The Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Doctoral Program (CCR)

Admissions

The doctoral program in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric (CCR) typically admits four to six full time students a year. Applicants should have satisfactorily completed a Master's degree in a language-related or cognate discipline (counted as 30 credits) and should demonstrate a strong commitment and talent in rhetoric and composition or related fields. In making decisions about admissions, the program considers an applicant's scholarly interests, writing ability, career plans, scholarly record, and letters of recommendation. Prior teaching experience or practice in communication fields is desirable.

To apply for admission, students first complete the University's online Graduate School application. (Please note that the CCR Program Code is 1508 and the Ph.D. Degree Code is 12.) The deadline to be considered for priority admission in Fall 2025 and for financial aid is November 1, 2024; we will continue to consider applications received through the final deadline of December 1, 2024.

Academic credentials and other requirements should be tailored for the CCR program as follows:

All Students Are Required to Submit:

An essay on your intellectual history and academic interests (replaces the "personal statement" of general academic plans required in the application form). In an essay of no more than 600-800 words, discuss the intellectual history that informs your decision to pursue graduate study in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric and explain your goals in the doctoral program.

What questions and concerns motivate your study of composition and rhetoric? How have your academic background, work experience, or other life experiences prepared you to study composition and rhetoric? What inquiries do you hope to pursue specifically in the CCR program at Syracuse, and why? If possible, specify your interests or goals in terms of particular texts, rhetorical practices, interdisciplinary connections, teaching or work settings, or modes of inquiry? What kind of career do you envision pursuing with this degree?

A statement about teaching interests and practical experience. Graduate students in CCR can expect to teach for some time in Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition's undergraduate writing curriculum, which includes lower and upper division writing courses, courses within our Writing and Rhetoric Major, and other potential teaching roles that include Writing Center tutoring, teacher training or conducting campus workshops.

In a statement of about 500 words, please explain your interest in teaching at Syracuse University as part of your graduate program and describe the skills and experiences that could make you an effective and committed teacher. Please include any other practical experiences that are relevant or that you want to include in your graduate education. Questions we are interested in include:

How is teaching related to your intellectual interests and career goals? Have you had substantive classroom or tutorial teaching experience? If you have not taught, what educational or other experiences have prepared you for college teaching (for example, work, professional writing experience, service learning, community engagement, tutoring, or developing your own strategies for learning)? If you are interested in incorporating related administrative or community-oriented work such as writing program administration, writing across the curriculum, community engagement, service learning, explain how these goals fit your intellectual purposes and career plans and what experience or background you bring to them.

Three letters of recommendation: References should be solicited from those who can assess the applicant's most recent academic work and/or professional achievement, especially in areas relevant to composition and rhetoric.

Exam scores: CCR does not require the GRE for application. (TOEFL is required of all international applicants, and must be sent directly by a testing agent.)

Financial documents: (international students only)

Personal statement : Not required of CCR applicants. Replaced by Intellectual History statement (see item 1 below. Instructions also appear in the Graduate School application form).

An additional writing sample. Examples include a prospectus or an excerpt or selection from a master's thesis or master's portfolio in progress. The sample should be no more than 20 pages and represent recent intellectual work relevant to your interests in composition or rhetoric.

For International Students

TOEFL

Financial docs

[International students only] Evidence of English spoken and written proficiency. (Interviews may be required for teaching assistantships.)

Optional

Exemplary teaching materials, e.g. a syllabus or assignment that you designed.

Exemplary practical writing illustrating other kinds of work experience relevant to composition or rhetoric.