• ABOUT
• COURSES
• GRADUATE
  • { MA & PhD in RSTC }
  • { M.S. in S&TC }
  • { Tech Comm Certificate }
  • { Assistantships & Aid }
  • { Graduate Minors }
  • { Handbook }
  • { Diversity Statement }
• UNDERGRADUATE
• NEWS & EVENTS
• PEOPLE
• MAKE A GIFT
• INTRANET

{Home : Graduate}

Graduate

Photo: Erika Schulte

The Department of Writing Studies offers a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric and Scientific and Technical Communication (RSTC), a Master of Science in Scientific and Technical Communication (STC), and a post-baccalaureate Certificate in Technical Communication.

The Writing Studies faculty consists of thirteen members who explore and expand our understanding of writing and the ways people use written texts to shape the world. Our research  and teaching interests range widely, including rhetorical theory  and history, scientific and technical communication, writing pedagogy, textual analysis, digital literacies, and the relationships between writers, readers, and broader social and cultural contexts.

In addition, our students benefit from being at a wonderful and complex university, which allows them to take courses in a related, supporting field such as cultural studies, history, literature, and the social sciences, as well work with professional schools of education, law, engineering, and public health. This diversity of options also allows students to study with an affiliated faculty with expertise in rhetoric of science, communication studies, journalism and mass communication, feminist studies, human-computer interaction, curriculum and instruction, and literacy and rhetorical studies, among others. The University also has a superb library system with extensive electronic resources and print holdings.

The number of graduate students in our programs is small, so students receive close, individual attention as they work through the course requirements, examinations, and, for doctoral students, the dissertation.

The University of Minnesota is located in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This location combines the entertainment and recreational opportunities of a major city with a compact footprint that makes it quite convenient to get from school to home, and beyond.

Graduate News

• Professor Christina Haas to Join the Faculty

  We are very pleased to announce that Chris Haas will join the Writing Studies department in fall, 2010. Her articles have appeared in the prominent journals in composition and writing studies--Journal of Business and Technical Communication, College Composition and Communication, Research in the Teaching of English, and Written Communication. Her work also includes studies of writing in the workplace and classroom. One focus of Professor Haas's research has been, to cite the title of her book, Writing Technology: Studies in the Materiality of Literacy. She has charted the path of digital technologies from word processing, digital writing, hypertext, web environments, new media language, and most recently to instant messaging.

  She has also been the editor of the internationally recognized journal, Written Communication, since 2004. That journal will be re-located to the University of Minnesota next year.

  In spring semester, 2011, Professor Haas will teach a graduate seminar on Literacy: Theory, History, Practice.

  We welcome her to the University of Minnesota!

  November 23rd, 2009

• Kim Thomas-Pollei to Serve on RSA Board

  Ph.D. candidate Kim Thomas-Pollei was elected to serve on the RSA board. Congratulations Kim!

  November 18th, 2009