The information on this page pertains to program requirements for students who matriculated in the 2024-2025 academic year. View requirements for previous catalog years here.
The program in Rhetoric and Media Studies considers how our use of language and symbols shapes who we and others are, what we may become, and what we do. Courses in the major bring critical attention to the nature of representations and communicative/knowledge practices and how they mediate our lives and experience, with particular attention to the contested and changing character of identity, community, public life, ethics, and morality. Students in the program learn to analyze forms of media from across political, popular, and professional cultures. The major also invites students to understand the movement of social change in a range of settings and to consider how those settings offer differing resources for them to engage in political action in their own lives.
The major prepares students for careers in law and public administration, medicine and public health, activism, social work, advertising and marketing, politics and public policy, business, banking, and consulting, among others. The various courses in the RMS program examine social groups and processes in a wide diversity of contexts, with an emphasis on language, communicative practices, and social justice.
The program is interdisciplinary, including classes in rhetoric, sociology, and anthropology. Students should work with their advisers to assure selection of courses compatible with their educational and career objectives.
| Course | Credits |
| Lower Level | |
| ENG 037 - Public Voices | 3 |
| ENG 039 - Writing Seminar | 4 |
|
One Media Studies Course |
|
|
ENG 012-029 |
3 |
|
One History and Traditions Course |
|
|
ENG 040-059 |
3-4 |
|
One Culture and Identity Course |
|
| ENG 060-079 | 3-4 |
|
Upper level |
|
|
Three Rhetoric and Media courses (nine credits) from among the following: |
9 |
|
ENG 105 - Aesthetics of Everyday Life |
3 |
|
ENG 108 - Visual Rhetorics |
3 |
|
ENG 121 - Rhetorics of Space and Place |
3 |
|
ENG 126 - Film and Television History and Criticism |
3 |
|
ENG 127 - Advanced Topics in New Media |
3 |
|
ENG 129 - Advanced Topics in Film |
3 |
|
ENG 137 - Gender and Horror |
3 |
|
ENG 138 - Argumentation and Advocacy |
3 |
|
ENG 167 - Rhetorics of War |
3 |
|
ENG 168 - Postcolonial Rhetorics |
3 |
|
ENG 173 - Critical Theory |
3 |
|
ENG 174 - Theories of Language and Discourse |
3 |
|
Three Electives (two have to be 100 level) chosen from other English Department courses |
9 |
|
Capstone Course |
|
| English 195 - Capstone Course | 3 |
| TOTAL | 36 |
|
Course |
Credits |
|
ENG 37 Public Voices |
3 |
|
ENG 39 Writing Seminar |
4 |
|
ONE course in the English Department numbered 21-29 (Media Studies Courses) |
3 |
|
ONE of the following upper-level courses: |
3 |
|
TWO Electives in the English Department, at least one |
6 |
|
ENG 108 - Visual Rhetorics |
3 |
|
ENG 121 - Rhetorics of Space and Place |
3 |
|
ENG 126 - Film and Television History and Criticism |
3 |
|
ENG 127 - Advanced Topics in New Media |
3 |
|
ENG 129 - Advanced Topics in Film |
3 |
|
ENG 137 - Gender and Horror |
3 |
|
ENG 138 - Argumentation and Advocacy |
3 |
|
ENG 167 - Rhetorics of War |
3 |
|
ENG 168 - Postcolonial Rhetorics |
3 |
|
ENG 173 - Critical Theory |
3 |
|
ENG 174 - Theories of Language and Discourse |
3 |
|
TWO Electives in the English Department, at least one at the 100+ level |
6 |
|
TOTAL |
19 |
The information in this catalog does not constitute a contract between the university and the student. The university reserves the right to make changes in curricula, admission policies and processes, tuition and financial aid, academic standards and guidelines, student services and any other regulations or policies set forth in this catalog without giving prior notice.