Total Required Credits: 18

As a minor offered in the English Department, Studies of Writing, Rhetorics & Literacies fosters students’ understanding of the theory, analysis, production, and circulation of texts. Investigating the historical and contemporary issues of writing, rhetoric, and literacy, this series of courses draws upon the fields of composition and rhetoric, communication studies, and literacy research to challenge students to use advanced rhetorical and literacy capabilities for the purpose of self reflection, social transformation, and job marketability. Additionally, students apply that knowledge to the production of traditional and multimodal texts that rehearse their abilities to integrate text, image, sound, and other symbolic systems into technologically-based platforms. In engaging students in the interdependent discourses and processes of writing, literacy and rhetoric, the minor reinforces students’ capabilities to analyze language, to respond in socially-responsible ways, to share knowledge in teaching/learning situations, and to circulate their ideas in public forums. Students in the minor will not only learn how advanced literacies and rhetorical language create and support structures of power but, also, how as users of language (aka, scholars and rhetors), they can both access those social structures and intervene to reshape them.

Learning Objectives

Students will learn to:

• (Language) Recognize multiple languages, dialects, and literacies as tools of communication and analyze the politics of language and context.
• (Rhetoric) Understand the role of rhetorical theory in civic engagement and public discourse. Analyze, identify, and apply rhetorical strategies in a variety of discourse situations they will face. Respond effectively to a variety of rhetorical purposes and constraints, dependent upon audience, discipline, and genre.
• (Meta-Cognitive Awareness) Articulate and practice an awareness of how writing takes place. Demonstrate ownership of and confidence in their work and recognize themselves as writers who have a growing understanding of their own voice, style, and strengths.
• (Writing Process) Articulate and demonstrate writing and research processes to plan, compose, revise, edit, and proofread a variety of alphabetic and visual texts for a variety of audiences in a variety of genres.
• (History & Theory) Demonstrate familiarity with theories of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy Studies and understand contributions of major figures and significant texts in the field of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy Studies.

Students can choose courses in three areas of focus:

Electives in Writing Studies

Business Writing
Creative Non-Fiction
Legal Writing
Advanced Grammar, Syntax, and Style: Writing for All Disciplines
Advanced Legal Writing

Electives in Rhetoric Studies

Language and Justice
Argument Writing
Advanced Argument Writing and Response: Theory and Practice
Forensic Linguistics: Language as Evidence in the Courts

Elective in Literacies Studies

Advanced Literacy Studies
Teaching of Reading and Writing