Graduate Catalog
2023-2024
 
Policies, Procedures, Academic Programs
Rhetoric and Writing
College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Shanks Hall houses the departments of English and Communication.
323, Mail Code:0112 Blacksburg VA 24061
Shanks Hall
Degree(s) Offered:
• PhD
PhD Degree in Rhetoric and Writing
Minimum GPA: 3.0
Offered In:
Blacksburg
Email Contact(s):
Web Resource(s):
Phone Number(s):
540/231-9077
540/231-4659
Application Deadlines:
Fall: Feb 01
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Shanks Hall

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Department Chair : Kelly Pender
Graduate Program Director : Kelly Pender (Director of the PhD Program)
Professors: Bruce McComiskey; Derek Mueller; Kelly Pender; Katrina Powell
Associate Professors: James Dubinsky
Assistant Professors: Sweta Baniya; Carolyn Commer; Sherri Craig; Julie Gerdes; Cana Itchuaqiyaq; Chris Lindgren; Megan Weaver; Travis Webster

Rhetoric and Writing Introduction

The PhD Program in Rhetoric and Writing at Virginia Tech focuses on rhetoric in society. We study language use and rhetorical activity in public, academic, corporate, and governmental settings in a collective effort to engage pressing social and cultural issues through academic discourse, public policy, and community outreach.  

As faculty and students at a land-grant university recognizing the history of our university's location upon indigenous lands, we engage in rhetoric and writing research that contributes to social progress, examines how literate practices create, circulate, and prioritize societal values and the public policies based on those values, and examines how rhetoric and writing empower and control access to power in these social systems. Our collective research agendas address rhetorical and social problems in such areas as:
  • science, medicine, and technology
  • digital texts and publishing
  • diversity and difference
  • the environment
  • scholarly inquiry
  •  health and disability
  • education
  • civic engagement
  • globalized communication and commerce
  • displacement and resettlement
Offered In (Blacksburg)

Degree Requirements

Minimum GPA: 3.0
Institution code: 5859
Testing Requirements:
  • TOEFL
    • Paper
      • 550.0
    • Computer
      • 213.0
    • iBT
      • 80.0
Degree requirements will include 60 hours of graduate coursework past the bachelor's degree plus 30 hours of research and dissertation. Of those 60 hours of coursework, up to 30 may be transferred from an appropriate Master's degree.

Because rhetoric and writing are inherently interdisciplinary subjects, this program invites students to complete some coursework in related fields such as Language and Literature, Communication, Political Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Women's and Gender Studies, Science and Technology in Society, ASPECT, and Engineering Education, as well as courses in preparing the future professoriate offered by the Virginia Tech Graduate School.

http://www.liberalarts.vt.edu/academics/graduate-programs/doctoral-programs-list/phd-in-rhetoric-and-writing.html

Center for Rhetoric in Society

Center for Rhetoric in Society

At the Center for Rhetoric in Society, we examine multiple rhetorics, bridging academic and public discourses to enact engagement and social change. Our mission is to investigate language use through rhetorical and narrative analysis to understand significant social problems. Graduate research assistants participate in all aspects of the Center, including grant writing, assisting faculty in research, organizing research symposia, and writing scholarly articles. See
www.rhetoric.english.vt.edu/ for additional information.


Center for Rhetoric in Society

At the Center for Rhetoric in Society, we examine multiple rhetorics, bridging academic and public discourses to enact engagement and social change. Our mission is to investigate language use through rhetorical and narrative analysis to understand significant social problems. Graduate research assistants participate in all aspects of the Center, including grant writing, assisting faculty in research, organizing research symposia, and writing scholarly articles. See www.rhetoric.english.vt.edu for additional information.