The Bachelor of Arts in Writing and Rhetoric focuses on the development and expression of ideas in writing-the very foundation of the liberal arts, and more broadly, contemporary democratic culture. Our lives are increasingly mediated by digital technologies that use writing to organize sound and image in interactive spaces like the World Wide Web. And through text messaging, email, and social networking, individual identity and interpersonal relationships are progressively bound up with writing. At the same time, we face growing demands for communicating across national, cultural, and linguistic borders, requiring us to rethink many assumptions we may have about written communication and expression.

Writing and Rhetoric majors explore theories of language, rhetoric (how to make effective choices as writers), and discourse (the way writing structures human activity) as they develop understanding of the role of the individual writer within communities of writers. They write in a great variety of contexts and genres in preparation for a full range of dynamic and rewarding careers grounded in written communication.

Learning Outcomes

?Students will be able to:

• Describe concepts, theories, and historical periods related to writing, rhetoric, and literacies.
• Produce clear, cohesive, and precise prose.
• Compose audience-centered texts in a variety of public and professional genres.
• Design persuasive multimodal texts.
• Assess the ethical, cultural, or political dimensions of rhetoric, language, or writing technologies.