Mission
The Program for Rhetoric and Writing is a community of scholars, teachers, and students committed to exploring how discourse—in all of its various modes of communication—impacts and enriches contemporary life.Ìý As researchers, we draw on rhetoric and a number of other critical theories to study how and to what effects bodies, texts, technologies, and practices interconnect with culture, place and power. As teachers, we help students learn how to leverage a wide variety of genres, modes, and media to generate critical, creative, and persuasive content for multiple audiences in order to gain agency for themselves and others. And as a program dedicated to the applied public humanities at large, we work with multiple entities on and off campus through the WRITE Lab to explore how public-facing publications, projects, and pedagogies can be designed and delivered to engage and enhance contemporary life in personal, professional, civic contexts
The PWR is proud of being an independent writing program with a national profile in the discipline of rhetoric and composition/writing studies. In addition to preparing students to engage critically and communicate effectively in interpersonal, professional, and civic spheres, we partner with multiple colleges, departments, and programs to train other scholars how to teach writing within various disciplinary domains.
As a faculty, we affirm the following disciplinary and professional values:
Rhetoric—as an ancient field of study, a critical framework, and an applied practice with contemporary ramifications--has an important place in liberal arts education.
Rhetoric is a universal means of communication; from ancient to contemporary times, rhetoric has been foundational to effective communication in all cultures and communities in the United States and across the globe.
Rhetoric is a valuable critical lens through which to understand everyday language practices, analyze diverse forms of creative expression and public persuasion, and interrogate systems of information, influence, and power.
Rhetoric is an important civic, professional, and interpersonal practice. While often thought about as a deceitful and suspicious tactic, rhetoric is commonly applied in a wide variety of official and nonofficial contexts to exert influence through reason, emotion, and affect—from legislative courts to rallies on the streets to conversations at family dinner tables.
Rhetoric is a faculty of mind, a communicative practice, and an applied art that takes shape in multiple and diverse media, modes, and genres. From printed op-eds to documentary films to podcasts, protest songs, and business proposals, rhetoric is enacted in a variety of forms to achieve a variety of nuanced aims, including but not limited to education, persuasion, inspiration, motivation, and resistance.
Rhetoric is architectonic; as a critical, creative, and persuasive practice, rhetoric contributes to the production, communication, and application of knowledge in all disciplinary domains.
While effective applied public writing can be taught well using a variety of methods, theories, and technologies, rhetoric--in theory and practice--is an especially potent means of teaching impactful communication within and across various disciplines.
Teaching written, oral, and digital communication effectively from a rhetorical perspective requires disciplinary training and professional status.
- Education in rhetoric and applied public writing is best delivered through pedagogical collaboration and partnerships in order to meet all students’ personal, disciplinary, professional, and civic needs.
Undergraduate
PWR’s undergraduate curriculum is grounded in three core educational tenets:
A healthy democracy requires critically-informed citizens, and a strong rhetorical education in applied public writing can well prepare students to develop the diverse critical literacies needed to envision and cultivate an inclusive and equitable society.
Student voices matter to public life, and learning to develop that voice happens best through small class sizes in which students can get to know their professors, dialogue with peers, practice writing in various genres and media, get extensive feedback on their writing, and apply their writing to real world situations.
Effective communication is foundational to success in personal, professional, and civic contexts, and effective communication is best learned through creative and intentional practice and experiential learning in which students gain experience applying their learning to real-world situations
With these three tenets in mind, PWR offers a wide range of lower and upper division courses in which students can expect to enhance their ability to:
critically read and interpret circulating documents, information, and data to best determineÌýwhat counts as truth, fact, and credible evidence
analyze contemporary arguments made in various spheres of influence and interrogate how people, technologies, and organizations deploy discourse to gain power in various contexts
research, consider, and engage with diverse perspectives and learn various rhetorical strategies to develop well-reasoned arguments
develop a unique voice and style through practice generating creative and persuasive content via diverse modes, media, and platforms
communicate effectively in a wide variety of genres that are central not only to students’ individual lives but also to diverse communities and to public life at large.
Whether students are interested in improving their ability to communicate within a desired career domain; publishing their own and others’ creative nonfiction; or impacting social change through public advocacy projects, we offer a number of innovative courses and curricular paths, including Writing Certificates, Minors, and to assist students’ educational aims.
PWR is especially committed to helping ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ· students meet their general educational requirements that align with ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Ʒ’s common curriculum learning outcomes. Toward these aims, we also administer an extensive first-year writing program to help students earn their lower division writing requirements, and we offer a wide variety of 3000 and 4000 level courses through which students can fulfill their upper division writing requirements.
Graduate
PWR conceives of writing as an act of learning, discovery, creative expression, and communication with deeply civic, political, educational, and social ramifications. As such, PWR holds that writing, as a practice, should be central to higher education and all disciplines of academic learning. Unfortunately, the practice of writing is underemphasized in many academic courses, and the teaching of writing is often relegated to a few professors in English departments, stand alone writing programs, and the humanities. PWR pushes against such notion, arguing that no matter the discipline, foregrounding writing can be an invaluable means of enhancing student learning, self-expression, and communication.
With this educational philosophy in mind, PWR regularly offers graduate courses in theories and practices of writing education, as well as workshops about best practices of writing pedagogy for students and faculty at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú´«Ã½ÎÄ»¯×÷Æ·.Ìý