University of Minnesota
Department of Writing Studies
612-624-3445
writ@umn.edu


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M.A. & Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Scientific and Technical Communication (RSTC)

The Ph.D. and M.A. programs in the Department of Writing Studies will prepare you to address the social and rhetorical functions of written, visual, digital, scientific and technical communication practices. Specifically, you will study how the complex issues of language, science, and technology interact with historical, social, and cultural contexts. Your approach to the study of writing may follow a variety of perspectives (e.g., historical, cultural, cognitive, linguistic, feminist, literary, pedagogical, visual, political, and philosophical) and a variety of research methods (e.g., experimental, naturalistic, ethnographic, interpretive.)

The Master of Arts will introduce you to some theories and research practices in technical communication and rhetoric. This program requires you to take courses in a specialty area such as Internet studies, pedagogy, or the history of rhetoric.  The Ph.D. program builds on those introductions and will equip you to develop  perspectives and research methods for your dissertation and your future academic career. Nearly all students in both programs get practice as classroom teachers (Graduate Instructors) in several courses.  You will take a course in composition pedagogy and  work in a supportive teaching environment.

The programs prepare students to become educators and researchers in academic departments, or, in a smaller set of cases, for positions in industry and government that require the analysis and design of human communication systems. Our doctoral graduates have accepted positions at such places such as Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western University, Texas Tech, McGill University, and Unisys Corporation.

For more information on our programs, e-mail writ@umn.edu.