Rhetoric, Scientific and Technical Communication Ph.D.

The Department of Writing Studies trains students to understand how people use written communication (textual, digital, and visual) to shape the world around them, with a particular emphasis on communication in scientific and technical areas. The PhD program prepares students to become researchers and teachers with expertise in rhetoric, writing studies, and technical communication. Students in the RSTC program also pursue special interests in areas such as digital, textual, or visual literacies; rhetorics of science, health, medicine, law, and/or the environment; professional communication; internet studies; theories of writing; composition; and writing pedagogies.

Students work in collaboration with faculty mentors and peers to develop the expertise required to make original contributions to the scholarship in their fields. The curriculum, professional development training, and funding are structured to support students in making early and regular contributions to the published literature, and in teaching first-year writing and advanced writing courses at the college level. Graduates of the program pursue careers teaching at the college level, in industry, non-governmental organizations, and more.

Each student also develops a supporting program of courses outside the department. Coursework outside the department is commonly pursued in fields such as communication studies; curriculum and instruction; history of medicine; or gender, women's, and sexuality studies.