Fall 2026 Writing (TWP) Courses: 200 & 300 Level

  

 

Photograph of Ben Hojem
Dr. Ben Hojem

 

 

Writing 202S: Words in the World: Theories of Writing and Rhetoric*

MW 11:45AM-1:00PM
ALP, W
HI, WR 

What power do words have in the world? How do theories of writing and rhetoric inform not only how we communicate and understand one another but also how we create meaning, construct identity, produce knowledge, persuade, and create change? This course explores the many questions at the heart of Writing Studies as we discover and discuss how we use (and have used) words in an ever-evolving landscape of written communication. In the age of AI, Words in the World allows you to consider how theories of writing and rhetoric have changed over time, the extent to which the theories still apply, and the human side of writing.  

*This course was formerly titled Theoretical Frameworks of Writing Studies.

 

Dr. Jennifer Ahern-Dodson
Dr. Jennifer Ahern-Dodson

 

 

Writing 235S: Writing Tools and Human Agency

TTH 11:45AM-1:00PM
ALP, W
HI, WR 

Why do we write? Why do we use tools to write? What remains distinctly human in writing amid increasing automation? How can writers maintain creative agency, ethical responsibility, and intellectual ownership when composing with powerful digital systems? 

This course examines writing as a human practice shaped—and reshaped—by tools. From the pencil and eraser to the personal computer, spell check, and contemporary generative AI, students will study how technologies have intervened in the writing process across history, altering how we compose, revise, think, and create. Rather than treating tools as neutral or inevitable, the course asks how each technology redistributes agency: what it enables, what it constrains, and what it asks writers to surrender or defend.

Students will experiment with multiple writing tools—both analog and digital—reflecting critically on their effects on voice, revision, attention, and imagination. They also will analyze the products the tools help writers create, how writers use tools to create them, and to what effect. If tools help us write more, faster, for example, is that a good thing? What are the tradeoffs when we write more, faster? For whom? The course culminates in speculative inquiry into the future of writing and thinking: what writing might become, what it should become, and what writers may need to protect, reinvent, or let go.

 

Eliana Schonberg named co-editor of The Writing Center Journal, the official journal of the International Writing Centers Association
Dr. Eliana Schonberg

Writing 255S: Literacy, Writing, Tutoring

TH 10:05AM-12:35PM
SS, W
HI, WR

Are you interested in becoming an Undergraduate Writing Consultant and improving your critical thinking and writing skills? In this class you will study the scholarship of literacy and college level teaching/consulting practices to hone your critical thinking, academic writing, and peer consulting skills. We will read and discuss selections from writing center theory, rhetoric and composition theory, and literacy studies, and you will write regularly, both in response to readings and for a substantial final research project. You will also engage in writing consultations, first with your classmates and then with 120 students. Students who successfully complete the class will be eligible to become a paid Undergraduate Writing Consultant either working in the Writing Studio or paired with a W-coded class.  The class is taught by the Director of Duke’s Writing Studio and meets once a week. All readings will be made available through Canvas.

 

 

Yan Li
Dr. Yan Li

Writing 265S: Writing For Global Audiences

MW 3:05PM-4:20PM
ALP, CCC, W
HI, WR

How do cultural differences shape writing practices and communication strategies? How do writers construct, adapt, and negotiate voice and identity for global audiences? This course offers a contextualized overview of rhetorical traditions across temporal and spatial boundaries, fostering a much-needed dialogue in global communication. Through readings in historical, comparative, cultural, postcolonial, and decolonial studies, students will gain foundational knowledge and insight into pivotal debates and practices concerning language, culture, power, and political subjectivity.

For the past couple of decades, rhetorical scholarship has moved beyond Greco-Roman rhetoric as both its foundation and focal point, expanding to explore and embrace a wider range of rhetorical traditions and practices. This readiness to engage with the other has not only opened up a much-needed space for other rhetorical traditions to emerge, to speak to the richness and diversity of global rhetorical traditions but also called into question the viability of a single, static rhetorical tradition.

