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Class Schedule

Take a Writing course with us!

First-year writing courses allow you to develop and strengthen writing knowledge and skills that will serve you as you complete any degree program at OU.

Advanced students in writing can further cultivate writing and rhetorical skills through courses in professional and digital writing (PDW) that focus on rhetoric, digital composition, civic engagement, and technology.

We offer many writing electives in PDW, enabling you to personalize your studies and gain skills and experience that support your own objectives. Check out the following courses!

Creative Nonfiction
Cross-Cultural Rhetorics
Digital Publishing
Editing
Grant Writing
Technical Writing
Rhetoric and Video Games
Writing with the Community

Many courses in PDW fulfill general education requirements for writing-intensive, knowledge applications, global perspectives, and diversity. Browse a full list of our upcoming general education and upper-level courses below.

Class Availability

WRT 1000: Supervised Study
Instructors: Burkett, Rinke
Course format: fully online

Students in this course meet one-on-one with the instructor to discuss and work on academic writing projects. It is recommended that students take WRT 1000 concurrently with other Writing and Rhetoric courses (such as WRT 1020, 1050 or 1060) for 7 or 14 weeks. The course is graded S/U.

WRT 1020: Basic Writing 
Instructors: Bennett-Carpenter, J. Freeman, Rorai
Course format: hybrid, with various in-person meeting times depending on instructor

In this course, students will develop writing skills and strategies for generating ideas, organization, fluency and effective writing processes. Assignments include a written narrative, a primary research project and an academic analysis essay. The course is graded S/U.

WRT 1050: Composition I 
Instructors: various
Course format: hybrid or fully online, depending on instructor

In this course, students study and practice college writing through a focus on experiential, analytical and expressive writing. Students learn to generate, organize and develop their ideas and to make choices as writers that are appropriate for the rhetorical situation.

WRT 1060: Composition II 
Instructors: various
Course format: hybrid or fully online, depending on instructor

Students in WRT 1060 study and practice methods of writing and research including the use of rhetorical strategies and the synthesis of scholarly sources to create academic arguments. Emphasis is on writing and revision that uses information literacy, critical thinking and effective communication.

WRT 3010: Issues in Writing and Rhetoric
Instructor: Giberson
Course format: fully online

This course is an introduction to important past and present issues in the field of Writing Studies. Students will develop theoretical and historical foundations for understanding current issues, changes, and challenges for the discipline. Together, we will discuss theories on how writing is taught and learned, how sociopolitical issues affect writing, and much more.

WRT 3020: History of Rhetoric
Instructor: Schoen
Course format: hybrid (with synchronous online meetings Mondays 1:20-2:47 p.m.)

History of Rhetoric gives students insight into the origins and development of our understanding of rhetoric. By exploring the history of rhetorical studies, students learn the source of the most enduring beliefs, contentious debates and challenging questions that face writing studies today.

WRT 3062: Writing Center Studies
Instructor: Ostergaard
Course format: fully online

Peer tutoring theories and pedagogies, and practical experience in teaching. Work divided between classroom and tutoring assignments. Particularly valuable for majors in the humanities, education, psychology, human services and related fields.

WRT 3071: Podcasting
Instructor: Sanders
Course format: fully online

Explores the rhetorical, ethical, and technical principles of creating personal and ethnographic essays and oral histories for digital audio distribution.

WRT 3082: Business Writing 
Instructors: various
Course format: hybrid or fully online, depending on instructor

Students in Business Writing study and practice written, visual and digital rhetoric within business and professional contexts.

WRT 3083: Editing 
Instructors: Ostergaard
Course format: fully online

Theory and practice of editing within professional contexts.

WRT 3084: Race, Social Justice, and Professional Writing
Instructor: Arzu Carmichael
Course Format: fully online (with synchronous online Zoom meeting on Thursdays from 10:00-11:47 a.m.)

How do issues related to race and social justice shape writing in professional settings? What counts as "professional writing" and to what extent do racial ideologies and social justice determine this? What role does professional writing play in effecting positive social change? To explore questions such as these, students will study race and social justice in relation to corporate social responsibility and corporate social justice in professional writing contexts. The course prepares students to think critically about how corporations depict accountability to themselves, their stakeholders and the general public and how race and social justice inform this accountability.

WRT 3086: Workshop in Creative Nonfiction 
Instructors: Nugent, Torrente
Course format: fully online (asynchronous with no online meetings required)

This writing workshop emphasizes stories of real life, balancing artistry and accuracy. Students will read and compose personal essays, autobiographies and travel writing.

WRT 4086: Advanced Creative Nonfiction 
Instructor: J. Freeman
Course format: fully online (asynchronous with no online meetings required)

This course is for students who have already taken WRT 3086: Workshop in Creative Nonfiction and want to continue to study creative non-fiction and further develop their skills as authors.

WRT 1000: Supervised Study
Instructor: Burkett
Course format: fully online

Students in this course meet one-on-one with the instructor to discuss and work on academic writing projects. It is recommended that students take WRT 1000 concurrently with other Writing and Rhetoric courses (such as WRT 1020, 1050, or 1060) for 7 or 14 weeks. The course is graded S/U.

WRT 1020: Basic Writing 
Instructor: J. Freeman
Course format: hybrid 

In this course, students will develop writing skills and strategies for generating ideas, organization, fluency and effective writing processes. Assignments include a written narrative, a primary research project and an academic analysis essay. The course is graded S/U.

