Tag: Graduate

Course Spotlight: WRD 511 Rhetorics of Displacement Update

During Spring Quarter 2021, Professor Monica Reyes taught WRD 511: Rhetorics of Displacement which was a hit with students and will be coming back for Winter Quarter 2022. We caught up with Reyes to talk about how this class differs from the last time she taught it.  Are you doing anything differently for this iteration of WRD 511: Rhetorics of Displacement? Yes! Students responded so positively to the course the first time I taught it in Spring [of] 2021, so the bones of the course are still the same. I still have units/themes centered around various rhetorics (like those in

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Event Recap: Writing and Rhetoric Across Borders Speaker Series with Dr. Laura Gonzales

On Tuesday, April 12, Dr. Laura Gonzales gave a fascinating presentation as part of the WRD Writing and Rhetoric Across Borders Speaker Series. Dr. Gonzales’ talk entitled “Translating Writing Across Communities, Languages, Contexts, and Disciplines” primarily focused on the ways in which we can all make a more conscious effort to bring equity into our work–both inside and outside the classroom. Much of what Dr. Gonzales had to share stemmed from the work she did with multilingual communicators who do translational work for her 2016 book Sites of Translation. A term she referred to frequently throughout her presentation was “translation

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Research Opportunities for Undergraduate and Graduate Students

One of the best parts about pursuing a degree is finding scholarly tracks you’re passionate about. Sometimes that passion swells beyond the scope of a class or project and you want to take your research to the next level. Whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate student, oftentimes there are ways to pursue that research in a meaningful, productive way.  Whether you take your project to a fellowship or find funding to do more research on your own, there is a myriad of opportunities to take advantage of while you’re still in school. This article doesn’t talk about every single option

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Going to Graduate School Later in Life

When finishing an undergraduate program, it can sometimes feel like that is the only time one can go into graduate school. But, for many students, heading right back into school after 12-16 straight years of schooling isn’t the right option. In fact, as of 2021, the average American graduate student was 33-years-old which is a statistic that has remained pretty stable for the last several decades. Beyond that average age, however, are folks who decide to go to graduate school later in their lives and careers.  Choosing to go back to school is a big commitment, even in a two-year

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Course Spotlight: WRD 513 Semiotics

Even if you aren’t sure what “semiotics” is, you encounter it on a daily basis. Put plainly, semiotics is the study of signs or symbols and how we interpret them. Take, for example, how you use emojis in your texts to convey a certain meaning. That is a use of semiotics because you are relying on that emoji to give context to whoever you’re talking to.  If studying that sounds interesting to you, you should consider taking Professor Pete Vandenberg’s WRD 513: Semiotics this spring. Not only will you learn about using semiotics in a disciplinary sense, but you’ll also

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Course Spotlight — WRD 507: Global Englishes

Note: This post was updated in January, 2024. This Spring Quarter, Dr. Jason Schneider is teaching one of his favorite courses—WRD 507 Global Englishes. This course showcases the vast variations in the English language across the world and the forces that have made English both a modern lingua franca and a language expressed in many different ways around the world. For students interested in linguistics, language teaching, and the political histories that shape our communication, this class is an opportunity to engage with English on an entirely new playing field. “In the broadest sense, the course offers a way to

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