University adds degree in writing, rhetoric, digital studies

By Will Wright

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Students can major or minor in writing, rhetoric and digital studies starting in fall 2014, the Board of Trustees announced last week.

Many of the WRD classes are already part of UK Core curriculum and count toward English and communication major requirements. But students have not been able to major or minor in WRD.

“It allows us to have students who are interested in the field rather than teaching broadly,” said Joshua Abboud, a WRD lecturer. “We can go deep into the studies with them.”

Classes in WRD include social media, business writing, multimedia writing, public advocacy, and rhetoric and argument.

For some students, the addition of this major and minor may have come too late.

“There are a lot of students who are English majors or communication majors who would have been in this degree,” Abboud said.

One of these students is English senior Cory Zigmund. Though Zigmund was originally going to graduate in May with an English degree, he is now considering staying for two more semesters to complete 24 credits and acquire an additional degree in WRD.

“WRD would be a really good complement (to an English degree),” Zigmund said. “I think it would be more marketable in the real world.”

English freshman Maria Reist will be adding a major in WRD in hopes of building on to her skill set.

“WRD brings a focus on writing and digital media, which I like,” Reist said. “I think it’ll strengthen me as a (job) candidate.”

Many of Reist’s classes correspond with her WRD degree, so her course load will not have to increase much.

Tom Marksbury, a senior lecturer in the WRD department, said the process of creating a new degree can take much longer than three years.

“As far as these things go, it actually went pretty quickly,” Marksbury said. “(Other degrees) have taken ten years to create.”

Marksbury believes many students will be interested in a WRD degree and that faculty are looking forward to adapting their courses for people in the major.

“Now we have an audience,” Marksbury said. “We’ve been really excited about this all along.”