Category: Undergraduate

Course Spotlight – WRD 377 Writing and Social Engagement: Women of Graceland

Graceland Cemetery is a Chicago landmark and arboretum that has acted as the final resting place for many prominent Chicagoans since 1860. Although it is a gateway into Chicago history, Graceland disproportionately highlights the men buried there through a variety of monuments. Dr. Julie Bokser is on a mission to address this disparity through WRD 377 Writing & Social Engagement: Women of Graceland. In Autumn Quarter 2025, students will have the opportunity to explore the beloved landmark through scholarship and research that uplifts and honors the women who have been laid to rest in Graceland. With insights provided by Dr.

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Course Spotlight — WRD 264: Language, Self, and Society

How do our personal language experiences fit into larger social frameworks? This Autumn Quarter 2025, Professor Margaret Poncin Reeves seeks to answer just that in WRD 264: Language, Self, and Society. I sat down with Professor Poncin Reeves to discuss in detail what this course entails—read on to learn why you should enroll!  What are your goals for the course and what can students hope to learn?  In this course, students will think about how their personal language backgrounds connect to larger societal patterns. The course is primarily focused on the U.S., but investigates the diversity of language in the

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Alumni Spotlight – Madeline Crozier

MAWRD alum and current PhD candidate Madeline Crozier started working in DePaul’s Writing Center in 2017 as an undergraduate student and garnered a sense of purpose that she has taken with her throughout her career. During her time at DePaul, she found an understanding of the power of mission-minded work and scholarship. “I found [at the Writing Center] shared values, beliefs, a core understanding of learning, and a sense of shared mission.”  Through her current role as the Graduate Assistant Director of the Writing Center at the University of Tennessee (UT), MAWRD alum Madeline Crozier is fulfilling a sense of

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Course Spotlight – WRD 288: Rhetoric and Popular Culture

*Originally posted by Leo Swearingen in Winter Quarter, 2024, with edits made to apply to Dr. Elliott’s iteration in the upcoming Spring Quarter 2025. At the intersection of The Avengers and Aristotle, WRD 288 Rhetoric & Popular Culture emerges to explore how pop culture shapes and is shaped by the art of persuasion. Taught this Spring Quarter by Dr. Timothy Elliott, this course is your ticket to entertainment and enlightenment in one. Read on to hear from Dr. Elliott and learn more about what the course entails. Are there any specific artifacts or events in pop culture the class will be taking a look

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Course Spotlight – WRD 377: Writing and Social Engagement: From Hip Hop To Hashtags

This upcoming spring quarter, Professor Ames Hoffner is teaching WRD 377 Writing and Social Engagement: From Hip Hop to Hashtags. This course is a part of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, a program where students have the opportunity to engage in open collaboration and dialogue with incarcerated students at Cook County Jail. Over the quarter, DePaul students will consider incarcerated students their peers, while entering thoughtful discussions about social engagement as it pertains to ongoing, social issues.   Each week, “outside” DePaul students will learn alongside “inside” students. This course is largely discussion-based, so all students will be able to

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Course Spotlight — WRD 203 Style for Writers

This Spring Quarter 2025, Dr. Julie Bokser is teaching WRD 203 Style for Writers, a core major class that helps students develop their ability to think and write effectively in a variety of genres. Read on to learn more about what this class entails and see why you should be excited to enroll this Spring Quarter! Course Goals and Learning Outcomes Dr. Bokser’s main goal for the course is to get students to think more deeply about language. By looking at the details of language use, like how sentences are structured, students can expect to learn how to make their

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Course Spotlight — WRD 283: Environmental Writing

Scheduled intentionally in Spring Quarter as changes in the environment become more easily perceptible, WRD 283 Environmental Writing, taught by Dr. Jason Kalin, offers more than just Social, Cultural, Behavioral Inquiry (SCBI) credit. It offers a chance to grow along with nature into new perspectives.  What is Environmental Writing?  In this course, environmental writing is writing about the environment and nature, but with the rhetorical understanding that the environment and nature are not just “out there” – external to or separate from humans. The class tries to teach that we are not separate from our environment. We are nature and

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Course Spotlight – WRD 360 Topics in Rhetoric: Privilege, Discourse, and the Second Amendment

In Spring Quarter 2025, Dr. Michael Gallaway will be teaching WRD 360 Topics in Rhetoric: Privilege, Discourse, and the Second Amendment. This class enters debates on who is allowed to do what, particularly when it comes to enacting citizenship through the right to bear arms. Read on to learn more about what this class entails and hear why you should enroll this Spring Quarter!  Course Goals and Learning Objectives  This course emerged as an extension of the Lived Civics Initiative that DePaul started a few years ago, wherein the University was awarded a grant to examine the ways that people

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Course Spotlight WRD 365: Migration and Storytelling

Our journey as writers often begins as storytellers. Through this medium, we can tell all kinds of stories about our identity, research, likes, dislikes, and the list goes on! However, sometimes we must listen to outside perspectives–stories from those who we might not usually think to seek. Dr. Monica Reyes, who has an expansive background in work involving displacement and migration studies, is teaching WRD 365: Migration and Storytelling this Winter Quarter 2025.  By examining a range of texts—including personal narratives, news articles, opinion pieces, and legal documents—students will evaluate the ethical, cultural, and political aspects of communicating, whether through

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Course Spotlight WRD 371: Mentoring Youth in Community Groups

**responses edited for clarity Writing is best when it is a collaboration. In high school, the thought of someone critiquing my work was terrifying. However, a great way to grow as a writer is to work with those around you, receiving and giving feedback. In WRD 371: Mentoring Youth in Community Groups, DePaul students have an opportunity to grow their ability to provide feedback, enhancing their own reflective writing processes, and help younger students at the local Leo High School develop their writing. Finding these types of spaces can be intimidating, but WRD 371 has become a haven for young

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