Department of Writing and Rhetoric

378 O’Dowd Hall (248) 370-2746
Fax: (248) 370-2748

Chairperson: Marshall Kitchens

Professors: Alice S. Horning, Ronald A. Sudol

Associate professors: Wallis May Andersen, Marshall W. Kitchens

Assistant professors: Elizabeth G. Allan, Dana Lynn Driscoll, Greg Giberson, Lori Alden Ostergaard, Jim Nugent

Special instructors: Bernadette Dickerson, Catherine Haar, Kasia G. Kietlinska

Lecturers and Special Lecturers: Glen Armstrong, Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter, Marilyn Borner, Timothy Briggs, Matthew Burkett, William Byrne, David Calonne, Catheryn Cheal, Jill Chroback, Laura Colbeck, Jennifer Coon, LaWanda Dickens, Joseph DiGaetano, Colleen Doyle, Suzanne Drapeau, Laura Duprey, Wendy Farkas, Matthew Ferguson, Ryan Flaherty, Christina Fontana, John Freeman, Laura Gabrion, Natasha Gavroski, Paul Gelinas, Christina Hall, Lisa Hine, Vanessa Holmes, Laura Klein, Andrew Kos, Fran Kranz, Kathleen Lawson, Sabahat Masood, Catherine McQueen, Shaun Moore, Arthur Orme, Sherry Perdue, Cornelia Pokrzywa, Colleen Potocki, Leba Rautbort, Lauren Rinke, Rebecca Rivard, Cathy Rorai, William Rouster, Bethany Shepherd, John Simecek, Kathy Skomski, Craig Smith, Jeremy Stephison, Michael Tolinski, Carol Trupiano, Amelie Welden, Helen Zucker

Chief adviser: Greg Giberson

The study of writing and rhetoric prepares students to read, write and think critically in local, national, global and virtual communities. Students gain experience evaluating and analyzing information and cultural debates, and they learn to compose a variety of texts for multiple audiences, media, and purposes.

Students who take courses in writing and rhetoric learn to perform the kinds of collaborative work in written communication that will be required of them for full participation in an increasingly global and high-tech society, whether they choose to focus on professional writing in business, industry and non-profits; or on production work in new media; or on academic writing in preparation for graduate studies.

The department’s First-Year Program helps students develop fundamental skills in producing and understanding written texts, develop fluency and flexibility in writing for a variety of audiences and situations, and become critical readers and skilled writers of print, digital and visual texts that incorporate the work of others appropriately for audience, topic and purpose.

The department supports a larger culture of writing including the Oakland University Writing Center, the Meadow Brook Writing Project, the Writing Excellence Awards and the Community Book Project.

Writing Foundations

Most students satisfy the university general education requirement in the writing foundations area by completing WRT 160 with a grade of 2.0 or higher. Please consult the Writing Requirements section in the general education area of the catalog for alternate ways of fulfilling this requirement.

Placement

The ACT English score is the main mechanism used to place students in the writing foundations course (WRT 160 ), and in any courses that students might need as a prerequisite to WRT 160 as follows:

ACT English scores of 28 or higher place students in WRT 160 Composition II.
ACT English scores of 16-27 place students in WRT 150 Composition I.
ACT English scores of 15 or below place students in WRT 102 Basic Writing.

Placement by ACT score does not yield any course credit regardless of where students are placed.

Students with questions about placement in first year writing should consult the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, 378 O’Dowd Hall, 248-370-2746, prior to the beginning of the semester in which they plan to enroll in first year writing. Students are responsible for knowing registration deadlines and understanding the implications of schedule changes for their financial aid.

Departmental Honors

Graduating seniors may apply for departmental honors. To be considered, students must have completed 24 credits of writing and rhetoric program courses at Oakland University with a GPA of 3.60 or higher in the major.

Programs & Cores

Writing and Rhetoric, B.A.

Writing and Rhetoric Minor

Course Descriptions

The department offers selected courses from this catalog as warranted by student needs and availability of faculty: Department of Writing and Rhetoric .

Schedule of Classes

Specific offerings for each semester may be found in the Schedule of Classes: sail.oakland.edu.