Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Composition
Lead Faculty:
Dr. Christine Photinos
The Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Composition provides a balanced and comprehensive program of graduate study in Rhetoric and Composition. The program is ideal for teachers who desire a content M.A. beyond the credential. It is also excellent preparation for doctoral studies in Rhetoric and Composition, for teaching in two-year or four-year colleges, and for directing Rhetoric and Composition programs.
The curriculum covers major approaches to Rhetoric and Composition, including theoretical, historical, and pedagogical, as well as considerations of emerging technologies, diversity issues, and research on writing. Because teachers of Rhetoric and Composition often teach courses in ESL, literature, or creative writing, students in this program will take elective courses in those areas and apply rhetorical analyses to those fields of study.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Produce scholarship of professional quality and participate in the ongoing scholarly discussions of issues in the field of Rhetoric and Composition.
- Examine and relate key divergent theories within Rhetoric and Composition to the teaching of writing, including process, collaboration, peer review, and social epistemology.
- Compose essays in a variety of genres and styles including teaching philosophies, syllabi, writing assignments, and lesson plans for the teaching of writing.
- Evaluate institutionalized rhetorical systems that constrain and promote notions of race, class, and gender.
- Design and conduct research appropriate to the fields of Rhetoric and Composition in a variety of methodological systems, e.g., bibliographical, historical, ethnographical, and classroom research.
- Compose textual analyses of data-based and qualitative research that are appropriate for the fields of Composition and Rhetoric.
- Plan and execute theoretically sound approaches to incorporation of technology into pedagogy and scholarship.
- Appraise various historical and modern rhetorical theories in order to read texts through a rhetorical lens.
Requirements
To receive the Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Composition, students must complete at least 45 quarter units. A total of 4.5 quarter units of graduate credit may be granted for equivalent graduate work completed at another institution, as it applies to this degree and provided the units were not used in earning another advanced degree. Students should refer to the General Catalog section on graduate admission requirements for specific information regarding admission and evaluation. A Bachelor of Arts degree in English or a closely related field such as Comparative Literature or Liberal Arts with a strong English component, or a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education with a minor in English, is required for admission to the Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Composition Program.Satisfactory Academic Progress:Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher (B or higher) that takes into account all graduate-level course work completed as part of the Program. Refer to the General Catalog for more specific information about maintaining satisfactory academic progress in graduate-level course work.
Program Core Requirements
(8 courses; 36 quarter units)
Core Requisite(s):
Program Electives
(2 courses; 9 quarter units)
Choose two courses from the following list of recommended electives. (Other ALN, ENG, or MCW courses may be taken as electives with permission of the program Lead Faculty.)