WRT 1050: Composition I
Instructors: various
Course format: hybrid or fully online, depending on instructor

In this course, students study and practice college writing through a focus on experiential, analytical and expressive writing. Students learn to generate, organize and develop their ideas and to make choices as writers that are appropriate for the rhetorical situation.

WRT 1060: Composition II
Instructors: various
Course format: hybrid or fully online, depending on instructor

Students in WRT 1060 study and practice methods of writing and research including the use of rhetorical strategies and the synthesis of scholarly sources to create academic arguments. Emphasis is on writing and revision that uses information literacy, critical thinking and effective communication.

WRT 2080: Introduction to Professional Writing
Instructor: Nugent
Course format: hybrid

WRT 2080 is an introduction to the field of professional writing. Students will examine the theories, practices, technologies, and ethics of professional writing in the workplace. Grounded in rhetorical theory, this course prepares students to write effectively in a variety of contexts, examines the professional identity of professional writers, and prepares students to consider the social and ethical responsibilities of professional writing in practice.

WRT 3010: Issues in Writing and Rhetoric
Instructor: Giberson
Course format: fully online

This course is an introduction to important past and present issues in the field of Writing Studies. Students will develop theoretical and historical foundations for understanding current issues, changes, and challenges for the discipline. Together, we will discuss theories on how writing is taught and learned, how sociopolitical issues affect writing, and much more.

WRT 3030: Literacy, Technology, and Civic Engagement
Instructor: Ostergaard
Course format: fully online 

Exploration and application of technology in the discipline of writing and rhetoric. Examines the uneven shifts from oral to print to digital literacy, and how those shifts affect the production of knowledge, social relationships, and opportunities for civic engagement.

WRT 3060: Cross-Cultural Rhetorics
Instructor: Hammontree
Course format: fully online 

Examines historical and contemporary rhetorical practices within various non-Western cultural traditions. Surveys, compares, and contrasts diverse rhetorical contexts of print and digital writing worldwide, including in professional, educational, and political discourses.

WRT 3070: Digital Identity and Culture
Instructor: Hammontree
Course format: fully online 

Examination of the rhetoric and ethics of internet technology and culture. Introduces theories of digital culture and its effects on both on-line and actual identities and communities, especially in relation to ethnicity, gender, class, physical ability, and sexual orientation. Includes individual and collaborative analysis and construction of Web projects.

WRT 3072: Rhetoric of Web Design
Instructor: Nugent
Course format: hybrid

An intermediate course in the rhetorical, ethical, stylistic, and technical principles of web design. Applies the rhetorical principles and research methods learned in the prerequisite courses to the effective production of web documents.

WRT 3082: Business Writing
Instructors: various
Course format: hybrid or fully online, depending on instructor

Students in Business Writing study and practice written, visual, and digital rhetoric within business and professional contexts.

WRT 3086: Workshop in Creative Nonfiction
Instructors: Kitchens
Course format: fully online (asynchronous with no online meetings required)

This writing workshop emphasizes stories of real life, balancing artistry and accuracy. Students will read and compose personal essays, autobiographies, and travel writing.

WRT 4908: Topics in Professional Writing
Instructor: Sanders
Course format: hybrid

Advanced writing instruction in specific genres such as legal writing, medical writing, and grant writing.

WRT 4998: Capstone
Instructor: Giberson
Course format: fully online 
Instructor Permission Required

The Capstone course will prepare you to make the transition from being an undergraduate student to being a professional or a graduate student. You will complete a major Capstone project: an internship, research assistantship or thesis research project. You will also develop a digital professional portfolio that showcases the skills and competencies employers value most.

WRT 1040: Critical Thinking and Reading (Summer 2)
Instructor: Brehmer
Course format: hybrid

This course emphasizes developing flexible reading skills for personal and professional use. Students will analyze main ideas and organizational patterns used in academic texts, synthesize different passages and evaluate written and digital materials, focusing on non-fiction prose.

WRT 1050: Composition I (Summer 1 and 2)
Instructors: various
Course format: hybrid

In this course, students study and practice college writing through a focus on experiential, analytical, and expressive writing. Students learn to generate, organize and develop their ideas and to make choices as writers that are appropriate for the rhetorical situation.

WRT 1060: Composition II (Summer 1 and 2)
Instructors: various 
Course format: fully online

Students in WRT 1060 study and practice methods of writing and research including the use of rhetorical strategies and the synthesis of scholarly sources to create academic arguments. Emphasis is on writing and revision that uses information literacy, critical thinking and effective communication.

WRT 3082: Business Writing (Summer 1 and 2)
Instructors: various
Course format: fully online

Students in Business Writing study and practice written, visual and digital rhetoric within business and professional contexts.

WRT 3086: Workshop in Creative Nonfiction (Summer 1 and 2)
Instructor: Giberson, Nugent
Course format: fully online

This writing workshop emphasizes stories of real life, balancing artistry and accuracy. Students will read and compose personal essays, autobiographies and travel writing.

Department of Writing and Rhetoric

O'Dowd Hall, Room 378
586 Pioneer Drive
Rochester, MI 48309-4482
(location map)
(248) 370-2746
fax: (248) 370-2748