Mission and Goals
Our aim is to prepare students to be culturally and technologically engaged thinkers, writers, researchers, teachers, and citizens. To meet this goal, we work to provide a humane educational experience informed by rigorous intellectual and ethical practices. Because our program emphasizes rhetoric not only as theoretical engagement but also as productive action, we envision many sites of practice as appropriate for “doing rhetoric”: communities, classrooms, workplaces, cultures, and texts (print, digital, and non-alphabetic). Our sense of professional identity extends to a commitment to service to our department, institutions, professional organizations, and communities. Students in our program are encouraged to envision their work as taking place at the intersections of scholarship, teaching, and service within a range of linguistically and culturally diverse contexts.
The goal of the MA in Critical Studies in Literacy Pedagogy (CSLP) is to prepare teachers and researchers in the fields of English Education and Composition and Rhetoric. CSLP emphasizes the teaching and learning of language and literacy in multiple contexts and multiple modes, including print, digital, and visual, as well as research in these areas. Central to the program’s emphasis is the critical examination of ethnicity and multiculturalism as they apply to the teaching of literacy; the democratization of the classroom; the role of language and schooling in society at-large; and the politics of language, literacy, and culture.
| Core courses | |
|---|---|
| AL 833 | Composition Pedagogies |
| AL 842 | Writing Workshop for Teachers |
| AL 992 | Seminar in Language, Literacy ,and Pedagogy |
| AL 878 | Composition Studies: Issues, Theories, and Research |
| TE 835 | Theory and Research on the Teaching of Writing |
| ENG 812 | Studies in the English Language |
Plus an additional course in Writing, Rhetoric and Technology
CSLP concentrations
Composition and Rhetoric Concentration--specifically designed for those who wish to teach English at the college level with a principal focus on writing, literacy, and language, or who plan to go on to advanced graduate study in Composition and Rhetoric Studies.
English Education Concentration--specifically designed for recently certified teachers of secondary English who wish to pursue their continuing certification coursework in a master’s degree focusing on issues of disciplinary knowledge, methodology, and pedagogy, or for those who plan to go on to advanced graduate study in English Education. This concentration provides middle and secondary English teachers with opportunities to directly address subject-specific pedagogical interests and needs. Its content meets the guidelines as set forth by the National Council of Teachers of English for academic and professional studies in English language arts education.
For additional information, descriptions and course requirements in the MA in CSLP see section 2.0 of the latest handbook.
The MA in Digital Rhetoric & Professional Writing (DRPW) serves both as a professional degree for students interested in a technical/professional writing career track and as a preparatory degree for PhD-level work in rhetoric, writing, communication studies, media studies, or technical communication. Designed for completion in a minimum of two years, this program provides students with a theoretically grounded yet practical experience in technical/professional writing, with a special focus on designing writing for digital environments.
| Core courses | |
|---|---|
| WRA 415 | Digital Rhetoric |
| WRA 420 | Advanced Technical Writing |
| AL 841 | Professional Writing Theory and Research |
| AL 805 | Rhetoric Theory and History |
For additional information, descriptions and course requirements in the MA in DRPW see section 3.0 of the current handbook.
The PhD in Rhetoric & Writing prepares students to study writing as situated practice and to research, develop, and administer a variety of academic, workplace, civic, government, nonprofit, publishing, and digital writing projects. Designed for completion in four or five years, the degree promotes the critical skills necessary for students to be productive scholars and researchers in rhetoric and writing, and prepares students for faculty and administrative positions in college writing programs.
| Core courses | |
|---|---|
| AL 805 | Rhetoric Theory and History |
| AL 833 | Composition Pedagogies |
| AL 870 | Research Methodologies in Rhetoric & Writing |
| AL 878 | Composition Studies: Issues, Theory, and Research |
| AL 882 | Contemporary Theories of Rhetoric |
| AL 885 | Research Colloquium |
PhD concentrations
Community Literacies - designed for students who want to study language and literacy in settings outside of schools and universities (e.g., workplaces, neighborhood organizations, non-profits, after-school programs, etc.). Theories of and research on democratic participation, phronesis, outreach, and activism are explored in light of everyday lives and literacy practices.
Critical Studies in Literacy and Pedagogy -- puts coursework in language and literacy, teaching and learning with technology, and research methodology at its center. Each student in CSLP creates a curricular experience that builds from the Rhetoric & Writing core in its requirements, and allows students to carefully choose elective courses relevant to her/his professional goals.
Cultural Rhetorics -- places rhetoric at the epistemological center of inquiries into specific cultural, economic and historical contexts. This concentration is distinctive both in its emphasis on located practices and in its methodological flexibility, it requires students to receive formal training in rhetorical methodologies (ranging from critical textual analysis to phenomenological and naturalistic studies of rhetorical practices) and it encourages students to develop a specific cultural focus through consultation with their guidance committees.
Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing -- intended for students who want to teach and do research in rhetoric and technology, computers and composition, digital media arts and writing, visual rhetoric, technical communication, or professional writing.
Nonfiction Writing -- intended for writers and teachers who find the many forms of literary and creative nonfiction, lyric, narrative, digital, and hybrid genres including personal cultural criticism, central to their study of rhetoric, literacy, and culture.
Self-designed concentration (with guidance committee approval) -- the student can design a concentration in areas as diverse as Literary/Creative Nonfiction, Humanities Computing, American Indian Studies, American Studies, Ethnic Studies, Theory and Cultural Studies, Women's Studies, Art and Graphic Design, Film Studies, English, Philosophy, Literacy, or Digital Media Arts and Technology.
For additional information, descriptions and course requirements in the PhD in R&W see section 4.0 of the current handbook.
