The Department of Writing and Rhetoric Studies seeks to equip students for both academic success and participation in the full range of rhetorical occasions they will encounter in their lives as citizens and professionals. Two initiatives, the Minor in Writing and Rhetoric and emphasis on writing in the disciplines, will extend students' experience and practice as writers beyond the first year and introduce them to more specialized, discipline-specific kinds of discourse.

Writing intensive courses:

• are numbered 200 or above;
• have 20 students or fewer;
• are staffed primarily by full-time faculty in the unit;
• provide regular opportunities for informal writing;
• require a minimum of 10 pages of formal writing that has been through a process of drafting and revision before being submitted for a grade;
• provide guidance in revising texts-in-progress with attention to both global (content, thesis, organization) and local (sentence-level clarity, correctness, documentation) concerns;
• determine a substantial portion of the student's final grade on the quality of writing produced.

Art and Art History

• History and Methods ARTH 300)
• Foundation Seminar (ART 280)

Communication Studies

• Introduction to Research (SCOM 280)

English

• Writing about Literature (ENG 299)

Foreign Languages and Literatures/
Center for Translation and Interpretation

• Conversation and Composition (FR 300, GER 300, ITAL 300, RUS 300, SPAN 300)
• Translation (TR 311, 321, 331, 341, 351, 361 (for those who place out of FL 300)

History

• History Seminar (HIST 395)

Media Arts and Design

• News Writing (SMAD 210)
• Writing for Multimedia (SMAD 231)
• Writing for Corporate Media (SMAD 241)
• Script Writing (SMAD 250)
• Feature Writing (SMAD 311)

Music

• Intro to Music (MUED 271)
• Music and Sound Product Merchandising (MUI 426)
• Piano Literature I (MUS 460)
• Twentieth Century Music (MUS 463)
• Opera History and Literature (MUS 465)
• Vocal Pedagogy (MUS 477)

Philosophy and Religion

• Major Thinkers and Issues (PHIL 475)
• Religion and Society (REL 450)
• Biblical Texts in Context (REL 460)
• Inter-religious Dialogue (REL 475)

Political Science

• Public Management (PUAD 420)
• Admin. of Criminal Justice (PUAD 410)
• Seminar in International Affairs (INTA 489)
• Senior Seminar (POSC 492)

Sociology and Anthropology

• History of Theory (ANTH 375)
• Senior Seminar (SOC 480)

Technical and Scientific Communication

• Bibliographic Research (TSC 230)

Theater and Dance

• Senior Thesis (THEA 441)
• History of Dance (DANC 248)