WRD Week is here!

To pep things up a bit as we near the end of the academic year WRD is planning a series of events April 19-21st called WRD Week to celebrate students in the WRD program! Throughout the day on Tuesday, April 19th and Wednesday April 20th at 11am, 12:45pm, and 2:15pm WRD will feature events in the WRD student lounge on the third floor of SAC. Stop by tables set up in the lounge to pick up free SWAG, meet a WRD celebrity, grab some treats, take part in a social media scavenger hunt (for a prize!), and chat with your

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Students from NMS and 510 with their nonprofit partners

MA Students Partner with Local Nonprofits

This post was written by Meaghan Young-Stephens, a graduate assistant to the WRD program who was enrolled in Writing Digital Content. If you’re like me and spend a lot of time on Chicago trains and buses, you’ve probably seen DePaul’s marketing promise, “The city is your campus.” Of the classes I have taken so far, NMS 510 is the one where the slogan rings most true. NMS 510 “Writing Digital Content” (or WRD 525 for those of us in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse program) is structured around a service-learning component that sets it apart. Early in the quarter, each student

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Spring Quarter Visiting Speaker: Kate Vieira

Kate Vieira from the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be our visiting speaker for Spring Quarter.  Her research investigates issues of writing and literacy within the lives of transnational migrants.   Her talk, “Money and Bodies: How They Matter for Writing,” will take place on Wed., May 4 in McGowan South 105 from 5:00-6:00pm, with a pre-lecture reception from 4:30-5:00pm.

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News and Updates

WoRDing It Your Way with Kevin Lyons and Bridget Wagner

We recently spoke with Kevin Lyon and Bridget Wagner, both alumni of the MA in WRD program who now work in Faculty Instructional Technology Services (or “FITS”) at DePaul. Kevin and Bridget are two of several MA in WRD alum who are now putting their degrees into practice at FITS! FITS isn’t the only DePaul experience Kevin and Bridget share: Both worked as peer tutors in the University Center for Writing-based Learning (UCWbL) and currently teach classes in DePaul’s First-Year Writing program. In FITS, Kevin works as an Instructional Technology Consultant to the College of Computing and Digital Media and College of Communication, and Bridget

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Canavor Workshop Brings Together Professional Writing Faculty

This is a first-person account written by one of the MA in WRD graduate assistants, Allison Pelletier.  On March 4, DePaul faculty members who teach professional, business, and technical writing for WRD attended an on-campus workshop, hosted by WRD and led by Natalie Canavor, author of Business Writing Today: A Practical Guide. As a graduate student in WRD, I am both excited by and intimidated by the prospect of teaching at the college level. I am equally enthusiastic about any opportunities that will help prepare me to teach. So although I’ve had little experience with professional writing, I was glad

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WRD Alumni Spotlight: Patrick Humpal

This week, the WRD Alumni Spotlight is on Patrick Humpal. Patrick graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in WRD and minors in Catholic Studies and Public Law & Political Thought. Outside of the classroom, Patrick participated in many service, faith, and social justice organizations at DePaul such as Catholic Campus Ministries, the Vincentian Community Service Office, and The Office of Mission and Values. He is currently serving with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Santiago, Chile. What have you been doing professionally since you earned your degree? In December I arrived in Santiago, Chile to begin my service with the

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Students and Faculty Cross Boundaries at LAS Graduate Student Conference

On Friday, March 4, 2016, students and faculty from departments in DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences gathered to present, discuss, and admire a variety of student research projects at the Third Annual LAS Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference. This year’s theme of “Crossing Boundaries” could be seen throughout the day in students’ diverse presentation topics and in the faculty and professional panel that wrapped up the day.   Students presented in sessions ranging from “Gender Identity in Literature” and “Mythical Personas” to “Imperialism & Globalism” and “Human Interaction and Resources.” Each session’s unique theme created connections between disciplines, truly

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Graduate Student Conference: Liberal Arts Research in the Classroom and Beyond

Interested in learning about what our colleagues in other disciplines are up to? Join us for a day of multidisciplinary learning at the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences’ Third Annual Graduate Student Conference! When: Friday, March 4, 12-5 pm Where: Lincoln Park Campus, McGowan South The theme for this year’s conference is Crossing Boundaries.  Graduate students will share their research on a wide variety of topics through presentations and posters . The event will conclude with “Scholarship Outside the Box,” a moderated panel of researchers discussing how they bridge academic and real-world concerns. All members of the DePaul community are welcome to

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WRD Student Spotlight: Maddy Johnson

WRD recently caught up with Maddy Johnson, a current student in the BA/MA in WRD program. She started working at Zacks Investment Research as an intern and is now a full-time content curator/stock news reporter. Her main work duties include covering the trendiest or high-profile financial news stories of the day as well as creating informational reports that range from upcoming IPOs to the current oil crisis. She also manages the intern team at Zacks, editing and revising their work throughout the day. In this article, Maddy shares more about her current position and how WRD has impacted her career.

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WRD Student Spotlight: Emily Power

Today’s student spotlight features current WRD major Emily Power. This past summer, Emily received a Summer Undergraduate Research Grant from DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences to work on a reading project connected to her interest in TESOL. Below, she tells about her research experience and discusses how the WRD program influenced her research process. Give us a brief overview of the project you were working on. I was working on a research project in which I explored different opinions on the spread of English. The four research questions I asked as I went into the project were as

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