Writing & Rhetoric

During the 2023-24 academic year, the Department of Writing and Rhetoric’s undergraduate program achieved several significant milestones. We developed a new undergraduate certificate program titled The Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Human Impacts Certificate. This innovative program explores the intersections of human experiences with AI and big data technologies. By drawing from interdisciplinary expertise across the College of Arts and Humanities, the certificate equips students with critical and creative approaches to understanding the ethics, uses, histories and broad implications of these transformative and emerging technologies. In our ongoing commitment to provide enriched educational opportunities, we introduced honors sections for two existing courses: Graphic Medicine and Disability Studies in Rhetoric. These honors sections are designed to meet the diverse intellectual needs of our students and offer an in-depth exploration of these subjects. We introduced a new course on rhetoric and pop culture that focused on the work of Taylor Swift, reflecting our commitment to offering contemporary and relevant coursework that resonates with students’ interests. Learn more about the students’ experiences on UCF’s Knightly News (minute 6:08) and

To be at the forefront of professionalizing faculty who are teaching writing with and about artificial intelligence, our undergraduate program partnered with the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program to offer workshops in teaching with AI. This initiative was designed to equip educators with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively teach AI-related topics, ensuring that our curriculum remains relevant and forward-looking. In the month of March, Department Chair Sherry Rankins-Robertson represented UCF at both a Board of Governors meeting and a Department of Education meeting to discuss the evolving uses of AI in education with particular attention to writing, critical thinking and an expansion of digital literacy to include AI literacy. Claire Lauer, professor of technical communication from Arizona State University, facilitated a roundtable discussion with Shane Wood, director of First-Year Composition, titled “Digital and Data Literacies and AI” to further discuss the implications of AI, writing and visual representation of data. Learn more about the Department’s AI efforts discussed in the WAC spotlight.

Beyond these academic developments, DWR undergraduate students successfully restarted the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), with the support of faculty advisor Stephanie K. Wheeler. This project fosters student engagement and activism, empowering students to advocate for labor rights and social justice. BA undergraduate student Brit Gibson started a campus yoga club called emPOWER with faculty advisor Sherry Rankins-Robertson to promote student wellbeing and mindfulness. The faculty-student pair offered a mindful writing, mindful movement course through the Florida Prison Education Program (FPEP) in the Spring 2024 term. Lecturer Heather Vazquez continues to support the coordination of FPEP and teach writing in prisons. Our students’ hard work and dedication were recognized through prestigious awards. DWR students were awarded the Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) for Summer 2024, as well as scholarships during Academic Exploration Week, highlighting their exceptional academic achievements.

The Department hosted students from Celebration High School on campus, in collaboration with the University Writing Center (UWC). The event included activities in the Theory Lab and an International Baccalaureate (IB) research and writing event, providing high school students with a valuable opportunity to engage with advanced research and writing practices.

— Sherry Rankins-Robertson, chair