Photo of Kristin Arola

Recap: Professor Kristin L. Arola’s Talk on Composition and American Indian Rhetorics

On Friday April 21, Dr. Kristin L. Arola from Washington State University visited DePaul to present a talk titled “Slow Composition: American Indian Rhetorics and Mindful Making Practices.” This talk was part of the WRD Department’s Writing and Rhetoric Across Borders Speaker Series. Arola’s described the implementation of a composition theory based on story, what she referred to as “story as methodology.” By using an American Indian lens, Arola discussed our current conceptions of the composing process and opened up new critiques on how to improve. Pointing out the current fast-paced nature of rhetoric in our society, Arola advocated for

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Recap: Professor Victoria Gallagher’s Talk on the Virtual MLK Project

In a talk sponsored by DePaul’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, on Friday, February 10, Professor Victoria Gallagher of North Carolina State University described a rhetorical digital humanities project that she leads, which focuses on a speech given by the great American orator, Martin Luther King, Jr. This project is framed by an important question: What does it take to transform peoples’ hearts and minds about race? About The Virtual MLK Project Professor Gallagher described the Virtual MLK Project as situated at the intersection of rhetoric, Black history, and digital humanities. It is a project that has drawn faculty

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Flyer for Gallagher event

2/10: Victoria J. Gallagher Visits WRD, Discusses vMLK Project

On Friday, February 10 from 1 to 2:30pm in McGowan South 105, Dr. Victoria J. Gallagher from North Carolina State University will be visiting DePaul and taking part in the Writing and Rhetoric Without Borders Speaker Series. Gallagher will be delivering a talk entitled, “The vMLK Project: Crafting a Necessary (Digital) Space to Explore Rhetoric and Civic Transformation.” Abstract: The Virtual Martin Luther King project is an immersive, ambient recreation, including sound and visual renderings, of a 1960 speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr. in Durham, NC of which no known recordings survive. This project challenges how we think

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Recap: Professor Krista Ratcliffe’s Talk on Rhetorical Listening

As students and scholars of rhetoric, we understand that others’ conceptions of what is good or true are influenced by their beliefs and values. But how can we apply this understanding? How can we use our rhetorical knowledge to more effectively traverse difficult conversations, like those happening on our campus and in our city during this contentious election season? In a talk sponsored by the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, given on Friday, October 7, Professor Krista Ratcliffe of Purdue suggested rhetorical listening as a teachable tactic to help students—and everyone—learn how to listen to and participate in conversations

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Flyer for Ratcliffe event

Oct. 7: Krista Ratcliffe Part of DePaul’s Race & Free Speech Series

As part of the university’s Race & Free Speech Speaker Series and the Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse’s Writing and Rhetoric without Borders Speaker Series, Professor Krista Ratcliffe will visit DePaul on Oct. 7 to discuss topics in language and cross-cultural communication. The author of Rhetorical Listening:  Identification, Gender, and Whiteness, Professor Ratcliffe has suggested that an inattention in schooling to listening as a critical communicative practice frustrates our ability to collectively discuss complex social issues.  In the context of competing definitions of race in contemporary American culture (white supremacy, colorblindness, multiculturalism, and critical race theory), Ratcliffe will offer rhetorical listening

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2016 WRD Awards Party Recap

The Sixth Annual WRD Awards Party was a great success thanks to the participation of WRD majors and minors, MA in WRD graduate students, and MA in NMS graduate students! This year’s party was held on Friday, June 3 in the Lincoln Park Student Center. As always, it was a great evening to honor WRD and NMS graduates, enjoy food, listen to live music, and catch up with classmates, alumni, and faculty. Photos from the evening can be viewed below. The award winners and Pi Epsilon Pi inductees are listed below: Best Undergraduate Essay “Feliz Cumpleaños!” by Wendy Ramirez Best

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Kate Vieira Brings Immigrant Stories to Life

Last Thursday the WRD Department welcomed Kate Vieira, who spoke with students and faculty about her research on “Money and Bodies: How They Matter for Writing.” Vieira has conducted a great deal of research on literacy in immigrant communities and the families left behind. More recently, her focus has been on writing from the body, and how writing can aid physical, mental, and emotional healing. Her argument in her presentation for the DePaul community? That there are more connections between these strands of research than we might think—and that the root of this connection lies in the materiality of writing. Writing is

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Conference on College Composition and Communication

WRD Faculty Share Their Research at CCCC

If you were on the third floor of DePaul’s Schmidt Academic Center during the first week of April, you might have noticed that the hallways were not quite as bustling as usual. From April 6-9, several WRD faculty members traveled to Houston, Texas to attend the annual Conference on College Composition and Communication, or CCCC—the largest academic conference dedicated to writing and the teaching of writing. Curious about the work that WRD professors shared at CCCC? Here’s a peek: Julie Bokser, along with Sarah Brown, Michelle Navarre Cleary, and Kathryn Wozniak, presented on “Identifying and Eliciting Students’ Metacognitive Development” Sarah Read and WRD

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WRD Week is here!

To pep things up a bit as we near the end of the academic year WRD is planning a series of events April 19-21st called WRD Week to celebrate students in the WRD program! Throughout the day on Tuesday, April 19th and Wednesday April 20th at 11am, 12:45pm, and 2:15pm WRD will feature events in the WRD student lounge on the third floor of SAC. Stop by tables set up in the lounge to pick up free SWAG, meet a WRD celebrity, grab some treats, take part in a social media scavenger hunt (for a prize!), and chat with your

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