Major

Rhetoric, Writing, and Public Discourse Major

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Department/Program
Rhetoric, Writing, and Public Discourse

Total credit requirements for a Rhetoric, Writing, and Public Discourse major: 36

  • Required Courses
    • RWPD 230, 330, 387, and 487
      • All majors will complete RWPD 230 by the end of fall junior year.
      • All majors will complete RWPD 387 by the end of their junior year.
    • At least 20 additional credits in RWPD
      • May include up to 8 credits of 200-level or higher courses outside the department relevant to the student’s rhetorical studies that are pre-approved by the student’s major advisor.
  • Senior Requirements
    • RWPD 487, in which students will write an approximately 6,500-word capstone paper and give a 10–15-minute presentation on the capstone paper, followed by a brief discussion including the students’ senior seminar classmates and RWPD faculty.
  • Honors
    • Students do not apply for admission to candidacy for honors, but will be invited by the department at the end of fall semester of their senior year.
    • In addition to their senior capstone paper, students wishing to pursue honors will complete an approximately 700-1,000-word proposal for expanding their capstone project into an honors thesis. The proposal should include the names of the student’s primary thesis advisor and two additional readers for their proposed project, an initial plan for expanding the argument of the project, and a plan for additional research. Honors thesis proposals will be due in the final weeks of fall semester of the student’s senior year, and will be reviewed by the RWPD department faculty.
    • If their proposal is approved, and after finishing RWPD 487, the student will take RWPD 498 as an independent supervised research project during spring of senior year, with their chosen thesis advisor serving as the course instructor. During RWPD 498, the student will write and revise a senior thesis of approximately 10,000 words. Honors thesis will be assessed using the RWPD Senior Assessment rubric.
    • The student will orally defend their thesis at the end of spring senior year. The defense will consist of a 10-15-minute public presentation followed by approximately 45-minute-long discussion with the student’s committee members.
    • In order to be eligible for honors, a student must:
      • Accumulated at least 87 credits
      • Completed two semesters of residency at Whitman
      • Major GPA of at least 3.500
      • Complete a written thesis or research project prepared exclusively for the satisfaction of this program
      • Pass the senior assessment with distinction
    • The department will submit the honors applications to the Registrar’s Office of students pursuing honors by the specified deadline.
    • The department will submit the “Senior Assessment/Major Study Certificate” to the Registrar’s Office no later than Reading Day.
    • An acceptable digital copy of the honors thesis must be submitted to Penrose Library no later than Reading Day.
Total Credits
36