Rhetoric & Composition

Rhetoric is one of the oldest academic disciplines in the Western tradition. Tracing its origins back to the classical period, it is broadly concerned with understanding and exploiting the power of language in all of its various guises. At once theoretical, historical, critical, and applied, this program is designed to help students better understand how language creates meaning across a wide range of discourses and cultural practices. It is also designed to train students to effectively use language to create meaning, whether through scholarship, pedagogy, media production, or any number of related endeavors. This program will prepare students for doctoral-level work in rhetoric and composition.

• Interdisciplinary: this program recognizes that effective communication and pedagogy depends on a variety of different disciplines and approaches.
• Technological: this program recognizes that effective communication and pedagogy is also accomplished through and impacted by a number of different media.
• Theoretical: this program helps students understand effective communication and pedagogy via a wide range of critical methodologies, including (but not limited to) critical race studies, cultural studies, disability studies, feminist rhetoric, historical rhetoric, queer-theory, and visual rhetoric.
• Hands-on: this program provides students with opportunities to experiment with a diverse range of approaches, pedagogies, techniques, and technologies.
• Individualized: this program affords students a large amount of flexibility and customization in designing their courses of study.
• Expertise: this program features award-winning, nationally, and internationally recognized scholars in the field of Rhetoric and Composition.