Celebrate Women’s History Month and explore Chicago Women Rhetors, a website created by students in WRD 361: Topics in Alternative Rhetoric – Chicago Women Rhetors, taught by Professor Julie Bokser. The site features the work of women whose words and actions have helped shape Chicago. As the site explains, “We created this site to contribute to women’s history in the rhetorical tradition.” Each student researched a figure or organization, and then designed a memorial, using rhetorical skills and theory to thoughtfully shape the memory of this figure.
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Narratives, Netflix, and Newsweek
Two of our articles this week focus on teaching writing. In different ways, the pieces advocate for more complex and challenging goals as a teacher — problematizing the role of a writing teacher and refusing to settle for simple solutions. We’ve also found a lighter read: The Atlantic’s roundup of new apps that hope to become the “Netflix of reading”. Enjoy!
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Community Literacy Journal wins “Best Public Intellectual Issue” Award
We are pleased to announce the Community Literacy Journal was awarded the 2013 “Best Public Intellectual Issue” award by the Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ) at the recent Modern Language Association Conference, which was held in Chicago. The Community Literacy Journal is edited and produced in Writing, Rhetoric & Discourse at DePaul University — and two runner-ups. According to the CELJ, journal contestants in the “Best Public Intellectual Issue” Award category must reach out beyond academe, connect with a popular audience in terms of accessible language and attractive presentation, and seek to achieve the democratic mission of higher education.
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Good Things from Chicago Public Schools, The Worst in Professional Writing, and Obama’s Rhetoric of Education
This week’s roundup of articles collectively considers the question ‘How can we do well in writing, rhetoric, and discourse?’ The New York Times article shares a tutoring success story in Chicago, while Stephen Lurie’s piece in The Atlantic argues that Obama’s vision of education reform has proven to be empty rhetoric thus far. Each piece asks its readers to consider the efficacy of words, rhetoric, and discourse. On a lighter note, we found a list of the worst examples of professional writing in 2013 — read at your own risk!
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The Ivory Tower, WAC, the “Masses”, and Money
Welcome to a new feature of the WRD blog! Each week, we’ll highlight a few articles that piqued our interest — notes from the fields of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, if you will. Leave a comment to discuss or let us know what we’ve missed!
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Greetings from Professor Vandenberg in China
Professor Vandenberg, WRD Department Chair, is in Quanzhou (Fujan Province) China this week at DePaul’s sister school, Huaqaio University. His visit follows one that WRD’s Visiting Professor and Coordinator of WRD’s Graduate TESOL Coordinator, Jason Schneider, made to Huaqiao this summer. Professor Vandenberg gave a talk on writing instruction in US universities on Monday and is meeting with administrators to explore possible connections between WRD and Huaqiao’s English department, including student and faculty exchanges and opportunities for WRD alumni to teach in China.
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First-Year Writing Students Published in New York Times
It’s not every day a student gets to see their work printed in the New York Times, but Michael Moore’s WRD 104 students are at it again. During spring quarter Emily Daniel and Marisa Coulter both had their responses published in the Letter to the Editor section of the Times. Moore’s 104 students write letters according to the Times guidelines as part of their coursework.
Continue readingCongrats to Our WRD Student Project Awards Winners!
Congratulations to the winners of the Third Annual WRD Student Project Awards Competition! This year’s winners were honored earlier this week at WRD Fest.
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Skolnik to Speak on Spirituality and Neuroscience in Jerusalem
Dr. Christine M. Skolnik of the Department of Writing, Rhetoric & Discourse at DePaul University has been invited to speak on a panel about spirituality and neuroscience at the Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Modifiability conference in Jerusalem, June 2-5, 2013, sponsored by the Feuerstein Institute. Dr. Skolnik will speak on a panel titled “Materialism v. Spiritualism on Brain Plasticity” with experts on spirituality and neuroscience from Israel.
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Three Finals Week Survival Tips
Ready or not, finals week is here. Crunch time. Stress is always high and motivation can be low. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the work you have to get done. Here are three tips to help you write those papers and stay sane. Good luck this week!
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