WRD Alumna Sarah Hughes to Start PhD Program in the Fall

Sarah Hughes, a 2012 graduate of the MA in WRD program, was recently accepted into the Joint Program in English and Education at the University of Michigan! Ultimately, Sarah’s goal is to attain a tenure-track faculty position in Composition & Rhetoric. WRD was able to catch up with Sarah and learn more about the PhD program she’ll be starting in Fall 2017 as well as her research plans. Congrats, Sarah! Can you tell us about the Joint Program in English and Education at Michigan and why you chose it? The Joint Program in English & Education is a Composition and Rhetoric

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Flyer for Kristin Arola talk

Kristin Arola to Visit WRD on April 21

On Friday, April 21 from 1 to 2:30pm in the Lincoln Park Campus in McGowan 104, Dr. Kristin L. Arola from Washington State University will be visiting DePaul and taking part in the Writing and Rhetoric Across Borders Speaker Series. Arola will be delivering a talk entitled, “Slow Composition: American Indian Rhetorics and Mindful Making Practices.” Abstract: This presentation explores what writing studies can learn from American Indian epistemologies. By bringing together stories of the crafting and gathering practices of the Anishinaabe peoples of the Upper Great Lakes and the concept of composing as culturing, Arola offers a framework for

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Kyla Patterson: Fulbright Scholar

Kyla Patterson, a 2017 graduate of the BA in Writing, Rhetoric, & Discourse program, recently received the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship! WRD was able to catch up with Kyla and learn about where she will be going and what kind of work she will be doing as a Fulbright Scholar. Beginning this autumn, Kyla will be traveling to Czechia (also known as the Czech Republic in the recent past) to participate in an English Teaching Assistant Program. As the name of the program suggests, Kyla’s main responsibility will be teaching English to elementary-aged children in Czechia for at least twenty hours

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Alumni Spotlight: Michelle Flory

WRD recently caught up with Michelle Flory, a 2015 alumna of the M.A. in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse program and the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Certificate program.  Currently, she works as a full-time developmental communications instructor at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois.  Her research interests include sociolinguistics, first-year writing, and multi-modal literacies.  She is a pet parent to three mischievous bunnies and a cat, a Netflix binge-watcher, and an annual roadtripper. What have you been doing professionally since you earned your MA degree? After earning my M.A., I began teaching developmental writing courses

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WRD 523 at DePaul

Graduate Editing Course Provides MA Students with Organizational Knowledge

Community service is at the core of DePaul’s mission toward Vincentian values and social justice. In the MA WRD program, our courses can contribute to this service through the use of community partnerships in the classroom. In the Winter 2016 quarter, Professor Sarah Read is teaching WRD 523: Editing, and students are working with community organizations, giving back to the greater Chicago community while developing skills in editing, copywriting, and technical communication. Learning the Skills This is the third time that Prof. Read has taught this class at the graduate level, which she says focuses on “the immediate professionalization of

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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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Screengrab of Cauldron website showing the article

Justin Staley Ponders the Little League World Series in The Cauldron

WRD instructor Justin Staley’s article “25 Years Ago, I Played In The Little League World Series, Too” was recently published in The Cauldron by Sports Illustrated. In the article, Staley recalls his experiences playing in the Little League World Series championship and reflects on what he’s learned from that memorable summer. We were able to get in touch with Staley and learn more about the article and his reasons for writing it. Want to read Staley’s work? Find it here. Why did you write this piece? Did any recent event or thought trigger a desire to write about yourself and the Little

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WRD 377 Students

WRD 377: Writing & Social Engagement

This Winter Quarter, instructor Jen Finstrom is putting a twist on WRD 377: Writing and Social Engagement. WRD 377 courses always include an experiential learning component—typically, students will complete mandatory service-learning hours by going out of the classroom to serve and collaborate with communities and organizations in Chicago. What makes Finstrom’s course unique is that while it remains grounded in experiential learning and community service, students in this WRD 377 class are primarily collaborating and working with their Chicago community online rather than in person. How? Students in WRD 377 give written online feedback to sixth graders writing poetry at

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New Graduate Course Preview | WRD 545: Teaching Writing Online

Why Learn to Teach Writing Online? In recent years, the convenience, accessibility, and pedagogical possibilities of online learning have drawn in students and teachers alike. As more students turn to online spaces for education, writing teachers must understand the pedagogical possibilities for these learning environments. To help students prepare to teach online, the MA in WRD will offer WRD 545: Teaching Writing Online in the upcoming Spring 2017 quarter. The course is an elective, of particular interest to students pursuing the concentration in teaching writing and language. On the course’s website, Prof. Michael Moore says that he aims to explore

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Spring & Summer ’17 Courses Are Here!

The Course Cart for Spring and Summer 2017 classes opened this week, and registration begins February 5! 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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