College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Academics > Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse > Graduate > Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse (MA) > Degree Requirements

Degree Requirements

Degree Requirements

Course Requirements 

Students complete 12 courses (48 credits) to graduate from the MA in WRD program. Program requirements vary based on whether or not the student declares a concentration.

Required Course (4 credits)

Course Title Quarter Hours
WRD 500PROSEMINAR (To be taken within the first 4 courses of the program)4

Rhetoric and Discourse Courses (12 credits)

Course Title Quarter Hours
Select three from the following:12
WRD 503
ANCIENT RHETORICS
WRD 505
CONTEMPORARY RHETORICS
WRD 506
MULTICULTURAL RHETORICS
WRD 507
GLOBAL ENGLISHES
WRD 508
DISCOURSE AND STYLE
WRD 509
GENRE THEORY AND PRACTICE
WRD 510
TOPICS IN RHETORICAL HISTORY
WRD 511
TOPICS IN COMMUNITY, CULTURE AND IDENTITY
WRD 512
TOPICS IN LANGUAGE
WRD 513
SEMIOTICS
WRD 514
SOCIOLINGUISTICS
WRD 515
THE ESSAY

Optional Concentrations (16 credits)

Professional & Digital Writing
Course Title Quarter Hours
Select four from the following:16
WRD 521
TECHNICAL WRITING
WRD 522
WRITING IN THE PROFESSIONS
WRD 523
EDITING
WRD 524
DOCUMENT DESIGN
WRD 525
WRITING FOR THE WEB
WRD 526
GRANT AND PROPOSAL WRITING
WRD 530
TOPICS IN PROFESSIONAL AND DIGITAL WRITING
WRD 531
DIGITAL STORYTELLING
WRD 532
CONTENT STRATEGY
WRD 533
WRITING ACROSS MEDIA
WRD 580
MARKUP AND TEXT ENCODING IN THE HUMANITIES
WRD 590
INTERNSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL AND DIGITAL WRITING
Teaching Writing & Language
Course Title Quarter Hours
Select four from the following:16
WRD 540
TEACHING WRITING
WRD 541
COMPOSITION THEORY
WRD 542
URBAN LITERACIES
WRD 543
TEACHING ESL WRITING
WRD 544
TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND OR FOREIGN LANGUAGE
WRD 545
TEACHING WRITING ONLINE
WRD 546
PEDAGOGICAL GRAMMAR
WRD 547
AP INSTITUTE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
WRD 550
TOPICS IN TEACHING WRITING AND LANGUAGE
WRD 551
TEACHING APPRENTICESHIP PRACTICUM
WRD 582
WRITING CENTER THEORY AND PEDAGOGY
WRD 591
INTERNSHIP IN TEACHING WRITING AND LANGUAGE

Electives (8-32 credits)

  • Students who declare a concentration take four elective courses (16 credits); students who do not declare a concentration take eight elective courses (32 credits).
  • Students may declare a concentration by completing the LAS Graduate Concentration Declaration.
  • All 500-level WRD courses count for elective credit.
  • Students who have completed six MA in WRD courses may take up to two courses outside of the MA in WRD for elective credit; the WRD Graduate Committee must approve any course a student wishes to take outside of the department. 

Portfolio Requirement

All students will keep a portfolio of significant work done for courses. This work will be curated and submitted as a portfolio at both the midpoint of the program and at its culminating point. For a full description of the portfolio requirement, please download the Portfolio Requirement Guide. For additional resources, please visit the Portfolio page on the WRD Blog.

Mid-Program Portfolio

After completing the sixth course but before taking the ninth course, all students must submit a portfolio to their advisor and meet with this advisor to discuss both the portfolio and their future plans in the program. The Mid-Program Portfolio must be submitted, discussed with a student’s advisor, and approved before the student can register for their ninth course in the program. 

Professional Portfolio

In the final quarter of coursework, all students must submit a Professional Portfolio and reflective essay. The portfolio will be evaluated by the WRD Graduate Committee as “Pass” or “Fail.” A Professional Portfolio that does not initially earn a score of “Pass” must be revised until it does so.

Content displayed from this DePaul University catalog page.

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