Arizona State University

Ph.D. Program in Rhetoric, Composition, and Linguistics
Contact: Keith Miller
MA Program in Rhetoric and Composition
Contact: Peter Goggin

Bowling Green State University

Rhetoric & Writing PhD Program

Since its founding in 1980, this program has been committed to preparing students for faculty careers in rhetoric and composition. Students and faculty in the Rhetoric & Writing PhD Program utilize the range of approaches--rhetorical, cultural, empirical, and technological--that characterize the field of rhetoric and composition in the twenty-first century. While some courses emphasize writing instruction and writing administration, students have varied scholarly interests and do research on a wide range of dissertation topics. The program has a very strong placement record into tenure-line faculty positions at universities and colleges.

Contact: Richard Gebhart

Carnegie Mellon University

The Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric at Carnegie Mellon University focuses on how people produce and understand discourse across a variety of social, cultural, and material contexts, in schools, workplaces, and communities. The program familiarizes students with the history and theory of rhetoric and language study and with a variety of methods, qualitative and quantitative, for systematically exploring their interests in research projects and dissertation work. The program prepares students for academic careers centered on the history and theory of rhetoric, research about the writing process and communication design more generally, or rhetorical approaches to discourse and cultural studies.

Contact: Chris Neuwirth, cmn@cmu.edu

Clemson University

The Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design (RCID) PhD program seeks an overall balance of ecologies in rhetorics and communications and, thereby, features a cross-cultural, transdisciplinary curriculum with a conceptual emphasis on Aristotle's triad of knowing, doing, and making, that is, on theoretical, practical-pedagogical, and productive approaches to knowledge. Communications is not simply speaking and writing. The RCID curriculum emphasizes, in addition, the study and multimodal production of language-communication apparatuses such as pictographic and alphabetic rhetorics, or more specifically, gestural, silent, oral, aural, temporal-spatial, visual, written and digital rhetorics. 

The first word of the name of the program, "Rhetorics," is in plural form. It may be peculiar in this form for some readers, but it acknowledges that there is more than one rhetoric, for there is more than one culture. Rhetoric(s)—in its singular-plural possibilities—establishes the conditions for How we discover not only the available means but also innovative forms of living, working, and playing together, across a multitude of cultures, with others. Through rhetoric(s) we not only build cultures but also construct multiple linkages among them.

Contact: Victor J. Vitanza, sophist@clemson.edu

DePaul University

Contact: Dr. Peter Vandenberg

Hofstra University

The Master of Arts in Speech Communication and Rhetorical Studies is designed to enhance communication and critical and analytical thinking skills. With a strong basis in the liberal arts, courses explore how the communication process works in interpersonal and group settings, in formal organizations and in public communication situations.

Students concentrate in either rhetorical studies or performance studies. Within these concentrations, they have considerable flexibility in tailoring a course of study to fit their individual needs, and may choose a secondary, related area of concentration outside the School of Communication, such as political science, history or English or comparative literature.

The program was developed both for students who intend to pursue doctoral work and for those for whom the M.A. will be the final degree. The program prepares students for positions in all professional fields requiring effective communication, including business, education, the nonprofit sector and government.

Indiana University

Department of Communication & Culture

Indiana University Purdue University - Indianapolis (IUPUI)

The graduate English program has been designed to prepare students for careers in the analysis and production of texts. The program covers issues and skills in reading and writing, in the richest sense of these words-in order to prepare students to address these issues and to teach these skills. Graduates of the program should be prepared for such careers as teaching writing and literature; teaching English as a second language; and writing for business, government, and other professions. In contrast to traditional M.A. programs, which place heavy emphasis on literary history, the IUPUI program focuses on the application of English studies to contemporary situations and problems. Within the M.A. program, we have a Certificate in Teaching Writing.

Contact: Pat M. King

Iowa State University

Ph.D. program in Rhetoric & Professional Communication

Our Ph.D. program in Rhetoric & Professional Communication focuses on the rhetoric of science and technology, visual communication, and multimodal communication pedagogy across the disciplines. Graduates are qualified for academic positions in rhetoric and professional communication as well as work in the private sector as writing specialists, editors, and communication production managers. Our graduates enjoy 100% placement in academia and industry.

