Undergraduate – Page 11

March 12, 2013 depaulwrd

Unveiling Occult Chicago

Chicago’s long history with esotericism, occultism, and alternative spirituality allows students to explore the disciplines of anthropology, rhetoric, and sociology, through the diverse belief systems that thrive in the city. WRD Instructor Jason Winslade has incorporated themes of occultism in his Explore Chicago classes since 2000. Winsalde’s course “Unveiling Occult Chicago: Secret Societies, Magicians, and Alternative Spiritualities,” examines how the Chicago occult community has influenced mainstream rhetoric and values, particularly politics and activism.

March 5, 2013 depaulwrd

Buckvold and Skolnik Receive QM Award

The DePaul Online Teaching Series recently awarded WRD faculty members John Buckvold and Christine Skolnik with the Quality Matters Star Award and Certificate. Buckvold’s WRD 202 and Skolnik’s WRD 204 each received a perfect 95 in the DePaul Internal QM Review. The QM Award recognizes DOTS-developed online and hybrid courses that meet course design standards of usability and quality.

February 26, 2013 depaulwrd

Alumni Spotlight: Aaron Samardzich

Aaron Samardzich graduated from DePaul in 2010 with a BA in English and minors in Interactive Media and Professional Writing. WRD’s Professional Writing minor allows students in any major to take courses in writing, editing, style, rhetoric, and more to prepare for writing in a range of professional settings. In May 2012, Aaron also earned an MS in Technical Communication and Information Design from Illinois Institute of Technology. Since June 2009, Aaron has been working as a technical writing contractor for Thomson Reuters in Chicago.

February 25, 2013 depaulwrd

LAS Scholarships for Undergraduates

DePaul’s online scholarship platform is now accepting applications for LAS-specific scholarships. You will be automatically considered for several of these scholarships by completing a general application; however, some require an additional application (see notes below). *Undergraduate students ONLY.* The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2013.

February 11, 2013 depaulwrd

WRD 361: Chicago Women Rhetors

Chicago is known as the Windy City for our boisterous speakers, but what is the history of women’s speaking in Chicago? How have women rhetors made their mark on our city? WRD 361, Topics in Alternative Rhetorics: Chicago Women Rhetors, will examine how Chicago women have made their voices heard, and how these women have been remembered by the publics they spoke to. We’ll read primary and secondary texts, and examine museum exhibits, sculpture, memorials, architecture, organizations, language and cultural practice to learn about the past and about how this past has been remembered and interpreted.

February 5, 2013 depaulwrd

Vandenberg featured in ePortfolio Community Profiles

WRD Department Chair Peter Vandenberg is excited to be among the faculty featured in the ePortfolio Community Profiles found on DePaul’s Teaching Commons’ website. In his interview, Professor Vandenberg talks about using ePortfolios in his undergraduate capstone course (WRD 390) for the Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse major. Vandenberg says, “”The key thing about technology is that it always follows the learning outcomes… we don’t want technology to lead; we want technology to follow effectively.”

January 31, 2013 depaulwrd

Johnston Publishes New Poetry Collection

WRD instructor Allan Johnston’s new poetry collection, Departures, is being published by Finishing Line Press. Departures shares the richness of Johnston’s life growing up in Southern California. Gary Snyder says, “Johnston’s intimate knowledge of Pacific Coast L.A. suburb lifeways comes alive in an old language…even as the ever-present ocean washes over it all.” Whitney Scott, editor of the Black-and-White anthology series, says, “With its rippled tidal waters, dragonflies and cattails, Departures recalls a past that resonates powerfully, part of the present.”

January 29, 2013 depaulwrd

Seifert Inducted into the 25-Year Club

Twenty-five years, or a quarter of a century, that is the amount of time Eileen Seifert, WRD Associate Director of First-Year Writing, has dedicated to DePaul. Seifert and other new members of the 25-Year Club were recently recognized for their service by the Office of Mission and Values. Seifert started at DePaul as a part-time first-year writing teacher in 1985, before she began working full-time as an instructor in 1987.

January 22, 2013 depaulwrd

Moore’s Students Published in New York Times

In the winter and spring quarters of 2012, First-Year Writing students Maddie Jones and David Kummerer published their course assignments in the New York Times. As part of instructor Michael Moore’s WRD 104 class, students must write letters to the editor to learn how to write content for a non-academic audience—an audience Moore says consists of “smart, educated, skeptical, engaged readers.” Moore uses the Times’ own submission rules as the rubric for the assignment. These rules suggest submitters “write quickly, concisely and engagingly” and “respond in a timely way to a contemporary topic.”