Home

FLASH!! UPDATE3 :

MA applicants please note: Application dates for Fall 2010 have been EXTENDED! Application via CSUMentor online opened on Oct. 1, 2009 and will NOW close on FEBRUARY 1, 2010. No late applications will be accepted.

UPDATE 4: MA Applicants

GRE SCORES do not need to be sent to Graduate Admissions until March 1, 2010. Letters of recommendation, writing samples and personal statements should be sent directly to the Graduate Director in the Department of Writing Studies, accompanied by a cover letter. They should arrive no later than FEBRUARY 1, 2010.

CSUMentor application dates also apply to all students who are interested in thee Certificate Program in Professional Writing and the Advanced Certificate in Teaching Writing. Please apply as soon as possible. See the MA or Certificate sections (at left) for particulars of the application process.

Rhetoric refers to the study and uses of written, spoken and visual language. It investigates how texts are used to organize and maintain social groups, construct meanings and identities, coordinate behavior, mediate power, persuade, produce change, and create knowledge.

Students can pursue a minor, a certificate in Technical & Scientific Writing, and a Masters degree in Rhetoric & Writing Studies. Our areas of primary focus include literacy and the teaching of writing, rhetorical theory, and professional and public discourse.

The Rhetoric & Writing Studies department works cooperatively with departments and campus groups to run a comprehensive writing program which integrates writing and reading with critical thinking throughout the curriculum. The department prepares students to write independently and collaboratively in school, workplace and community settings; to produce texts using a variety of different technological tools, and to become sophisticated, critically reflective knowledge workers.