Contact: Director of English Graduate Studies

Kent State University

"Literacy, Rhetoric, and Social Practice," our doctoral program in R/C embraces theoretical foundations for the study of writing and rhetoric in postsecondary disciplinary and workplace contexts.

Miami University

Since 1981 we at Miami have had the pleasure of collaborating with hundreds of MA and PhD students to promote diverse and equitable scholarly inquiry, professional development, and pedagogical creativity. Please visit our web site for more information.                                               

Contact: Michele Simmons, simmonwm@muohio.edu

Michigan State University

Additional information can be found on this page, http://wrac.msu.edu/graduate/mission/.  

Contact: Dr. Bill Hart-Davidson, hartdav2@msu.edu

North Carolina State University

PhD in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media.

Contact: Steve Wiley, Steve_wiley@ncsu.edu

Northwestern University

PhD program in rhetoric and civic culture.

Oklahoma State University

The Rhetoric and Professional Writing program at Oklahoma State University offers a distinctive curriculum for those who not only love language but love what language can do in the world.

Old Dominion University

The PhD in English, now in its first year, is an innovative program that integrates writing, rhetoric, discourse, technology, and textual studies. Offering opportunities for creative reinterpretation of these fields within the discipline of English, we emphasize research that examines texts in a variety of overlapping and sometimes competing language-based worlds. Our focus is on how the creation and reception of texts and media are affected by the form, purpose, technology of composition, audience, cultural location, and communities of discourse. All students take 15 hours of core courses, 9 hours of electives, a 3-hour Dissertation Seminar, and 12 hours of specialized courses in one of two fields:

Rhetoric and Textual Studies. Designed for those interested in applying the analytic tools provided by rhetoric, linguistics, and critical/literary theory to the study of verbal, graphic, and visual texts, this track prepares students for placement and advancement in academic and nonacademic careers related to the study and teaching of rhetorical theories/practices, composition instruction and administration, as well as rhetorical approaches to composition, discourse, literature and culture.

Professional Writing and New Media. Designed for those in education and industry who wish to study the connections between discourse and technology and involving both theoretical exploration and experiential learning, this track prepares graduates for leadership roles in technical and professional communication, composition instruction and administration, and software development.

Students may pursue full- or part-time study through a combination of on-campus and distance learning courses. At present, we offer one to two distance learning courses per semester, and distance students will visit the campus to take six to nine additional hours through our Doctoral Summer Institute program, which offers intensive study of major issues in English Studies in the company of nationally-known specialists.

Penn State University, Dept. of Communication Arts and Sciences

Penn State offers courses in Rhetoric and Public Discourse, Social Movements, Rhetoric of the Media, Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetorical Theory, and the History of Public Address. Graduate students enjoy extensive opportunities for interdisciplinary study within the community of rhetoricians in CAS and English and a chance to work with and learn from rhetorically minded colleagues in African-American studies, education, history, linguistics, philosophy, women's studies, and other fields.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Communication and Rhetoric, focusing on communication in technologically-mediated contexts.

San Diego State University

The M.A. program in Rhetoric and Writing Studies prepares students for advanced study in rhetoric, composition, communication, and related fields, as well as for careers in areas requiring advanced skills in writing and rhetorical analysis. Students from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds will have an opportunity for intensive examination of the nature of written discourse and its relationship to knowledge, culture, and professional practice.

Students complete a 30-unit program of study beyond the bachelor's level. The MA Program in Rhetoric and Writing Studies offers students three emphases:

The General Program in Rhetoric
The Teaching of Writing
Professional Writing

Contact: Jane Robinett

Syracuse University

Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Doctoral Program
Contact: Steve Parks

The Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Doctoral Program (CCR) at Syracuse University emphasizes research on the dynamic interaction of rhetoric and writing in a variety of cultural and historical contexts. Located within the Writing Program since 1997, CCR is the first doctorate in Rhetoric and Composition studies in the country to be offered by an independent writing program. With doctoral education as our sole focus, the CCR program offers a unique environment for students to develop their graduate and professional careers through sustained and committed engagement with our nationally and internationally recognized faculty. As a department, we work to develop a diverse graduate student community and to help them connect their work to a broad range of scholarly, disciplinary, and community contexts. For this reason, a survey of our current and past students will show a program as engaged with composition pedagogy as technical writing, digital rhetoric as community engagement, global English as classical rhetoric, and feminist studies as Caribbean rhetoric. We are committed, that is, to actively working within the traditional and emergent research in our field in order to enable students to chart the next wave of scholarly, pedagogical, and community-based practices.

