Rhetoric and Composition Minor Courses
1. Academic Writing (Select 1 course)
ENGL 110: Introduction to Academic Writing
ENGL 210: Intermediate Academic Writing
CISS 237: Eloquentia Perfecta: Writing and Speaking for the Common Good
2. Rhetoric & Composition (Select 2 courses)
ENGL 381: Rhetoric
ENGL 387: Composition Theory & Pedagogy
ENGL 391, 392, or 399: Topics in Rhetoric & Composition (e.g. Queer Rhetoric, Digital writing, Rhetoric of the Image etc.)
CRES 310 — Abolition Rhetoric
CRES 311 — Native American Rhetoric
3. Approved Electives (Select 3 courses*)
ANTH 266: Cultures and Politics of Latin America
CISS 207: Mediation Theory and Practice
CISS 238: Writing about Data and Policy
CISS 239: Digital Literacy
CLAS 225: Power, Persuasion, & Law
CRES 299-F02 - Racial Justice, Media Literacy, and Digital Writing in the United States
CRES 399-S01 - Histories of Race and Education in the US
CISS 201: Legal Reasoning and Rhetoric
EDUC 234: Adolescent Literacy
EDUC 245 Dis/Ability Theory & Practice.
EDUC 360: Research in Education
HIST 223: Radicalism in America
HIST 225: The Civil Rights Movement
HIST 276: Historically Speaking
HIST 229: Great Revolutions of Latin America
POLS 206: Public Policy
PHIL 225: Ancient Philosophy
PSYC 236: Cognition and Memory
RELS 103 - Race and Religion
RELS 126: Hebrew Bible
SOCL 399: Social Movements
SPAN 301: Composition and Conversation
Visual Studio Arts 105: Digital Art Studio I
Visual Studio Arts 205: New Media
*Electives must be pre-approved
*More electives are available. Consult with the advisor.
4. Portfolio
As you complete the minor, you will be required to assemble an electronic portfolio of your work. These portfolios should be created as a Google Drive folder that is shared with the advisor during your senior year. You are also welcome to host your own portfolio on a personal website. You can add any type of work created within the minor (papers, videos of speeches, digital projects, etc.), which you will curate with a reflection that explains the rationale for the collection and the overall goals realized by this minor.
Guidelines for Choosing Courses
- Prior to applying for the minor, you need to meet with the director to help discern an appropriate curriculum.
- You must submit the CIS Minor application form. The application portal for these forms opens on the first day of classes and there is one deadline each semester when all of your materials must be submitted. In the fall semester, the deadline is the first Friday in October.
- You must select courses from three different departments to fulfill the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies requirement for any multidisciplinary minor; one of these departments will be English.
- Courses in many departments could qualify as electives. These courses should focus on the history, theory, or practice of rhetoric and/or composition. For a specific course to count toward the minor, it should have approximately 30 percent of the course dedicated to these concerns and offer opportunities for low and high stakes writing with at least one multi draft project. You are free to propose courses that may not be immediately identifiable as relating to this minor.
- English majors who declare this minor could count only two courses toward both this minor and the English major.