Long a part of the liberal arts tradition, rhetoric is the art of effective language use in written, oral, and visual communication. With roots in ancient Greece and branches in the most recent technologies, rhetoric is simultaneously the oldest and newest interdisciplinary academic field, fundamentally engaged by the relationship between language and culture.
As a discipline, rhetoric demonstrates how texts generate knowledge, mediate power, and enact change; as an art, rhetoric enables the speaker/writer to create persuasive discourse. The department offers courses in expository writing at the introductory (100), intermediate (200–300), and advanced (300–400) levels as well as courses in the history, practice, and theory of rhetoric.
Courses in rhetoric and writing position students to become critical language users, preparing them for postgraduate training and eventual careers in publishing, journalism, and other communications media in an increasingly global society.
The department administers a writing center, which provides drop-in peer and professional tutoring help with any writing project and exists as a resource available for all who are interested in developing writing skills in any discipline and at all levels.