Syracuse University

MA program in Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Contact: Bradford Vivian

The MA program in Communication and Rhetorical Studies provides a vibrant and dynamic environment for students hoping to pursue further study in Communication Studies.  Our program has a strong academic research focus and is ideal for students planning to go on to pursue doctoral level education.  One of the unique advantages of our MA-only program is that our Master's students are our main focus.  Graduates of our MA program have gone on to great success at the nation's top Communication Studies doctoral programs including: Pittsburgh University, Texas A&M University, the University of Iowa, Arizona State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Texas.

Texas Christian University (TCU)

Contact: Mona Narain, m.narain@tcu.edu

Offering the M.A. and Ph.D., TCU has a long history as one of the earliest graduate programs in Rhetoric and Composition, providing students with a tradition of excellence in graduate studies that combines intellectual development with practical training and professional mentoring. Our dynamic, productive graduate faculty members in Rhetoric and Composition work collaboratively and think programmatically. Our friendly, small program allows for individual intellectual development and career mentoring, with competitive graduate fellowships and 1-1 teaching load appointments for Graduate Instructors. All PhD students, regardless of specialization, take one course in rhetoric and one in composition theory, as well as seminars in Classical Rhetoric; Writing Program Administration; Modern Rhetoric; Literacy Studies; Rhetoric and Criticism; Research Practices; Women’s Rhetoric; and Image Studies.

Texas State University

The MA program in Rhetoric and Composition (MARC) is a relatively new program at Texas State. The program provides students the opportunity to study written discourse and the teaching of writing within and across social, cultural, institutional, and technological contexts. The program combines core courses in rhetorical theory, composition theory and pedagogy, and research methods, with opportunities for focused study in areas ranging from minority rhetorics and writing center studies to teaching with technology and writing across cultures. Students may also choose to pursue a cognate in one of our successful MA programs in technical communication or literature.

All of our graduates who have chosen to pursue a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition have been accepted into such prestigious universities as Arizona State, Kent State and Syracuse. Other graduates have begun successful careers at the community college level or brought new perspectives to their current jobs as secondary-level teachers of English.

Contact:  Cheyenne Riggs, MARC assistant, and Rebecca Jackson, MARC director 
Email: marc@txstate.edu

Texas Tech University

Rhetorics (historical, contextual, feminist, comparative, and applied)
   
Contact:  Joyce Carter
Email: joyce.carter@ttu.edu

University of Arizona

The RCTE program was officially created in 1988. Its progenitor was a program in English Education founded at UA in the 1960s. It is one of four graduate programs in the Department of English. The others are Literature, Creative Writing, and English Language and Linguistics. RCTE offers the MA and PhD degrees.

At the University of Arizona, we view rhetoric and composition as arts that must be studied and practiced in the context of broad cultural and public interests. These commitments are reflected in the array of research published by our faculty and graduate students and by our efforts to improve the teaching of writing at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our work on writing program administration and curriculum development is informed by our commitment to addressing issues of difference in equality and our outreach to the community. Our outreach efforts have taken us to local schools, reservations, community literacy centers, and advocacy groups. Because of these commitments, students and faculty look for opportunities within our institution and the Southwest region to relate the study of rhetoric to the cultural and technological changes that are redefining what it means to teach writing in the twenty-first century.

University of California, Berkeley

Contact: Marcus Norman

University of Colorado at Boulder

The Communication Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder offers advanced work leading to the MA and Ph.D. in Communication. Students emphasizing rhetoric will study in an environment that brings rhetoric into dialogue with interpretive social sciences. Themes of emphasis include the rhetoric of science, rhetoric and social theory, and vernacular rhetoric.

