Writing and Culture


    The Writing and Culture track offers students a dynamic and exciting program of concentrations in  a diverse range of disciplines:  rhetorical history, theory and criticism; composition studies; linguistics; film studies; folklore; cultural studies; literacy studies; and English education.  Our rich intellectual environment, strong individual mentoring, opportunities for teaching and administration, and tradition of professional development have made this track—our most interdisciplinary—a very successful one.  Within Writing and Culture is our highly respected PhD concentration in Rhetoric and Composition Studies.  


    Rhetoric and Composition Studies at LSU:  Ph.D.

    Ph.D. students who specialize in Rhetoric and Composition Studies select courses taught in the Writing and Culture track within the English Department, as well as electives in other areas such as communication studies, mass communication, education, and more. The field is a multidisciplinary one, composed of histories (typically rhetorical history, literacy, and/or pedagogy), characteristic modes of inquiry (e.g., rhetorical analysis, critiques of digital media for communication, empirical studies of communication patterns, theoretical interpretations of culture, pedagogical inquiries), bodies of knowledge (e.g., rhetorical history, pedagogies for the teaching of writing), and epistemic theories (e.g., rhetorical theory) through which to interpret literate and rhetorical practices.  Designed in careful consultation with an advisor in the field and a graduate committee, the student’s program of study reflects the student’s scholarly interests and professional goals.  For more information about the English PhD program’s requirements, click here.

     

    Rhetoric and Composition Studies at LSU: Minor

    Students from any English PhD track (e.g., Literary Studies or Linguistics) or another concentration within Writing and Culture (e.g., Women’s and Gender Studies or Cultural Studies) may complete a minor in Rhetoric and Composition, comprising 9 hours of credits approved by the Minor Professor (a member of the Rhetoric and Composition faculty who serves on the student’s graduate committee) and the Director of Graduate Studies in English, plus the 3-hour required course in the teaching of composition (7915), totaling 12 hours. A minor in Rhetoric and Composition prepares students in other English PhD concentrations for positions that require work in composition programs, writing centers, communication across the curriculum, and other writing-related programs.

     

    Rhetoric & Composition Faculty

    Lillian Bridwell-Bowles (Ed.D. Florida State)

    Phone: 578-3166 | email:lilbrid2@lsu.edu

    James Catano (Ph.D. Brown University)

    Phone: 578-3140 | email: catano@lsu.edu

    Barbara Heifferon (Ph.D. Arizona State University)

    Phone: 578-3040 | email: bheiffe@lsu.edu

    Sarah Liggett (Ph.D. Purdue University)

    Phone: 578-4435 | email: enligg@lsu.edu

    Irvin Peckham (Ph.D. University of California - San Diego)

    email: ipeckh1@lsu.edu


    Malcolm Richardson (Ph.D. University of Tennessee)

    Phone: 578-3161 | email: enmric@lsu.edu

    Brooke Rollins (Ph.D. University of South Carolina)

    Phone: 578-2982 | email: brollins@lsu.edu

    Sue Weinstein (Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago)

    Phone: 578-7880 | sweinst@lsu.edu

     

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