What is Composition/Rhetoric, Rhetoric/Composition, Writing Studies?

From What Direction for Rhet-Comp?

Composition/Rhetoric scholars are also very busy doing the following: teaching writing to college students--including analytical and expository writing, writing for social change, business writing, technical writing, writing for the web, literary journalism, creative non-fiction; teaching future teachers how to teach writing; helping their fellow professors incorporate writing into their own classrooms more effectively; making connections in the community (with schools, neighborhood centers, literacy organizations); developing curriculum for first-year composition and many other courses; hiring, supporting, and advocating for better working conditions for instructors of first-year composition (including part-timers, grad students, and non-tenure-line full-time faculty).

Oh, and they also do research! They research how writing and reading actually function in people's daily lives; how writing has been taught down through the ages; how people learn to write; how various technologies affect writing, reading, and learning; how the teaching and learning of writing are affected by multi-cultural societies, immigration, racism, class differences, family background, and other factors; how we can best evaluate people's writing abilities and what they actually learn in writing classes; whether what students learn in first-year composition transfers to other courses; and yes, the rhetorical strategies used by Presidents and CEOs and advertisers and bloggers.

What Rhet/Comp Folk Really Do
Posted by Steve Fox , Director of Writing at IUPUI on December 30, 2009 at 7:15pm EST