University of Kansas

The Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas offers graduate courses in public address, rhetorical criticism, critical theory, publics theory, the rhetorical tradition from classical through contemporary times, new media, and argumentation. Graduate students enjoy extensive opportunities for interdisciplinary study within the community of rhetoricians at KU. Beyond the Communication Studies Department—which boasts nine full-time faculty devoted to the study of rhetoric and three faculty members who approach rhetorical artifacts using qualitative methods—students will find a thriving group of rhetorical scholars in the English Department and they will have the chance to learn from rhetorically minded colleagues in African and African-American studies, Sociology, American Studies, Political Science, Women's Studies, and other fields.

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland offers an MA Program with a Minor in Rhetoric and Composition and a flexible PhD Program that may encompass a specialty in Rhetoric and Composition.

The MA Program combines requirements in literature, theory, and rhetoric and composition. Within requirements, the student may choose courses to focus on a particular professional or academic interest: editing and professional writing, for example, or the teaching of writing, or rhetorical analysis of texts, or history of rhetoric and composition. While MA students are not funded, once admitted, students may apply for GA positions on campus, or take ENGL 611, “Approaches to College Composition,” and apply to teach the first-year writing course.

The PhD program also combines requirements in literature, theory, and rhetoric and composition, but with a great deal of flexibility to develop an individualized program of study: feminist history of rhetoric for example, or composition and digital studies. Admission is highly competitive, but all admitted students receive a five-year funded package.

Faculty at the University of Maryland provide students with opportunities to study rhetorical theory, composition theory and pedagogy, digital media, history of rhetoric, literacy studies, cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis, technical and professional writing, and writing program administration. Graduate courses available prepare students for long-term careers in academia or bolster their professional development in the workforce. Many faculty offer students the possibility of independent study in highly specialized areas not covered by the curriculum.

The Language, Writing, and Rhetoric discipline group at UMD includes faculty and students who are interested in the power of language and writing to shape an audience’s view of the world and persuade them to certain beliefs or actions. They host speakers, put on symposia, meet to discuss research topics, and discuss the latest research in a reading group.

Contact: Manju Suri

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact:  Jordan Soliz, Director of Graduate Studies                 

Faculty and students in the Rhetoric and Public Culture area focus on understanding communicative sites of citizenship as they are transformed by globalization, digital mediation, and an accelerating cultural pluralism. Scholars explore the tensions created by these paradigmatic changes through the study of cultural myth and civic identity, networked public spheres and deliberation, and relationships between social identity and public argument. Graduate students will have the opportunity to take a variety of graduate seminars including Classical Rhetorical Theory, Contemporary Rhetorical Theory, Rhetorical Criticism, Public Argument and Deliberation, Gender and Communication, Political Communication, and Cultural Criticism.

University of Pittsburgh

The graduate program in Communication at the University of Pittsburgh aims to train rigorous researchers, insightful theorists, and excellent teachers for placement in tenure-stream positions at either major research universities or quality four-year colleges. To this end, the program offers philosophical, theoretical, critical, historical, and cultural approaches to the study of communication. The curriculum includes traditional and innovative course work from four areas of emphasis: 

    * History, Theory and Criticism of Rhetoric

    * Media and Culture 

    * Public Address and Argument 

    * Rhetoric of Science

Contact: Gordon Mitchell, gordonm@pitt.edu

University of South Carolina

The University of South Carolina is a leading center for the interdisciplinary study of rhetoric in English and Speech Communication. The rapidly growing program offers the Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in Composition and Rhetoric and the M.A. degree in Speech Communication. Rooted in humanistic and critical inquiry, its faculty are committed to the serious study of written, oral, and electronic discourse in academic, workplace, and public settings. The curriculum offers rigorous training in the classical and contemporary rhetorical traditions while synthesizing philosophical, historical, and cultural dimensions of rhetoric.  The program gives students the flexibility to design their own specialization within the broad field of rhetoric and offers a unique opportunity to draw on the strengths of rhetoricians from multiple disciplines.  Graduate students at South Carolina have the chance to work in a program that provides an excellent faculty-student ratio, generous assistantships, and a diversity of teaching opportunities. For more information and application materials please visit our website at http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/

Contact: Erik Doxtader

University of Texas at Austin

A graduate concentration in Rhetoric is available through the Department of English.

Graduate students in rhetoric complete coursework in the history of rhetoric; rhetorical and discourse theory; composition theory, pedagogy and practice; and discourse analysis.

