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The Department of Writing and Linguistics at Georgia Southern University is the only free-standing writing department in the state of Georgia and one of only a handful in the nation. We are the only department that offers a B.A. in Writing and Linguistics with coursework in four areas: Creative Writing, Professional and Technical Writing, Writing Studies, and Linguistics.
Since its inception in 2004, the Writing and Linguistics B.A. program has proven very popular with students; as of Fall 2011 we are at 140 majors and growing. In addition to the major, we also offer a minor in writing, a minor in linguistics, a minor in professional and technical writing and a second discipline option in Technical Writing for the College of Information Technology. Writing and Linguistics is also actively involved in the online Bachelor of General Studies Program.
The Department is also responsible for defining and teaching the required First-Year Writing courses – a two semester sequence which provides in-depth instruction in composition to all of Georgia Southern’s incoming freshmen.
In addition, the department sponsors the annual Student Success in Writing Conference; The Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy; the University Writing Center; and the Georgia Southern Writing Project, a satellite site of the National Writing Project.
The Department publishes the journal Fledge Online, which showcases the best writing by students in first- year writing courses. Creative writing students have opportunities to publish their work in Miscellany, the campus literary magazine – which is advised by W&L faculty – and to compete for the annual the Brittany "Ally" Harbuck Scholarship as well as the Roy Powell Creative Writing Awards in Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction.
The W&L faculty includes 50 individuals with a range of experience and education in writing, teaching, and publishing. As scholars, poets, essayists, fiction writers, former journalists, and business writers, we practice what we teach. While our teaching styles vary, our ultimate goal is to prepare our students to succeed in college and beyond by providing them with a solid foundation in critical and creative thinking, effective writing skills for a variety of purposes and audiences, and familiarity with up-to-the-minute writing technologies.