Interdisciplinary Writing

Overview

Writing classes provide students with the intellectual and technical frameworks that enable them to approach course materials and disciplines critically. Writing well is not a skill-set to be mastered, but an intricate interaction of cognitive and rhetorical processes performed for a variety of purposes, in multiple circumstances, and for diverse audiences. This minor allows students to practice these processes in a range of writing situations, and exposes students to comparative approaches to modes of writing: prose, creative nonfiction, playwriting, poetry, journalism, screenwriting, professional writing, and multimedia.

The interdisciplinary approach of this minor helps students develop strong writing skills, techniques, and practices through varied pedagogical styles and methods. A main benefit of this minor is that students will have opportunities to learn from faculty in different disciplines, gaining knowledge of those disciplines while writing in various genres. These courses provide a strong writing foundation for students interested in any number of academic and career fields.

Minor Requirements

The Interdisciplinary Writing minor is a five-course program consisting of one required 200-level core class and four electives, described as follows. 

Note: No more than three courses from one department can be counted towards the minor.

COURSEWORK

Core Courses

Electives

While students may choose their own emphasis in a particular field or discipline, they must take two elective courses from different departments.

Faculty

Regular Faculty

Julie Prebel, chair

Assistant Professor, Writing & Rhetoric

B.A., UC Berkeley; M.A., Cal State San Francisco; Ph.D., University of Washington

Thomas Burkdall

Director of the Center for Academic Excellence; Associate Professor, Writing & Rhetoric

B.A., Pitzer College; M.A., Ph.D., UCLA

Broderick Fox

Associate Professor, Art History & Visual Arts

B.A., Harvard University; M.F.A., Ph.D., University of Southern California

Susan Gratch

Professor, Theater

B.A., M.F.A., University of Michigan

Laural Meade

Full-time NTT Associate Professor, Theater

A.B., Occidental College; M.F.A., UCLA

Martha Ronk

Irma and Jay Price Professor of English Literature; English, Emeritus

B.A., Wellesley College; Ph.D., Yale University

John Swift

Associate Dean for Core Curriculum and Student Issues; English; Core Program; Advisory Committee, Urban and Environmental Policy

B.A., Middlebury College M.A., Ph.D., University of Virginia