing and communication in international contexts, particularly multilingual and international students.

This course is mixed (students are expected to participate in both asynchronous activities as well as live sessions one day a week. These meetings will not be held every single week, and the specific days will be labeled on canvas and in the syllabus).

Class Format:

Instruction Mode: Study guides, discussion forums, and major assignments will be offered asynchronously on Canvas. Occasional class meetings will be delivered via Zoom. Those synchronous meetings will be marked in the syllabus when the course starts and they are mandatory for students. Virtual individual meetings are available upon request.

Learning Mode: Students need to use Canvas to complete coursework, have access to a camera and microphone to participate in synchronous meetings via Zoom.

Course Testing/Assessment: All assignments will be submitted and graded on Canvas asynchronously. No quizzes or tests.