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 List Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
WRD 500 | PROSEMINAR (To be taken within the first 4 courses of the program) | 4 |
Rhetoric and Discourse Courses (12 credits)
Course List Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
| 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 List Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
| 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 List Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
| 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.