News from DePaul University's Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse
Over the summer, we spoke with Ted Daisher, a 2015 graduate of DePaul’s BA in WRD program. While at DePaul, he worked as a Peer Writing Tutor and Head Writing Fellow at the University Center for Writing-based Learning. Soon, he will be heading to China to teach English at Huaqiao University. What have you been doing since you earned your degree? Since graduating, I’ve had an internship with a publisher and done a bit of freelance book editing.
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We’re excited to announce the debut of Celebrating Writing at DePaul, a student-curated exhibit that showcases different writers and how writing affects their lives! Led by Julie Bokser, each student has created a unique presentation on a writer here at DePaul. From librarians to WRD faculty, Celebrating Writing explores the impact writing has on their lives, their values, and their communities. Join us at 1:00 in the Brownstone’s annex on Tuesday, June 2nd and celebrate writing with us. Snacks will be provided! For more information, please visit the Celebrating Writing website.
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The WRD Department and department chair, Peter Vandenberg, were recently featured in a DePaul Insights article. In it, author Melissa Smith writes about how WRD focuses on the importance of critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills–all of which are vital in the professional world. To read more about how WRD is reframing the liberal arts, click here to access the article on page 9 of DePaul’s Insights.
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This quarter, WRD Professor Sarah Read was granted a competitive Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Research Initiative grant. Beginning in March, Read along with her colleague Michael Michaud at Rhode Island College, will begin a national survey research project called “Surveying the Status of the Multi-major Professional Writing Course in U.S. Institutions of Higher Education.” As the title of the project suggests, the main goal of this research project is to gather vital data about introductory professional writing courses taught at colleges and universities across the country.
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Today, Diversion Books reissued 5 mystery novels written by WRD faculty member Michael Raleigh. Originally written in the 1990s, these novels are traditional private eye stories following a detective who focuses on missing persons cases. Set in 1980s Chicago, Raleigh provides readers with images of Chicago in the not-so-distant past. To effectively communicate the look and feel of a Chicago from days gone by, Raleigh’s novels are full of visually interesting street scenes featuring Uptown and Argyle Street, the Maxwell Street Market, and the now closed Riverview Park—an amusement park which operated from 1904 to 1967 near Belmont and Western
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The Winter Quarter has just begun, but the Course Cart for Spring and Summer classes will be open soon! The Spring Quarter Course Cart opens on January 27, and registration begins on February 10. Any questions? Email your program director or contact the department at wrd[at]depaul.edu. If you’d like a comprehensive list of WRD’s course offerings, visit the Student Resources page at WRD’s website. There, you can plan your class schedule with detailed course descriptions at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Any questions about what classes to take? Email your program director or contact the department at wrd[at]depaul.edu.
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We recently spoke with Russell Wojcik, a 2014 BA in WRD graduate who participated in two internships during his time at DePaul. He worked as an editorial intern at Wagstaff Worldwide PR and as a blog writer for Newman Realty, receiving academic credit for both through his enrollment in WRD 398, part of WRD’s professional internship program. Since graduation, Russell has relocated to Phoenix and now works for an online travel company as a Content Strategist and PR Coordinator, a position that he says uses many of the skills he developed and honed as an intern.
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Composition studies has a rich tradition of research that aims to better understand the types of comments that instructors write on their students’ papers. But what—if anything—do students do with those comments? WRD Professor Darsie Bowden aims to find out. Since January 2014, Bowden has been interviewing students in first-year writing classes at DePaul to learn more about how they respond to their instructors’ feedback. Her interviews are divided into two parts: she meets with students after they have received feedback on a paper and again after they turn in their final drafts. Bowden’s goal is to find out what
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Best Undergraduate Essay At Night by Allison Guntz I heard once that Jewish mythology supposes the universe is an ocean. The sky is full of tiny holes, and that is where the light of the stars glows through, or the rain leaks in. They say the sky is protecting us, keeping that vast universe outside. It is like armor, or a ball, or the great cosmic shell to the egg that is our Earth.
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2014 Award Winners UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS Best Undergraduate Essay Allison Guntz Best Project in Professional and Technical Writing Allison Guntz MA IN WRD AWARDS Best Project in Professional and Technical Writing Jeffrey Melichar, Arielle Lockett, Brendan Bergen, & Matt D’Agostino Best Project in Teaching Writing and Language Bridget Wagner Best Project in Rhetoric and Discourse Molly Rentscher MA IN NMS AWARDS Best Interactive Media Design Hilary Conlisk Best New Media Content Jill Ochawa GRADUATE TESOL AWARD Best Project in TESOL Lauren Martyn Visit our Facebook page for more photos from the WRD Awards Party, held Friday, June 6, 2014, at Cortelyou
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