Undergraduate Rhetoric Program
Program Information
Welcome to the Undergraduate Rhetoric Program at the University of Illinois. Our mission is to prepare students to meet the challenges of writing at a research-intensive university. Our experience has shown that students come to our classes already with a grasp of the formal features of essay writing; in our courses students build on that foundation to learn research-based academic writing where the standards for what counts as acceptable evidence—and what counts as rigorous engagement with that evidence—are much higher. We encourage our students to write as their professors do, crafting and pursuing original research questions, and then arguing—convincingly—for the significance of their discoveries to audiences within the university and beyond.
Rhetoric 101-105 courses satisfy the Composition I requirement, a cornerstone of the General Education curriculum. These courses must be taken by incoming students during their first year on campus. In these courses, students learn:
- rhetorical principles germane to research-based academic writing
- strategies for revising and editing
- how to avoid plagiarism
- how to form original research questions
- how to locate and work with primary and secondary sources
- how to control grammar and mechanics errors
- when and how to cite, quote, and reference
- strategies for collaborating with other writers
- how to take and give constructive feedback on writing
- how to work with documentation systems
We also offer courses in advanced composition, Rhetoric 233 and 243, where students can refine their practice of argumentation and effective use of prose style.
Contact Information
Office:
294 English Building
Department of English
608 S. Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801
Staff Assistant: Lauri Harden (217.333.1006)
Director: Robert Barrett (217.333.1006)
Associate Director: Richard Nardi (217.333.1006)
Assistant Director: Cody Caudill (217.333.1006)
Assistant Director: Kaia Simon Power (217.333.1006)
Service Learning Coordinator: Maggie Kainulainen (217.333.1006)
Digital Literacies Coordinator: Tom McNamara (217.333.1006)
