Return to School of Communication | Courses Index
Beginning in Fall 2023, these courses use the subject prefix WRID; they used the WRTG subject prefix through Summer 2023. First Year Writing courses continue to use the WRTG subject prefix.
[1] Courses in Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design
1374 FYS: DIVERSITY IN CREATIVE WORKS The FYS in Diversity in Creative Works provides students with a small-classroom environment designed to promote community, develop skills necessary for success, and reinforce the importance of written communication. Topics will vary depending on instructor.
2325 INTRODUCTION TO RHETORIC This course acquaints students with basic rhetorical knowledge demanded by their academic growth in rhetoric, technical/professional writing, and composition studies. It will introduce students to three key areas of rhetoric: (a) a brief historical account of rhetoric, (2) basic concepts of classical rhetoric, and (3) basic forms of rhetorical analysis. In addition to class discussions and lectures, students will be tested and write critiques of rhetorical discourse. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
2330 INTRODUCTION TO WRITING STUDIES Introduction to Writing Studies provides a survey of the history, key concepts, and practices of the field. These include social history of writing as a technology; theories on writing and identity, ideology, and politics; writing as a mode of expression, cognition, and memory; and writing as recognizable form and genre. Students will complete a variety of reflective, analytical, and practical writing projects over the course of the semester. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
3305 WRITING AS INFORMATION DESIGN Upper-division workshop course for Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design majors and minors and for students in other programs. Focuses on academic and professional forms of writing. Student will use advanced strategies for print and electronic writing and examine how to shape the composition process for specific writing tasks and purposes. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
3306 INFORMATION DESIGN II: USABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY An advanced course in rhetorical approaches to writing for digital media. Students create multimodal digital texts and leave the course with portfolio items. The course takes students through the writing process from proposal development through the recursive global and local drafting and revision stages to the final reflective piece. Required for the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major and minor, Technical and Professional Writing track. Elective in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major and the minor, Writing Studies track. Prerequisite: WRID 3305.
3307 INTRODUCTION TO EDITING Introduces fundamentals of comprehensive editing and hones basic copyediting skills. Students learn to work with writers as comprehensive editors from the concept stage of the writing process through analysis of audience and purpose, focus, organization, development, and more, finally moving to basic copyediting at the sentence level. One of a group of five courses from which students choose three for the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major, Technical and Professional Writing track. Elective in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major and minor, Writing Studies track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Technical and Professional Writing minor. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320 and at least junior standing.
3310 TECHNICAL WRITING A workshop course in professional and technical writing. Students work on several writing projects, both in groups and as individuals. Some sections will use writing internships with state agencies and businesses to give students the opportunity to write in the workplace and examine the issues of professional communication. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320 and at least junior standing. [UD UCA Core: C]
3315 CENTER FOR WRITING AND COMMUNICATION PRACTICUM Training course for tutoring in the UCA Center for Writing and Communication. This course is an elective in the TESOL minor. Exposure to rhetorical and linguistic concepts that enhance the tutoring of writing and communication. Prerequisites: WRTG 1320, COMM 1300, and consent of the CWC director. [UD UCA Core: C]
3340 WRITING ACQUISITION: THEORY AND PRACTICE Designed for the middle level teacher education candidate, this course introduces basic theories behind the teaching of writing and addresses the literacy benchmarks established for middle level grades. Students will learn strategies for teaching the writing process. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
3390 DISCOURSE ANALYSIS An elective for Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design majors and minors, and Linguistics majors (Track 4) and minors. Students will examine texts of several types to analyze how a text means and why it means as it does. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies will be used in written analyses of texts of the student’s choosing. Discussion, workshop. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320. [UD UCA Core: I, R]
4V80 DIRECTED STUDY IN WRITING, RHETORIC, AND INFORMATION DESIGN (Variable credit: 1-3 credit hours) Provides opportunities for advanced study of specific topics in writing. It is designed for students who have completed basic and intermediate courses and who want to study specific topics that are not offered in the curriculum. Directed Study is especially useful to students who plan to go on to graduate study and to students seeking professional careers in writing. Prerequisite: WRTG 1310 and 1320.
4V85 INTERNSHIP IN WRITING, RHETORIC, AND INFORMATION DESIGN (Variable credit: 1-4 credit hours.) Emphasizes professional writing experience from work sites either inside or outside the university. Interns are supervised by department faculty and a work site manager. May be repeated for credit with a different internship project if recommended by the internship coordinator and approved by the department chair. Prerequisites: WRTG 1320, at least one 3000-level Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design course, and consent of department chair.
4305 COMPOSITION THEORY AND PEDAGOGY An upper-division elective for writing majors and minors and students interested in teaching writing. This course examines composition theory and pedagogy through both readings and direct observation of composition classrooms. The first half of the course concentrates on the history of contemporary composition theory and the key issues fundamental to the development of the disciplines. The second half of the course concentrates on how these theories are applied in today’s composition classroom. Students will analyze the composition teaching they observe and relate it to theories discussed. Lecture, discussion. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320.
4306 INFORMATION DESIGN III: CLIENTS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT Building on the theoretical and practical work undertaken in Information Design II, students work with an organization in the community to develop one or more substantial multimodal digital texts for that organization. Students leave the course with portfolio items and connections to writers in the community. One of a group of five courses from which students choose three for the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major, Technical and Professional Writing track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Technical and Professional Writing minor. Elective in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major and minor, Writing Studies track. Prerequisite: WRID 3306 or permission from instructor.
4308 WRITING FOR CHANGE: ADVOCACY WRITING Students research political, environmental, socioeconomic, and/or historical conditions of a particular issue/event. Through both primary and secondary research, students produce writing to promote action from their target audience. Advocacy writing through service learning may play a pivotal role in this course. Students gain greater understanding of national issues and how writing can evoke change within the community, private business, nonprofit organizations, and local and national government. Required for the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major, Technical and Professional Writing track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Technical and Professional Writing minor. Elective in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major and minor, Writing Studies track. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320 and at least junior standing or permission of the instructor. [UD UCA Core: Z]
4309 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLISHING Fundamentals of publishing writing for print and digital media. Focus on contrast between designing and delivering information for print versus digital media. Considers publishing variables such as color, graphics, preparation, file formats, and document design. One of a group of five courses from which students choose three for the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major, Technical and Professional Writing track. One of a group of six courses from which students choose three in the Technical and Professional Writing minor. Elective in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design major and minor, Writing Studies track. Prerequisite: WRID 3305.
4320 INTERCULTURAL RHETORIC AND WRITING Elective for writing majors and minors and other students interested in persuasion. Provides students with an understanding of the impact of rhetorical traditions on written and oral communications in non-Western cultures. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320. [UD UCA Core: D]
4360 RESEARCH METHODS IN WRITING STUDIES Required upper-division seminar for Writing Studies majors and minors. Focuses on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches to research in Writing Studies. Student will examine various approaches to research, consider ethical implications, and create original research plans. Prerequisite: WRID 2330 and at least junior standing.
4381 SPECIAL TOPICS IN WRITING, RHETORIC, AND INFORMATION DESIGN An elective for majors and minors in Writing, Rhetoric, and Information Design. In-depth investigation of a significant figure, group, historical period, genre, or issue in rhetoric or writing. Content varies. Course may be repeated for credit. Discussion, research, writing. Prerequisite: WRTG 1320 and at least Junior standing, or permission of the instructor.