This course thus aims to engage both the canonical and other non-Euro-American rhetorical traditions, which have often been silenced or marginalized or altogether forgotten. Together, we will work to construct a “developing global rhetorical framework”—one that demonstrates how different cultures foster different ways of knowing and speaking and how they enact different forms of inquiry and knowledge-making. This approach contributes to what can be described as a comparative/cultural turn in the field of rhetorical studies.

Throughout the semester, we will explore what it means to study rhetorical traditions in the global contact zones of the 21st-century. Our inquiries will include:

  • Whose narratives are represented and for what purposes?
  • What elements are considered central, and what is omitted or marginalized?
  • How can the art of recontextualization serve as a productive heuristic right now when boundaries of all kinds are being blurred, conflated, or recreated?

To address these questions, course readings are paired to foster dialogue across rhetorical traditions, encouraging students to engage with different origins and perspectives in knowledge-making.

 

 

Photograph of David Landes
Dr. David Landes

Writing 267S: The Dialogue Laboratory: Experiments in Group Communication 

TU 3:05PM-5:35PM
EI, ALP
CE

Interactive seminar dedicated to developing knowledges and skills for dialogue. Students develop themselves through weekly practice, 3 weekly assignments, assistive readings, and weekly applications beyond the classroom. Each course is responsive to the particular interests of students enrolled, with regular student-led portions. Theoretical frameworks include rhetorical theory, interpersonal/group dynamics, dialogism, Rogerianism, and other philosophies of communication. Students practice new modes of interaction by applying concepts such as kairos, extrospection, intersubjectivity/perspectivism, heuristics, 12 types of listening, community practice, symbolic interactionism, and many others practiced and reflected on through weekly participant-observation ethnographies that re-theorize in-class interactions in new ways. 

 

Photograph of Hannah Taylor
Dr. Hannah Taylor

Writing 281: Rhetorics of Health and Medicine 

MW 1:25PM-2:40PM 
EI, STS, W
IJ, WR

This course approaches medical rhetoric as a field with interdisciplinary purposes that are deeply connected to social, cultural, and political dimensions of healthcare. We will explore topics related to health and medicine, with a specific focus on the methods, theories, and rhetorical strategies employed by science and medical writers. Students will use discussions in the field of rhetoric of health and medicine to analyze the social implications of medical writing and research. Additionally, students will discuss the implications of health discourses across various cultural contexts and the role that power and privilege plays in the dissemination of medical information. The students will have the opportunity to explore the dominant rhetorical strategies used in various medical disciplines across modes, as well as the narratives that emerge in popular discourses as a result of these norms. 

 

 

Ingrid Byerly
Dr. Ingrid Byerly

Writing 384: Public Speaking and Global Civil Discourse

Tu 10:20AM-12:50PM
Tu 1:40PM-4:10PM
W/WR

Public Speaking terrifies even the most successful individuals, and yet most dream of being able to create compelling, organized, impassioned speeches, and confidently deliver powerful presentations. This course will help you discover the power of your voice. We will uncover proficiencies to overcome common obstacles like stage-fright, podium-paranoia, performance nerves, and even imposter syndrome. We will explore elements of effective communication skills, the importance of civil discourse and the enduring value of positive interpersonal interactions. Whether focused on everyday communication, academic presentations, philanthropic visions, corporate presentations or unique occasions, effective presentation skills serve as a powerful tool by which to speak your mind, make your case, pitch your ideas or advocate for your cause. We will foster a mindful understanding of varied codes of conduct and intercultural communication skills, which will both enrich your interactions and benefit your strategic path going forward. We will analyze historically influential speeches that have had a political and social impact on societies, to uncover the secrets of influential speechwriting and memorable speakers. We will explore the human dimensions of the expressive communication process: vocal intonation, body behavior, focus, control, self-awareness, and audience evaluation. Mastering these attributes will optimize the unique ‘music of your voice’ in delivering your message.  You will discover the potential of your words, and as one student eloquently put it, ‘the most important thing you will learn will be about yourself.’

NOTE: This course is participation-based. Attendance is mandatory, and in registering, students agree to the expectation that no electronic devices are used in the classroom.