Job Sleuth: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

The WRD program at DePaul offers a number of ways for students to understand the challenges of second language acquisition and teaching speakers of other languages. Undergraduate students engage with these topics through courses such as Global Englishes (WRD 368) and can get hands-on experience tutoring English language learners by taking Teaching English as a Second Language in Chicago (WRD 378). The MA in WRD also offers a TESOL Graduate Certificate.

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Complete the Professional Writing Minor Online

The WRD department’s Minor in Professional Writing is currently available to all students from any major in the university, and is now able to be completed entirely online. The Professional Writing Minor is an excellent complement to any degree, as the ability to write and communicate effectively is a valuable skill no matter what profession you are in. With only two required courses and four electives, the Professional Writing Minor allows you the flexibility to cater the coursework to your interests.

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WRD Internship Opportunities

Are you eager to put your WRD education to use? Perhaps you want some work experience to get you ahead of the crowd while you’re hunting for a job? An internship is a valuable opportunity to practice the skills you develop in the classroom out in the real world, and to strengthen your resume with relevant professional experience. Writing is an integral part of almost every professional field, and as a WRD major, you will have no doubt developed the writing and research skills to work in a wide variety of industries and organizations.

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Job Sleuth: Teaching Writing

The WRD department is home to DePaul’s First-Year Writing Program and offers coursework and opportunities for students interested in teaching writing at the college level. WRD majors can work in the University Center for Writing Based Learning, and at the graduate level the MA in WRD offers the Teaching Apprenticeship Program to prepare students with hands-on experience instructing students in writing. If you’re looking to work as a writing instructor, this post will introduce you to some resources to help you in your job search and professional development.

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Job Sleuth: Technical Writing and Technical Communication

One job area that the WRD program prepares students for is a career in technical writing. WRD Majors can take courses like Technical Writing (WRD 204), Writing in Workplace Contexts (WRD 301), and Writing and Metadata (WRD 322). Graduate students can also prepare for work as a technical writer through the Professional and Digital Writing concentration of the MA in WRD. Careers in technical writing can be found in a wide range of industries—from software development, to healthcare, to business. In this article, we’ll provide you with some resources to help you get your bearings in the field of technical

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Headshot of Shannon Kelley

MAWRD Alumni Spotlight: Shannon Kelley

Shannon Kelley, a 2014 graduate of the MA in WRD program, currently resides in Portland, Oregon where she works as a writing instructor at Chemeketa Community College and Clark College. After graduating from DePaul she went immediately into work teaching various levels of writing, allowing her to mix her WRD education while drawing on her past experience in corporate communications. We had the pleasure of getting in contact with Shannon to hear all about her time at DePaul and beyond. Read on to hear more about Shannon’s experience. 

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WRD 515 seminar

The Essay: Course Profile

What is an essay? The term essay is today used to describe an array of written products; the word is used almost interchangeably with other terms like paper, article, or composition. But the essay is a particular form, which people have been writing since the late 16th century, when the genre was formally invented with the publishing of Michel de Montaigne’s book titled Essais. This title roughly translates to, “an effort or trial,” and describes a particular form of inductive, digressive writing. In WRD 515: The Essay, MA in WRD students explore the history of the essay, from its origins

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Tracy Morse visits DePaul February 9

The Writing Rhetoric and Discourse Department welcomes Tracy Ann Morse. As part of our ongoing speaker series, Writing and Rhetoric Across Borders, the WRD department will be welcoming visiting speaker Tracy Ann Morse, Director of Writing Foundations and associate professor of rhetoric and composition in the Department of English at East Carolina University. Her talk will cover a historical overview of how religious rhetoric empowered deaf Americans to protect and preserve their sign language culture against the dominant hearing community.

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Candice Rai speaking at DePaul WRD

Candice Rai Recap

As part of the Writing and Rhetoric Across Borders speaker series, the WRD Department hosted Dr. Candice Rai on Friday, October 27. Rai is an associate professor and the director of the Expository Writing Program at the University of Washington. As well as the author of the book Democracy’s Lot: Rhetoric, Publics, and the Places of Invention. Rai’s talk, titled “On Hope, Invention, and Politics in the Ruins of Democracy,” drew on the research she did for Democracy’s Lot—an ethnographic study exploring the complex negotiations of everyday democracies here in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.

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