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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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Course Spotlight: Teaching ESL Writing Update

Overview of WRD 543 Students in Dr. Jason Schneider’s WRD 543: Teaching ESL Writing course learned to better understand the theoretical and practical issues connected to writing studies in an increasingly diverse world. WRD 543 is a graduate-level course, open to all MA in WRD students, and is offered every other year. It provides concentration credit for students in DePaul’s Teaching Writing and Language concentration of the MA in WRD and counts for Methods credit for those students pursuing the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate. Structured around readings and weekly discussion posts, the course helps students

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MA in WRD Weekly Job Listings: October 24, 2016

Looking for a new job around Chicago? The MA in WRD graduate assistants rounded up these postings this week, lots of them related to teaching and tutoring: Adult Educator – ESL Truman College This position aims “to provide instruction to students enrolled in the Adult Education program at the City Colleges of Chicago in areas such as Adult Basic Education (ABE), General Educational Development (GED), & English as a Second Language (ESL).” Relevant B.A. and experience required, M.A. preferred. Coordinator – Tutoring Services Malcolm X College “The position will be responsible for supporting and coordinating the day-to-day operations of the

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WRD Alumni Spotlight: Molly Rentscher

Molly Rentscher is the latest alumna to be featured in the WRD Spotlight series. She graduated in 2015 with a Master’s in Writing, Rhetoric, & Discourse. Currently, Molly works as a writing center coordinator at Arizona State University. What have you been doing professionally since you earned your degree? I earned my degree in June of 2015, and shortly thereafter, I accepted a full-time position at Arizona State University (ASU) as a writing center coordinator. In my position, I am responsible for managing all aspects of operations for the West campus Writing Center and Graduate Writing Center; this includes hiring,

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Faculty Spotlight: Jason Schneider

Professor Jason Schneider is the newest tenure-track member of the WRD faculty. Having taught at DePaul as a Visiting Assistant Professor since 2012, he moved into his current position of Assistant Professor in the department during fall quarter. With an MA in applied linguistics and a PhD in rhetoric from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Schneider felt immediately at home in the WRD program. Today, Schneider wears many hats here at DePaul. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in teaching English as a Second Language and coordinates the graduate certificate program in TESOL. Over the summer, he oversaw the creation of WRD 111, a new course for

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Kate Vieira Brings Immigrant Stories to Life

Last Thursday the WRD Department welcomed Kate Vieira, who spoke with students and faculty about her research on “Money and Bodies: How They Matter for Writing.” Vieira has conducted a great deal of research on literacy in immigrant communities and the families left behind. More recently, her focus has been on writing from the body, and how writing can aid physical, mental, and emotional healing. Her argument in her presentation for the DePaul community? That there are more connections between these strands of research than we might think—and that the root of this connection lies in the materiality of writing. Writing is

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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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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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News and Updates

WoRDing It Your Way with Mitchell Goins and Joseph Klein

We recently spoke with Mitchell Goins and Joseph Klein, both alumni of the MA in WRD program who now work at Triton College, a two-year community college in River Grove, IL. At Triton, Mitchell serves as assistant director of ESL programs, and Joseph works as a faculty member in the English department. We’re happy they took the time to share a little about their experiences!

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