To aid you in your longer-term planning, the following course descriptions are grouped by when they are typically offered. This schedule is subject to change.

Offered Every Fall, Spring, and Summer

  • ENC 3331 Rhetoric & Civic Engagement (core course for all three programs; should take as early in program as possible)  Extend your knowledge of rhetorical theory, investigate the relationship between rhetoric and civic engagement, explore how writing enacts civic identities, and practice specific rhetorical engagement skills. In this course students will set up their writing e-portfolios required by the program.
  • ENC 3315 Argumentative Writing (advanced core elective for B.A.)  Refine your writing style and ability to persuade by studying and implementing various theories and strategies for evaluating and building arguments for academic and public audiences.
  • ENC 3250 Professional Writing (core course for Certificate; Honors version also offered occasionally)  This class will help prepare you for the workforce by introducing you to writing, research, project management, and communication coordination skills important in businesses and organizations. Projects emphasize writing as problem solving and include creating and assessing a variety of workplace genres.
  • ENC 4212 Professional Editing  Learn and practice strategies for various levels of print and online editing important for writers in any career, but especially for editing positions in the publishing and other industries.
  • ENC 3311 Essay as Cultural Commentary  Fine-tune your writing skills by creating essays and other texts that comment on and enter public or scholarly conversations about current cultural issues.
  • ENC 3351 Writing for Publication (Honors version also offered occasionally) This class explores the publishing industry and how to target, write for, and submit nonfiction writing to specific print and online publications. Some sections produce issues of the Web magazine IMPRINT for a campus and local community audience.
  • ENG 3836 Professional Lives and Literacy Practices (core course for B.A.; should take in junior year prior to internship or practicum requirement)  Learn and apply literacy theory in exploring technology-assisted professional writing and communication practices around knowledge management work in organizations and communities.
  • ENC 4416 Writing in Digital Environments  Learn context-appropriate rhetorical strategies for critiquing, composing in, and improving digital writing genres and networked writing systems (e.g., blogs, websites, content management systems, online help systems). Most sections include a real-world project.

Offered Every Fall and Spring

  • ENC 3502 Researching Writing and Literacy (core course for B.A.; should be taken early in program)  Study various strands of and methodologies for writing and literacy research, particularly research focusing on writing and literacy development in educational and community contexts.
  • ENC 3375 Rhetoric in Popular Culture  In this course with rotating topics, students explore how persuasion works in some set of contemporary popular cultural practices before participating in these practices themselves. Past topics have included fantasy football, comics, hip-hop music, and stand-up comedy.
  • LIN 3673 Rhetorical Grammar Refine your application of grammatical conventions and polish your writing skills, particularly regarding clarity of action, cohesion and coherence, rhythm, and figurative language.
  • ENC 4944 Writing Internship (option for practicum requirement for B.A.; prereqs of ENC 3331, ENG 3836, and junior standing; permission only)  Gain training and practice in professional and/or civic writing through approved internship with business or organization; involves reporting and reflecting on experience.
  • ENC 4379 Writing and Rhetoric Capstone (final requirement for B.A.; prereqs of ENC 3331, ENG 3836, ENC 3502, practicum requirement, and senior standing) Reflect on disciplinary identity, possible career trajectories, and transferable strategies for writing in your life in this culminating course for the Writing and Rhetoric major. Includes concentrated work on program’s required e-portfolio.

Offered Every Fall

  • ENC 4354 Writing with Communities & Nonprofits (Honors version also offered occasionally) Learn and practice methods for writing in partnership with nonprofits and the multi-stakeholder communities they serve, with emphases on audience analysis and on community literacy and engagement. Typically includes a service-learning project.
  • ENC 3373 Cultural Rhetorics (advanced core elective for B.A.)  Learn about the range of cultural rhetorical traditions and practices and examine how cultural forces impact the diverse rhetorical practices of individuals and communities.
  • ENG 3833 Marketing Your Writing  Explore writing markets and publishing opportunities therein, the submission process, and author marketing and negotiation strategies.
  • ENC 4275 Theory and Practice of Tutoring Writing (option for practicum requirement of B.A.; permission only and requires email recommendation of writing instructor to Dr. Hall)  Do you have strong writing and communication skills and want a job as a peer tutor in the University Writing Center? Have your writing and rhetoric teacher recommend you via email to the UWC Director for this permission-only tutor-training practicum course.
  • ENC 3455 Writing about Science & Technology (Honors version also offered occasionally)  Analyze and practice writing select scientific texts, and implement strategies for writing about science and technology to such non-specialist audiences as publics and policymakers. Careers in science writing are also explored.

Offered Every Spring

  • ENC 3417 Literacy and Technology (advanced core elective for B.A. and minor)  Extend your knowledge of literacy theory and study how technology, particularly new media technology, has changed our current intellectual, professional, and personal theories of literacy, writing, and technology itself.
  • ENC 3433 Multimedia Writing and Composition  Prepare for the 21st century workforce by learning to communicate effectively in multimedia compositions involving some combination of alphabetic text, images, sound, animations, and moving video.
  • ENC 4353 Writing for Social Change  Learn about the roles of writing in social change efforts that utilize a range of models and strategies (e.g., grassroots activism, organizational sponsorship, political action). After tracking and studying a current problem or issue with local implications, students will work with community stakeholders on writing projects that address this problem in potentially sustainable ways.
  • ENC 3453 Writing about Health & Medicine (Honors version also offered occasionally)  Practice writing about health and medicine to various non-specialist audiences, including health consumers and local communities. Learn about the writing processes and strategies of medical experts, explore careers in health and medical writing, and contribute to a community health campaign or other public texts.

Offered Occasionally

  • ENC 3521 Writing across Difference (advanced core elective for B.A.; Honors version also offered occasionally) Explore how writing and rhetoric can help build coalitions and problem solve across cultural, political, linguistic, social, and ideological differences. Learn about key challenges presented by cross-cultural communication and strategies for negotiating these challenges.
  • ENC 4374 Gendered Rhetorics (advanced core elective for B.A.)  Investigate gendered rhetorics in a variety of contexts and historical traditions, focusing on how women rhetors have adapted rhetorical strategies as they engage in and shape public conversations.
  • ENC 4434 Visual and Material Rhetorics (advanced core elective for B.A.)  Study how visual (i.e., verbal and graphical) and material elements work with language in various types of rhetorical performance or action. Students will use a variety of compositional materials to produce texts.
  • ENC 4378 Writing in Global and Transnational Contexts  Examine what happens when writing and other language-use travels between cultures and countries. Students gain strategies for communicating with local and global audiences within a transnational context.
  • ENC 3473 Writing in Disciplinary Cultures (option for practicum requirement of B.A.)  Analyze and learn more about the research and writing practices in a specific discipline, including how knowledge is communicated to audiences outside the discipline, in this practicum course. Work on projects related to the Writing across the Curriculum program.
  • ENC 3503 Topics in Writing & Literacy Studies  In-depth study of a current issue in the field of writing and literacy studies. Students examine scholarly conversations about the issue and propose a local research project around it.
  • ENC 3372 Topics in Civic Rhetoric and Writing  In-depth study and application of a specific issue related to civic rhetoric and writing.
  • ENC 3454 Topics in Professional and Digital Writing  In-depth study and application of a specific issue related to professional and/or digital writing.