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Writing Studies

About the minor

Writing Studies is an interdisciplinary minor which draws from established research in a wide range of fields including rhetoric and composition, classics, philosophy, religious studies, digital cultures, Australian studies, and higher education studies.

Students will learn to combine various research methods including rhetorical, discourse and textual analysis to examine written, spoken and visual texts at various stages of production, from conception to transmission and consumption. We teach students to consider, apply and control stylistic options in relation to prose style, figurative language, voice, register, tone and word choice. We encourage students to think creatively and imaginatively to produce effective written assignments according to the specific guidelines of a range of academic disciplines. Students will understand rhetoric as the theoretical foundation of writing and recognize how rhetoric is used in various textual practices and discourse communities.

The Writing Studies Minor will cultivate the ability to identify the historical, analytical, and ethical dynamics of written, oral, digital and visual communication, as well as its material and cultural contexts and its associations with power. Our units of study will strengthen students’ academic and professional writing and increase their confidence in critical thinking, argumentation, global awareness, and composition. Students who complete this minor will be able to critically engage with conventions of academic and professional writing and produce reasoned, rhetorically sound arguments across a range of genres, learning to apply language consistent with appropriate disciplinary, cultural and professional conventions.

Students are also encouraged to take the optional elective units offered by the Discipline available from the Arts and Social Sciences Electives list in Table S.

  • WRIT1000 Introduction to Academic Writing

Requirements for completion

The Writing Studies minor requirements are listed in the Writing Studies unit of study table.

Contacts and further information