Category: Course Spotlights

Course Spotlight: WRD 309 Persuasion in the Age of TikTok

One of the incredible things about studying rhetoric and discourse is how our modes of communication are always evolving. That means that even social media is part of our social discursive lives. What better way to explore how these incorporations impact our cultural rhetoric? Professor Margaret Poncin Reeves is teaching an upcoming class all about the topic with a special focus on TikTok.  Read on to see what the course has in store for Winter Quarter / WQ23! What inspired you to teach WRD 309? Two things: The first is the topic of the cross-listed course, which is LSP 275:

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Updated Course Spotlight – WRD 540: Teaching Writing

As registration begins for Winter Quarter 2023, the WRD blog is excited to showcase several upcoming course offerings, beginning with Dr. Erin Workman’s graduate course, WRD 540: Teaching Writing. Here, Dr. Workman offers her insights into this year’s installment of the class and what students can look forward to.   What has changed in the Teaching Writing course since its last blog Spotlight? A lot! WRD 540 was last offered in-person-only in WQ20, and our finals week meeting was moved online in accordance with the university’s response to the pandemic. In WQ21, WRD 540 met synchronously online, and in WQ22,

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Course Spotlight: WRD 511 Rhetorics of Displacement Update

During Spring Quarter 2021, Professor Monica Reyes taught WRD 511: Rhetorics of Displacement which was a hit with students and will be coming back for Winter Quarter 2022. We caught up with Reyes to talk about how this class differs from the last time she taught it.  Are you doing anything differently for this iteration of WRD 511: Rhetorics of Displacement? Yes! Students responded so positively to the course the first time I taught it in Spring [of] 2021, so the bones of the course are still the same. I still have units/themes centered around various rhetorics (like those in

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Course Spotlight: WRD 287 The Comic Book As Visual Argument

There has long been an argument about whether or not graphic novels or comic books should be considered literature. Regardless of which side of the argument you may be on, it is a fascinating conversation to be sure. Professor Alan Ackmann is taking on an adjacent discourse in the upcoming course WRD 287 – The Comic Book as Visual Argument. This class will dig into the rhetorical nature of comics and explore the ways in which they add to conversations. Read on to learn more about this class and, perhaps, even get some reading recommendations if you cannot take this

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Course Spotlight: WRD 513 Semiotics

Even if you aren’t sure what “semiotics” is, you encounter it on a daily basis. Put plainly, semiotics is the study of signs or symbols and how we interpret them. Take, for example, how you use emojis in your texts to convey a certain meaning. That is a use of semiotics because you are relying on that emoji to give context to whoever you’re talking to.  If studying that sounds interesting to you, you should consider taking Professor Pete Vandenberg’s WRD 513: Semiotics this spring. Not only will you learn about using semiotics in a disciplinary sense, but you’ll also

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