Elizabeth Romage, a junior majoring in Public Policy, used to struggle to figure out where her voice fit in writing assignments amidst the boxes she had to check off and goals she needed to accomplish.
“There's a conception that you need to start by gathering your resources and outlining, followed by writing those five paragraphs that we were all taught to do,” she said. If you follow the formula, you produce a draft, make edits and finally have a finished product.
Romage credits the class History of Writing Studies, taught by Jennifer Ahern-Dodson, with encouraging her to adopt a more nuanced approach that allows her to express herself authentically and creatively, even when writing research papers.
Like all Duke undergraduates, Romage took Academic Writing her first year on campus. A creative thinker who enjoys journaling and poetry, she wanted to explore writing further after she finished the course. When she came across the description of the History of Writing Studies class offered by the Thompson Writing Program, she was intrigued. “A lot of the work we did in the class focused on how to create room for us to voice ourselves and not feel like we have to fit into a specific mold,” she said. “How do we as students find our voices while meeting the requirements of the systems we’re working in?”
Romage learned that modes of expression — and expectations about what effective communication means — vary significantly between cultures and across historical periods. The course began by examining rhetoric from around 300-400 BCE found in the works of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. “At that time, rhetoric was used in speech writing, and people gathered in public to listen and respond,” Romage said. “Public discourse was really encouraged.”
Today’s students face a very different communications landscape.
“People didn't associate their beliefs and ideologies as much with their identity. When you challenged someone's words, they didn't take it as personally as they do today,” she observed.
Romage also acknowledged the role the internet and social media play in how people express themselves. “Things that are published are more permanent now, so people tend to be hesitant about what they're saying.”
Artificial intelligence is also altering the way we write and consume information. Instead of shying away from the changes on the horizon, the History of Writing Studies class met the challenge head-on. For her research project, Romage considered what an AI writing initiative in the Sanford School of Public Policy would look like.
“My classmates and I wrote a collective piece outlining what we’d like Duke to know about AI from the student perspective,” she said. The paper will be published by Duke’s Center for Applied Research and Design in Transformative Education later this year.
For Romage, deepening her connection with the Thompson Writing Program has enriched her experience as a Public Policy major. “Something I really loved about that class was that my professor listened to what I cared about and connected me with people who helped bring this project to life. I’m considering making it a senior thesis project, which I hadn't even thought about before.”
The History of Writing Studies was the smallest class Romage has been in at Duke, which she credits with creating a close-knit community of learners. “With a small group of students, what I was able to share in class was really raw and authentic, and there's just a different level of trust,” she said. “It was a class I always looked forward to attending.”
Jennifer Ahern-Dodson will teach The History of Writing Studies again in Fall 2025. The class is a core course in the Minor in Writing and Rhetoric offered by the Thompson Writing Program. The Minor in Writing and Rhetoric offers students a chance to do a deeper dive into the complexities and nuances of 21st century communication by learning more about writing in different contexts.
