Department
At least one each term, Rhetoric & Composition faculty will lead professional development workshops for students in the program. Past topics have included mapping the field, writing annotated bibliographies and thesis proposals, and writing conference proposals. Upcoming topics will likely include situating your work in the field, developing your thesis project, and applying to PhD programs.
Students should also take advantage of the excellent composition workshops and research talks held each semester. Workshops will enable you to learn more about the teaching of writing and, if you are a GTA, network and share resources with other, more seasoned writing instructors in the department. The department’s Research Colloquium series features 2-3 pairs of research presentations each term, with each pair typically including a faculty member and an advanced graduate student (from the M.A. or Texts & Technology program). One purpose of this series is to provide M.A. students with examples of various types of research in the field, the scope of an M.A. thesis, and strategies for situating and presenting one’s research.
Finally, the program will be encouraging students to form a student chapter of the Rhetoric Society of America. Comprised of both graduate and advanced undergraduate students, other RSA student chapters have sponsored such activities as professionalization workshops, reading groups, and abstract writing groups.
University
- Career Services offers help with evaluating career choices, applying to graduate schools, and refining your networking, interviewing, and presentation skills
- The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL) offers training and resources for Graduate Teaching Assistants, including the Teaching at UCF guide, teaching performance assessment, and the Preparing Tomorrow’s Faculty program
- The College of Graduate Studies offers a Pathways to Success program that includes workshops in academic integrity, grant writing, teaching, personal development, professional development, research, and other topics
- The UCF Institutional Review Board (IRB) offers education and training in research ethics, particularly for human subject research (e.g., research involving observations, interviews, surveys); this includes the CITI training that you should complete by the Spring of your second year
Field
- CCCC Research Network Forum
- RSA Summer Institute (biennial, in alternating years of RSA Conference)
- Ohio State’s Digital Media and Composition (DMAC) Institute
- Dartmouth College’s Institute for Writing & Rhetoric’s Summer Seminar for Composition Research
- Written Communication’s Methodology Resources