Educational emphasis in English and Writing?

[R.J.]

Hi, everyone! This post is for any of you who are still applying to programs in February or, perhaps, for those of you who are receiving disappointing results for applications and are interested in submitting to one or two more schools with hopes for Fall admission. I wanted to share some information on my university's doctoral program in Rhetoric and Writing Studies, which has an extended deadline of February 15 and which may appeal to those of you with interest in teaching writing at the college level.

My academic background and interests were fairly interdisciplinary through my BA and MA, although much of my focus had been in Writing, English, and ESL. I ultimately found that Rhetoric and Writing Studies was a good way to pursue my varied and interdisciplinary interests through the lens of rhetoric and discourse--the one thing all of my interests had in common.

I'm currently a second-year doctoral student in Rhetoric and Writing Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso, and I have never regretted my decision. It's a strong program with good funding, ample teaching experience (Assistant Instructorships in First Year Composition, Technical Writing, and Workplace Writing), a low cost of living near campus, and many options for pursuing your research interests and making a mark in the program through working with our dedicated faculty. Our students, who have backgrounds in English, Education, ESL, Linguistics, Communications, History, Spanish, and other fields, present at major conferences and publish regularly; I have two book chapters coming out later this year and two national conference presentations in the Spring. The program has also been successful placing graduates in faculty appointments around the U.S.

By way of this background, I'm posting to let you all know that the application deadline has been extended to at least February 15, and some applications may still be accepted even through the end of February. The application requirements are fairly doable, and you can even apply to a join MA/Ph.D. plan if you are coming straight from your Bachelor's degree. The sooner you apply, the better, but I know the program is interested in getting more applicants from outside of Texas, so I encourage you to apply. If you have any questions about the program or applications, feel free to contact me (rjlambert@miners.utep.edu). There is also plenty of information about applying on our site: http://academics.ute...aspx?tabid=3302

Good luck with your applications this year, wherever you apply!

R.J.