Master of Arts in English, Rhetoric and Composition Emphasis

Dr. Kevin Moberly, Coordinator

Designed to prepare students to teach and administer writing in language arts, community college, or university contexts, and to prepare students for doctoral work in composition and/or rhetoric.

This option requires

• Three hours of ENGL 539 Writing in Digital Spaces
• Three hours of ENGL 685 Writing Research
• Three hours of ENGL 664 Teaching College Composition

Three hours from

• ENGL 686 Introduction to Rhetoric and Writing Studies
• ENGL 760 Classical Rhetoric and Theory Building
• ENGL 765Modern Rhetoric and Theory Building

Three hours from:

• ENGL 540 General Linguistics
• ENGL 550 American English
• ENGL 577 Language, Gender and Power
• ENGL 595 Topics (when Advanced Grammar)

Three hours from

• ENGL 721 Composition as Applied Rhetoric
• ENGL 760 Classical Rhetoric and Theory Building
• ENGL 765 Modern Rhetoric and Theory Building

Six hours from

• ENGL 527 Writing in the Disciplines
• ENGL 586 Media Law and Ethics
• ENGL 595 Topics (when related to Rhetoric and Composition)
• ENGL 662 Cybercultures and Digital Writing
• ENGL 665 Teaching Writing with Technology
• ENGL 673 Discourse Analysis
• ENGL 680 Second Language Writing Pedagogy
• ENGL 687 Colloquium for Teachers of English
• ENGL 695 Topics (when related to Rhetoric and Composition)
• ENGL 701 Text and Technologies
• ENGL 706 Visual Rhetoric and Document Design
• ENGL 720 Pedagogy and Instructional Design
• ENGL 721 Composition as Applied Rhetoric
• ENGL 760 Classical Rhetoric and Theory Building
• ENGL 763 Seminar in Discourse Analysis
• ENGL 765 Modern Rhetoric and Theory Building
• ENGL 766 New Media Theory and Production I
• ENGL 771 New Media Theory and Production II
• ENGL 791 Graduate Seminar (when related to Rhetoric and Composition)
• ENGL 795 Topics (when related to Rhetoric and Composition)

Electives

Approved, Open Electives (6 hours)

 No more than 12 credit hours on the 500 level may be counted toward a degree.

MA Thesis, Portfolio, or Oral Examination

Portfolio Option: As one of their oral exam options (just oral exam and thesis being the other two), students may choose to develop a portfolio as the capstone project for the MA in English degree. Students choosing this option will propose the scope of their individual projects to the Graduate Program Director and the committee chair. Portfolios are a collection of individual texts with a metanarrative that explains the connection between these texts and the portfolio's intellectual underpinnings. The entire portfolio should range between 10,000 and 15,000 words. Portfolios can be, but are not limited to, a collection of extensively revised course work, a collection of teaching materials, or a collection of new media texts. Portfolios can be submitted in a notebook or electronically. To help prepare the portfolio, students will be encouraged to take an independent study for up to 3 units as one of their electives; the student's committee chair should direct this independent study.

Teaching of Writing Certificate

Teaching of Writing. Easily completed in one calendar year, this certificate gives students who already hold at least a master's degree in a different field the 18 hours of graduate study in the teaching of writing that are the minimum requirement for teaching that subject at the post-secondary level in Virginia.  Requirements are:

• 3 hours of Rhetoric from ENGL 760 or 765
• 3 hours of Teaching of College Composition, ENGL 664
• 3 hours of Teaching Colloquium, ENGL 687
• 9 hours of English electives in Rhetoric, Professional Writing, Journalism, Linguistics, or Creative Writing
• At least 9 of the 18 hours must be completed at the 600 level.

To enroll in the Graduate Teaching of Writing Certificate program, contact Dr. Kevin Moberly.