WRT Course Offerings

Linked course titles have extended descriptions. Syllabi provided where available.

Course	Title	Day	Time	Instructor	Room	Syllabus	Description
WRT 114	Writing Culture	Various	Various	Multiple Instructors			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.
WRT 115	Writing, Rhetoric, and the Environment	TTh	9:30 - 10:50	TBA			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.
WRT 116	Writing, Rhetoric, and Social Action	TTh	12:30 - 1:50	TBA			Examination of persuasive strategies of written arguments and genres intended to support and promote social action.
WRT 255	Advanced Argumentative Writing	TuTh	11:00 - 12:20	TBA			Intensive practice in the analysis and writing of advanced arguments for a variety of settings: public writing, professional writing, and organizational writing. (Core Req for Majors.)
WRT 302	Composing Our Digital Selves	TuTh	2:00 - 3:20	Kevin Browne			This undergraduate studio will be concerned with writing as digital practice. This will include the written word, as well as the creation of still and moving images using AI as we consider what counts as effective argument in and for these times. Together, we will explore strategies, ethics, and methods that inform how we create, critique, and understand digital writing as a dynamic, expansive, and deeply subjective art of human and more than human expression—one that sometimes operates beyond the boundaries of "persuasion"—as we gain an understanding of the features that (re)define what writing can and should do. (Core Req for Majors.)
WRT 303	Search/Research/ChatGPTsearch	MW	5:15 - 6:35	Collin Brooke			As advertising wrecks our search engines, more of us have turned to AI as a source of information. But AI has its strengths and flaws as well. In this course, we will attempt to cut through some of the hype surrounding tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT, and consider how they might help us as researchers and writers. This course will be hands-on: we will experiment with different platforms, try out various strategies, and reflect upon how AI reshapes our writing and research practices. (No prior experience with these platforms is required.) (G&P)
WRT 307	Advanced Studio: Professional Writing	Various	Various	Multiple Instructors			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.)
WRT 412	Writing in the Ruins	TuTh	9:30 - 10:50	Tony Scott			Focuses on writing that describes and responds to climate change and its social, political, and ecological effects. Students explore texts from diverse perspectives and varied genres, including nature writing, environmental policy, indigenous writing, and documentaries. Students will also compose texts in a variety of genres, including creative nonfiction, public research writing, journaling, and policy analysis. Work in the course won't just describe entanglements of problems related to climate change, it will also aim to foster new understandings of the pasts, presents and possible futures of life on earth. (H&T)
WRT 413	Rhetoric and Ethics	TuTh	5:00 - 6:20	TBA			Introduces historical conversations concerning rhetoric’s ethical responsibilities and explores complications that emerge as assumed historic connections between language and truth, justice, community, and personal character are deployed in various social, political, cultural, national, and transnational contexts. (Core Req for Majors.)
WRT 419	Writing for Social Impact	MW	3:45 - 5:05	Joe Wilson			Want to use your writing skills to help everyday citizens? This course teaches you to transform complex government programs into accessible information people can actually use. You'll develop professional writing materials while addressing real challenges: explaining veterans' benefits clearly, making Medicare forms understandable, and more. Beyond documentation, you'll gain insights into government systems and learn how technical writers bridge bureaucracies and communities. Perfect for those seeking to combine writing expertise with social impact. (G&P)
WRT 422	Writing Your Journey	TuTh	12:30 - 1:50	Eileen Schell			Nonfiction narratives often involve stories of epic journeys, whether travel writing, adventure stories, athletic feats, spiritual quests, or a specific journey that is identified by the phase(s) you occupy in your life. This course will involve reading and writing nonfiction pieces connected to the concept of the journey as you define it. We will read and compose different journey narratives, including memoir, profiles, place-based writing, travel writing, and multimodal writing. (G&P)
WRT 423	Black Sonic Rhetoric	TuTh	3:30 - 4:50	Kevin Browne			This course is an immersive examination and analysis of Black rhetorical performance. We will listen to, look at, and write about a range of musical genres, including AfroBeats, Funk, Hip Hop, and others. Vibing on performances of contemporary artists like Kendrick Lamar and Drake, we will attempt to understand not only the depth and complexity of their arguments and their artistry, but also how they represent the tradition and what we think they can (or should) achieve. Students will produce a series of sonic texts, adding shape and texture to their inquiry, which will culminate in a dynamic Final Research Project. (H&T)
WRT 425	Writing to Flourish Online	MW	12:45 - 2:05	Lenny Grant			Digital communication technologies are increasingly associated with addiction, anxiety, and burnout. This course examines critiques of digital identity, exploring how social media fuels exhaustion, pathological self-optimization, and mental health challenges. Students will experiment with alternative online engagement strategies--slow posting, digital minimalism, long reads--and create digital publications to practice writing that resists algorithmic manipulation. Through a portfolio of critical and creative projects, they will explore how writing can reclaim attention, agency, and human flourishing in digital spaces. (G&P)
WRT 495	Distinction in Writing (Senior Research Seminar I)	TBD	TBD	Tony Scott			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)