Center for Writing, 10 Nicholson Hall, 216 Pillsbury Drive S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612-626-7583; fax: 612-626-7580)

The minor in literacy and rhetorical studies (LRS) was created to provide a forum for students and faculty interested in various facets of writing and communication. By crafting an individualized program of study including literacy theory and practice, research methods, and historical inquiry, students can complement their disciplinary degree and thereby open up new perspectives for their teaching and research. Students develop an interdisciplinary program of study in consultation with their major adviser, the director of graduate studies in their major, and the director of graduate studies in LRS.

A master's minor requires three graduate courses or seminars (9 credits minimum), one from each of the following categories: 1) literacy theory or practice, including pedagogy; 2) research methods and practices in one of the areas of the minor; and 3) a historical topic (e.g., history of the book), of rhetoric, or of literacy. Students must also write a substantial paper that emerges from one of the three courses. In order to make the minor interdisciplinary, no more than one of the three courses at the master's level may be from the student's home department. A doctoral minor requires four graduate courses or seminars (12 credits minimum). Three courses must be in each of the categories enumerated above. The fourth course must be a capstone writing seminar specifically offered for the minor or a seminar that involves a substantial term paper or a completed dissertation chapter on a topic related to the minor. In order to make the minor interdisciplinary, no more than two of the four courses at the doctoral level may be from the student's home department.