Three different photos of students writing and presenting
RWU Writing Students in Action

Writing Courses in the Spotlight

Spring 2026 Upper-Level offerings from the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition

 

Spring 2026 Courses

WTNG 235: Technical Writing

Professor Mel Topf
T/TH 12:30-1:50

Technical writing is everywhere. While it certainly is an important tool in fields like engineering, it is also vital to a wide range of fields and jobs—from education to healthcare and even cooking. In this course, students will examine how to use technical writing to help audiences solve problems. It highlights effective technical writing through case studies focused on addressing real problems, such as RWU's advising system, Bristol's bike path, and Rhode Island's Washington Bridge breakdown. Throughout the semester, students will explore how technical writing can be meaningful to them; they will also consider how to use its concepts to strengthen their writing to set them up for success in future jobs and internships. All majors are welcome! (3 credits)

Prerequisite: Successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102 
Fulfills the second of two University General Education requirements in the University Writing Program 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor 

WTNG 250: Advanced Composition

Professor John Madritch
T/Th: 11:00-12:20

In WTNG 250, we’ll work with Richard Miller and Ann Jurecic’s Habits of the Creative Mind, 3rd ed., to help us question, explore, reflect, and connect. As we do so, we’ll move from personal narrative to public argument--i.e., we’ll take what matters to us and work to make it significant to others. We’ll attend, as well, to questions of voice and style as we consider how best to engage a variety of audiences. And, because this class is a writing class, we’ll draft, revise, and edit our own writing, and we’ll offer feedback to our classmates to help them realize the goals they have for their writing, too. 

Prerequisite:Successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102 
Fulfills the second of two University General Education requirements in the University Writing Program 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor 

WTNG 270: Travel Writing

Professor Kate Mele
T/F: 2:00-3:20 and 3:30-4:50

What’s the story you tell over and over when you return from a trip? What surprises have you had when traveling—even on vacation? How has travel changed your world view or taught you something about yourself? What does it take for you to turn these experiences into a good travel story?

This course gives you both academic and experiential knowledge of the travel writing field so you can get that story on the page.

Rhetorically analyzing samples written by professionals, you will—

  • study the various purposes and types of travel writing
  • identify what editors, publishers, and the public expect from a credible piece of travel writing

Engaging experientially in the field’s writing practices, you will—

  • pitch me story ideas to decide which ones work
  • write several drafts that meet a word-count requirement
  • revise keeping in mind what editors are looking for
  • go through an editorial process as if the piece were going to be published (3 credits)

Prerequisite: successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102. Fulfills the second of two general education requirements. Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Core Concentration and Minor.

WTNG 299: Rhetoric of Food (and Health)

Professor Sarah Moon
M/W/F 10:00-10:50 & 11:00-11:50

Though contemporary consumer culture emphasizes food as a source of satisfaction and pleasure, growing public interest in diet and health impacts connect us to a long history of food and health rhetoric. In this class, we will explore writing at this intersection, including ancient and medieval texts on food as medicine, early American medical writings, modern debates on processed foods and pesticides, professional discussions on community health and food justice, and scholarly critiques of diet books. Through analyzing academic, professional, and public texts, we will also create our own writing, engaging with and emulating these various genres. (3 credits)

Prerequisite: Successful completion (C- or higher) of WTNG 102 
Fulfills the second of two University General Education requirements in the University Writing Program 
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor 

WTNG 304: Feminist Rhetorics

Professor Dahliani Reynolds
T/TH 9:30-10:50

Feminist or feminazi? Strong woman or nasty woman? What, exactly, does it mean to be a feminist? Feminism has always been a polarizing idea, and people understand it in very different ways. Our work over the semester assumes that gender, as one socially constituted marker of difference, helps give form and meaning to our embodied experiences, shape our ideas about and interactions with others, and serves as a structuring principle of social organization. We will also begin from the understanding that feminism—as one response to how gender has been constructed and politicized—may be an important resource in contemporary conversations relating to gender, identity, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Our guiding question for the semester is: what does it mean to be a feminist and a rhetorician? To answer that question, we will explore that transgressive way feminists have used their writing, speaking, and rhetorical arts to change the world. We will explore the methods and methodologies by which scholars examine feminist rhetorics. As we investigate the ways feminists (of all genders) have used rhetoric to speak back to power and to challenge implicit rules about who gets to speak (or write) in a given situation, we will consider how these feminist rhetorical theories and practices might inform our own ways of being in the world. (3 credits)

Prerequisite: Successful completion of a 200-level writing course
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor 

WTNG 405: Writing Grants and Proposals

Professor Catherine Capineri
M/W/F 1:00-1:50

How can writing improve RWU's campus? How can writing make RWU money? Students will become familiar with the grant genre by exploring real grants that can make an impact on the RWU campus. They will select a project worthy of funding then trace the grant writing process from early research to final submission. The course also provides opportunities for students to consider how grant writing is important to their field of study...and they may even find a grant that could help fund major academic projects.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of a 200- or 300-level WTNG course and at least junior standing
Fulfills a course requirement in the Professional and Public Writing Minor