| WRT 114 |
Writing Culture
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Various |
Various |
Multiple Instructors |
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Nonacademic writing; creative nonfiction, memoir, the essay. Students write texts experimenting with style, genre, and subject; read contemporary nonfiction texts by varied authors; attend lectures/readings of visiting writers.
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| WRT 115 |
Writing, Rhetoric, and the Environment
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TTh |
9:30 - 10:50 |
Trevor Bleick |
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Rhetorical study and practice of critical, research-based writing in response to environmental issues and their material and discursive contexts. Emphasizes audience and genre-awareness to produce persuasive, culturally situated interventions in environmental debates.
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| WRT 116 |
Writing, Rhetoric, and Social Action
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MW |
12:45 - 2:05 |
Ivy Kleinbart |
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Examination of persuasive strategies of written arguments and genres intended to support and promote social action.
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| WRT 255 |
Arguing for a Hopeful Future
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TuTh |
11:00 - 12:20 |
Tony Scott |
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|
Do you ever feel that you are surrounded by angry, even violent political arguments that are predictable and don’t even seem intended to persuade people who disagree? How often do you feel as though you learn anything new from the arguments you encounter daily? In this course, you will learn how to identify and constructively respond to demagogic, “post-truth,” and trust-eroding rhetoric that characterize too many public arguments. You will also create three public writing projects in varied genres and modalities that aim to be surprising, hopeful and persuasive through transcending entrenched, polarizing rhetorics. (Core Req for Majors)
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| WRT 301 |
Make It Matter: Writing for Civic Action
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MW |
3:45 - 5:05 |
Alicia Hatcher |
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Do you want your writing to make a real difference? In this course, you'll partner with campus organizations to create communications they actually need—flyers, social media posts, newsletters, advocacy materials, grant proposals. You'll learn to analyze civic discourse, adapt to different audiences, and craft messages that help organizations achieve their goals. Whether you're passionate about sustainability, student rights, or social justice, you'll develop flexible writing skills while supporting causes that matter. No prior experience required—just bring your ideas and willingness to write for real audiences. (G&P)
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| WRT 302 |
Emerging Media and Public Impact
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TuTh |
2:00 - 3:20 |
Patrick Berry |
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|
In a world run by algorithms, feeds, and AI, your voice is either shaping the story—or getting buried by it. You’ll learn how to craft powerful digital stories that move people, shift perspectives, and spark conversation using emerging media tools. You’ll collaborate on a community-based podcasting initiative with writers impacted by the criminal legal system; it’s public-facing storytelling with real stakes and real audiences. By the end of the course, you’ll have produced persuasive projects on a topic you care about, and you’ll know how to use your voice strategically in an AI-saturated media landscape. (Core Req for Majors)
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| WRT 307 |
Advanced Studio: Professional Writing
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Various |
Various |
Multiple Instructors |
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|
Professional communication through the study of audience, purpose, and ethics. Rhetorical problem-solving principles applied to diverse professional writing tasks and situations. (Core Req for Majors.)
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| WRT 313 |
Cheat Codes
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TuTh |
5:00 - 6:20 |
Kevin Browne |
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|
What happens to your voice when a machine can mimic it? We’ll explore the messy, fascinating world where AI and human creativity collide. Instead of treating AI as just a tool, we’ll interrogate it as a cultural and rhetorical force—one that’s reshaping how we research, argue, create, and claim authority across disciplines and media. Through critical reading, discussion, drafting, and research-driven projects, you’ll analyze AI systems as cultural artifacts—and use them as creative partners and objects of critique. You’ll design projects that confront the ethical, political, and intellectual stakes of writing in the age of AI. (G&P)
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| WRT 413 |
Truth, Spin, and Power
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TuTh |
12:30 - 1:50 |
Patrick Berry |
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|
What makes you change your mind, click “share,” show up to a protest, or buy into an idea? We’ll examine language that moves people—speeches that spark change, ads that shape desires, social media campaigns that go viral. We’ll consider why some rhetoric works so well even when it’s manipulative, misleading, or flat-out unethical? What responsibility do speakers and writers have when their words can mobilize millions? You’ll learn to create powerful messages by developing strategies for crafting persuasive, ethically grounded writing that captures attention, challenges assumptions, and inspires action. (Core Req for Majors)
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| WRT 422 |
Adventures in Writing
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TuTh |
11:00 - 12:20 |
Eileen Schell |
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|
Classic nonfiction adventure stories often involve feats of endurance, travel, risk, and exploration. But what does adventure writing mean in a world that is increasingly confined, settled, and steeped in the mundane? How is adventure a useful metaphor for understanding the ways we live our everyday lives and the ways we seek new experiences? We will work with an expanded definition of nonfiction adventure writing to include the fantastic, the risky, and the unusual, but also the everyday and familiar, focusing on memoir, profile writing, place-based writing, travel writing, photo essays, and multimedia writing. (G&P)
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| WRT 424 |
Identity Rhetoric in Conflict
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TuTh |
09:30 - 10:50 |
Tony Scott |
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|
Jia Tolentino writes that in recent years “identity, culture, technology, politics, and discourse seemed to coalesce into an unbearable supernova of perpetually escalating conflict.” In this volatile, tense time in which there is continual pressure to curate identities, the lines between identity performances and our “lived,” complex senses of ourselves can blur. In this course we will explore identity rhetorics with the goal of finding language, genres and modalities that will unlock new ways to recognize and express identity in varied contexts. Writing will include memoir, place writing, and public research writing. (H&T)
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| WRT 437 |
Communication that Stands Out
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TuTh |
3:30 - 4:50 |
Collie Fulford |
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|
In the flooded information landscape we live in now, how do writers create data-rich messages that stand out? That’s what this course unpacks. You’ll gain hands-on experience with visual design principles as you learn to transform complex information into readable, appealing formats. The skills you build through experimenting, analyzing, and testing your designs in front of real audiences will help you stand out, too, whether you’re headed into business, journalism, tech, or creative fields. (H&T)
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| WRT 495 |
Distinction in Writing (Senior Research Seminar I)
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TBD |
TBD |
Eileen Schell |
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Students may earn the award of Distinction in Writing if they are a Writing major, have an overall cumulative GPA of 3.4 and a minimum GPA of 3.5 in WRT after taking at least four Writing and Rhetoric major courses. Rising seniors who meet these criteria are invited to enroll in WRT 495 - Senior Research Seminar I in the fall of their senior year (one credit) and WRT 496 - Senior Research Seminar II in the spring of their senior year (two credits) during which students must complete a thesis-length independent research or creative project. (G&P credit)
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