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Writing and Rhetoric B.A.

As a writing and rhetoric major, you’ll explore the power of language across a range of genres.
Writing minor Fátima Bings Martínez ’24 worked as a research assistant for Project Mend, a journal showcasing the experience of incarceration, under the guidance of writing and rhetoric professor Patrick Berry.
Writing minor Fátima Bings Martínez ’24 worked as a research assistant for Project Mend, a journal showcasing the experience of incarceration, under the guidance of writing and rhetoric professor Patrick Berry.

About this Program

  • Work in small, student-centered classes taught by attentive, award-winning faculty.
  • Learn how to write in every form, from advanced argument to technical or creative nonfiction or public essay.
  • Explore rhetorical traditions and new writing technologies, and learn how writing identity is reflected in different cultures.
  • Come to understand the relationships among writing, rhetoric, identity, literacy and power.
  • Get involved by writing for the different campus magazines, or explore themes like art, entertainment, advocacy, government, media, publications and service.
  • Gain the strong writing, reasoning and communication skills you need to pursue careers that demand practitioners with your passion for words and ideas.

Program Information

Degree Type

Major

Outcome

B.A.

Modality

In-person

College or School

Exterior of Hall of languages building

College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) is Syracuse University’s first and largest college. As the home of the liberal arts, our internationally recognized programs provide the cornerstone of a Syracuse University education with 50+ majors in the natural sciences and mathematics, the humanities and the social sciences (in partnership with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs).
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Curriculum

This major is both rigorous and flexible, allowing you to pursue what you love while deepening your critical thinking, composing and creative problem-solving skills. Our classes will give you the opportunity to practice digital, argumentative, research, civic, science, professional and technical writing as well as creative nonfiction.

  • Produce well-reasoned, well-evidenced arguments.
  • Produce texts that exhibit an ethical stance toward topic and audience.
  • Produce rhetorically astute work in multiple modalities.
  • Produce texts that engage with issues of power, identity, culture and literacy.
  • Produce texts that engage the historical and cultural contexts of genres and practices of writing.
  • Engage in primary and secondary research.

  • Professional and Technical Writing in Global Contexts
  • Indigenous Writing and Rhetoric
  • Studies in Creative Nonfiction
  • Feminist Rhetoric(s)
  • Writing, Rhetoric and the Environment

Extracurricular Opportunities

Campus facilities

The Writing Center

The Writing Center offers one-on-one consulting services to support the success of all Syracuse University students. Each year, thousands of students from various academic and linguistic backgrounds visit the Writing Center for help with a wide range of writing projects, including academic assignments, internship applications and professional portfolios. Writing consultants will work with you at any stage of your writing process.

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Student organization

Writing and Rhetoric Student Organization

The Writing and Rhetoric Student Organization (WRSO) brings together undergraduate writing majors and minors for social events, professional development workshops, community service initiatives and networking. The mission of the WRSO is to build community and share opportunities within the department by connecting students to resources and fostering relationships between faculty, writing and rhetoric alumni and each other.

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Hands-on learning opportunities

Intertext Magazine

The publication Intertext showcases the best undergraduate writing from Syracuse University’s Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition. It exemplifies the power of writing and collaboration to inform and inspire. Students serve as the editorial board for Intertext, reviewing past issues, analyzing audience, reading and selecting submissions, editing copy, finding and creating visual content, designing layouts and developing supplemental editorial content.

A magazine cover

Learn more about this program

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