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Followers of this blog will know that we have been building toward a concentration in Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy Studies for the past year or so. We just got confirmation today that our third new course is on the books!
Here’s our three new courses:
ENG 260 – Issues in Composition and Rhetoric Studies
This course provides undergraduate students an introduction to the history, traditions, issues, problems, and debates of Composition and Rhetoric Studies. Despite its long history and growing influence in academia, many students of English are unfamiliar with the depth and breadth of the field of Composition and Rhetoric. It is the goal of this course to familiarize undergraduate students with the historical development of Composition and Rhetoric Studies and the shape of the filed today. This course will include inquiry into the major theoretical, professional and disciplinary issues and challenges of the field. The course also provides an introduction to research methods and resources in Composition and Rhetoric, as well as experience writing academically in and about Comp / Rhet Studies.
Prerequisites: English 023 or 025.
ENG 274 – Women, Writing and Rhetoric
While the spoken and written word have long been studied for their rhetorical intent and success, this study has been conducted primarily through a male lens. As such, women’s contributions to rhetoric throughout history, like so many other aspects of women’s experience, have yet to be fully explored. Women, Writing, and Rhetoric seeks to expand the study of rhetoric with a multi-layered consideration of how rhetoric has been informed by, and informs, a female consciousness. This is an elective course for English majors, Women’s Studies minors, and those seeking a concentration in Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy Studies.
Prerequisites: ENG 023, 025, or equivalent.
ENG 316 Rhetoric, Democracy, Advocacy
The connection between rhetoric and democracy is an old one dating back to the origins of both concepts in Western traditions. Simply put rhetoric—the skilled use of argument and persuasive discourse—and democracy were seen as ways to replace violence as the primary means of governing and resolving conflict. This course argues that the intimate connections between rhetoric and democracy are critical to retain and reclaim for the health of democratic society and culture. American democracy has been defined not only by its institutions and Constitutional frameworks, but also by vibrant traditions of citizenship advocacy that have relentlessly stretched the boundaries of democratic freedoms, identities, and protections. A healthy democracy requires citizen advocates who are skilled in the analysis of public discourse and the rhetoric of advocacy. This course will be a sustained study of the theory and practice of advocacy rhetoric, primarily in the American context. In addition, this course will raise practical questions about what citizenship advocacy means in a context of increasing globalization and new media. PREREQUSITE: ENG 023 or its equivalent.
While you’re at it, check our our growing number of courses here.
On the 21st Century literacies the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) released several statements recently, most notably the “Definition of 21st Century Literacies,” which was adopted by the NCTE Executive Commitee on February 18, 2008.
The “Definition” statment follows NCTE’s 2005 “Position Statement on Multimodal Literacies,” which addressed issues of definition and challenges of new/digital/multimodal literacies. Even more recently, NCTE released a set of guidelines, “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education,” which attemps to deal with new issues concerning fair use and copy right. And in 2007, NCTE released “21st Century Literacies: A Policy Research Brief.”
The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCCs), which meets next week in San Francisco, also released “Position Statement on Teaching, Learning, and Assessing Writing in Digital Environments,” in 2004.
The article “Backers of ’21st Century Skills’ Take Flak,” in this week’s Education Week, reports on some of the critics of the call for “21st Century Skills”–that is, “information, media, and technology skills.” The article begins:
The phrase “21st-century skills” is everywhere in education policy discussions these days, from faculty lounges to the highest echelons of the U.S. education system.
Broadly speaking, it refers to a push for schools to teach critical-thinking, analytical, and technology skills, in addition to the “soft skills” of creativity, collaboration, and communication that some experts argue will be in high demand as the world increasingly shifts to a global, entrepreneurial, and service-based workplace.
But now a group of researchers, historians, and policymakers from across the political spectrum are raising a red flag about the agenda as embodied by the Tucson, Ariz.-based Partnership for 21st Century Skills, or P21, the leading advocacy group for 21st-century skills.
Unless states that sign on to the movement ensure that all students are also taught a body of explicit, well-sequenced content, a focus on skills will not help students develop higher-order critical-thinking abilities, they said at a panel discussion here in the nation’s capital last week.
Check out the full article here.
Welcome to the home of Composition and Rhetoric at Kutztown University. We hope that this site will provide a portal into our composition program, our course offerings, and the broader field of Composition and Rhetoric. And, yes, I do realize that this post is the same post as the one on the home page. Well, it’s not anymore since I wrote this. And this. Now it’s different. A revision of sorts.
While many people may associate Composition and Rhetoric with first-year writing courses, the five paragraph essay, or strategies for arguing, the scope of Composition and Rhetoric is both deeper and more vast than these narrow categories. In fact, these narrow categories for understanding Composition-even College Composition-can inhibit an inquiry into writing that is increasingly important and necessary in the complex world of the 21st Century.To be sure, developing both confidence and competence in the conventions of “academic writing” is crucial for one’s college and professional career. However, these conventions are not set in stone like a mathematic formula (indeed, we would argue that even mathematic formulas are not set in stone!). Rather, one’s ability to communicate effectively in today’s environment requires a deeper understanding the complex rhetorical situation in which we find ourselves and the “available means” we have at our disposal to be heard above the clutter.
To make the case more concretely, today’s careers place a premium on being able to communicate effectively through writing. A recent report by the National Commission on Writing found that top business leaders around the country see effective writing directly connected to being successful in today’s workplace. While writing has always been an important in the workplace, today’s business leaders note that today’s high-tech, globalized workplace makes writing all that more important.
But the importance of writing is not limited to job prospects. We would argue that writing is instrumental to the health of our democracy. Active citizens need to be able to analyze arguments and make arguments in the public sphere. In addition to more traditional “town halls” today’s public sphere is a literate one-one that takes place on the Internet, on social networking sites, and in the blogosphere. These emerging modes of communication represent the “new writing” in a globalized, interconnected world. Today’s democracy needs citizens who can critically navigate and engage in these public spheres.
In short, one may encounter the field of Composition and Rhetoric for the first time in their College Composition course during their first semester at Kutztown. However, inquiry into writing should carry on all throughout one’s college career and professional life. This is one space for that on-going conversation.
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