Their professional development includes practical experience as teachers of writing. Over the course of their careers, graduate students may teach RHE306, the first-year course in argumentation, and design and teach various sections of RHE309, the sophomore-level course in rhetorical topics.

University of Utah

The University Writing Program offers the PhD in Rhetoric and Composition through its affiliated departments. Students take courses with faculty in the Program while individualizing their curriculum through English; Communication; Linguistics: or Education, Culture, and Society. Students pursue varied projects in writing and rhetoric working with leading researchers in a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment.

Contact: Maureen Mathison, Director, maureen.mathison@hum.utah.edu

University of Washington

M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication. Rhetoric is a thriving area of study in the department, with research emphases on the rhetoric of science, rhetorics of the marketplace, and critical/cultural studies of multiracial media representations. All graduate students in the program are funded, with most getting the opportunity to teach classes like rhetorical criticism, argumentation, and public speaking. Job placement upon graduation has been very good.

Contact: Leah Ceccarelli, cecc@uw.edu

University of Waterloo

The English department at Waterloo offers four graduate degrees: a Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Communication Design (RCD); a Master of Arts in Literary Studies (LIT); a Master of Arts in Experimental Digital Media (XDM) and a Doctor of Philosophy in English Language and Literature. In all programs, students gain core expertise in critical theory and research techniques. The MA-Literary Studies draws on the strengths of our department in all major areas of British, American, Canadian and postcolonial literatures in English. The MA-RCD is led by our faculty whose research and expertise lies in rhetoric, multimedia design and critique, discourse and text analysis, and professional writing. Our unique doctoral program allows students to develop research projects that integrate literary studies with fields of study related to professional writing and communication.

Contact: Fiona McAlister, fmcalister@uwaterloo.ca

University of Wisconsin, Madison

The Program in Composition and Rhetoric in the English department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers an interdisciplinary Ph.D. with special emphasis in empirical research, the study of literacy, and the theory and practice of rhetoric. Coursework is available in, among other areas, composition theory and practice, rhetoric, discourse analysis, and research methods in all areas of composition and rhetoric.

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Communication Arts

Graduate work in Rhetoric focuses on three interrelated areas: public discourse, rhetorical theory, and critical method. Research in public discourse explores significant themes, trajectories, and transformations in American public address, as well as consideration of particular rhetors, cultures, eras, genres, and topics. Special attention is given to political discourse, to the intersection of rhetoric and technology, and to the rhetoric of social movements from the American Revolution to the ongoing campaign for women's rights. Theoretical studies deal with the cultural development, intellectual content, and practical implications of rhetorical perspectives from the classical period to the present--including contemporary rhetorical theory, argumentation theory, and public sphere theory. In addition to studying a wide range of theorists, students are encouraged to engage in the process of theory construction. Study of critical method focuses primarily on approaches to rhetorical criticism, as well as on other methods of inquiry that are productive for explicating the complex dynamics of rhetorical texts and contexts. Students develop a comparative knowledge of critical methods, an ability to assess the strengths and weaknesses of various methods, and the capacity to apply those methods in their own research. All three areas of study are united by a common commitment to understanding the role of public discourse in social coordination and change, in the construction and practice of citizenship, and in the process of civic engagement in general. Students are encouraged to investigate a wide range of contemporary and historical phenomena so as to develop the kind of expertise that will allow for significant research and scholarly achievement.

Virginia Tech

The PhD program in Rhetoric and Writing at Virginia Tech focuses on rhetoric in society. We study language use and rhetorical activity in public, academic, corporate, and governmental settings, in a collective effort to engage pressing social and cultural issues from the perspective of rhetorical and writing studies.

Contact: Paul Heilker, pheilker@vt.edu

Washington State University

The MA and PhD programs in Rhetoric and Composition Studies at the Washington State University offer training in the history of rhetoric, rhetorical theory, composition theory and pedagogy, technical communication, and writing program administration. With a strong commitment to preparing new faculty in the field, the department supplements theoretical coursework with practical experience in Washington State's award-winning writing center. The department also offers significant classroom training for new instructors, as well as opportunities to work on one of the journals associated with the English department.

Contact: Robert Eddy, eddyr@wsu.edu