WRIT300 Professional Writing
Professional Writing will expand and deepen students’ ability to write effectively in civic and corporate contexts. Such writing skills emerge in leaders who not only know how to analyze and articulate complex problems but also know how to envision and express written solutions that reveal solid decision-making on public policy, and business and societal trends.
While the Writing & Reasoning course, taken by most SMU students in their first year, focuses on breadth, here the students will be deepening their skills by exploring and writing about more complex issues in society and business. Students will engage with the need for deeper research, better audience analysis, and more structured writing, with a more nuanced adaptation to the context appropriate to their intended publications.
Students will consider and respond to meaningful real-world issues and situations in each of the written projects. They will explore not only what other people have said about the issues that they confront, but also develop and communicate their own responses. The finished pieces will form the basis of a portfolio of written work to showcase their ability to think critically, conduct appropriate literature research, analyse their findings, argue their case, and produce professional communication outcomes. This portfolio will be a valuable addition to their resumes when they graduate.
The final project will be an in-depth feature piece written for either:
- Rice Media (https://www.ricemedia.co/). Rice Media editors advise the students during the Week 10 presentations, and students will have the chance to have their work published by Rice Media after the term finishes.
- The Skeptic Magazine (https://www.skeptic.org.uk/). The editor of the Skeptic advises the students during the Week 10 presentations, and students will have the chance to have their work published by The Skeptic after the term finishes.
Pre-requisites
Students will need to have either completed COR1100 Writing & Reasoning, WRIT001 Programme in Writing and Reasoning or LAW106 Legal Research and Writing I, or to have been exempted from it. Exchange students are not expected to have completed the pre-requisites.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
● Write and communicate persuasively in professional contexts
● Write to effectively communicate to different, sometimes competing stakeholders
● Think and inquire critically
● Apply theoretical and analytical frameworks to solve complex real-world problems
● Apply cross-disciplinary knowledge to their writing
● Work in multi-disciplinary teams
● Apply ethical decision making principles to writing
Student Feature Pieces
The Skeptic
● Traditional Chinese Medicine’s grip on Singaporean society
● Food for thought: the Hungry Ghost Festival of Singapore
● Mothers-only Lockdown: postpartum confinement practices in Asia
● Kumanthong, Ghost Babies, and Child Angels: the persistence of superstition in Singapore
● Who is “That Girl”, and why do Gen Zs worship her routine?
● Where mental illness is blamed on spirits, we need to be human to reach people
● The self-help industry is booming, but its advice is rarely based on solid evidence
● Is there a role in modern Singapore for superstitions and the little ways they control us?
● Could lucid dreaming be the answer to avoiding persistent, recurring nightmares?
● Exploring the ongoing popularity of Feng Shui in Singaporean society
● The fear of job loss due to artificial intelligence is unfounded
● Saju: the Korean obsession with fortune-telling
● The shamanic hunt for missing planes and easy answers in Singapore
● Len Dong: the role of traditional rituals in modern Vietnamese communities
● Joss paper offerings: how to make Chinese hell a fun place for your ancestors
● Closed coffins and open coffers: the costs of Singaporean Chinese funeral practices
● What effect can superstitions have on your mental health?
● Be A Man: assessing the Manosphere and its influence in Singapore
● How to spot and avoid greenwashing and misleading eco claims
● As an always-online Gen Z, it’s impossible to avoid conspiracy theories on social media
● Digital Deities: When does celebrity fandom slip into a cult mentality?
● Taylor Swift conspiracy theories owe more to misogyny than the Illuminati
● The Quantified Self: technological gimmick or genuine game changer?
Rice Media
● “I Did Not Sign Up as a MOH Call Agent to Be Traumatised”
● In Building a Post-Pandemic World, Have We Forgotten the Elderly?
● “Ma! Kor Kor Hit Me!” — The Sibling Bullying We Too Easily Dismiss
● Unpacking Gender Roles With My Ma, a First-Time Store Owner at 48
● Burnout Pushed a Primary School Teacher To Quit. Now She Runs a Forest School.
● Why Do Elderly Singaporeans Spend Their Days at Heartland Coffee Shops?
● The Only HDB Block of 1-Room Rental Flats in Holland Village
● I Spent $800 on Skincare in a Month, but I Still Felt Ugly
● Notes From Within the Friend Zone
● Conditional Love: The Queer Fear of Coming Out to Family in Singapore
● A Day in the Life of a Void Deck
● Between Two Worlds: The Reality of Being an Expat Child in Singapore
● The Emotional Cost of Ignoring Our Parents’ Calls
The Straits Times