Communication emphasis in Rhetoric 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 want 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 research interests in rhetoric, discourse, mass media, and communicaiton technologies.

My academic background and interests were fairly interdisciplinary through my BA and MA, although much of my focus had been in Writing, English, and Communications. 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, Communications, Linguistics, 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.

[hejduk]

Not to be a negative nancy and hijack the thread, but can you address the safety issues associated with the school being across the border from Juarez?

Edited February 3, 2011 by hedjuk

[R.J.]

Not to be a negative nancy and hijack the thread, but can you address the safety issues associated with the school being across the border from Juarez?

It's not negative, it's a very valid question. I moved to El Paso from Seattle in 2009 and, as you can imagine, most of my friends and family had similar questions and concerns. While Juarez considers to be a dangerous city and it is not recommended that people from El Paso visit there for recreation (as was quite common even just a few years ago, as when I first visited in 2005), El Paso continues to be quite safe. For the past several years (since 1997) El Paso has been in the top 2 to 3 safest cities with a population over 500,000 according to an annual study of crime statistics, and this year it was named safest city over 500,000 population. Of course, whether or not it's the safest in the country is irrelevant; the point is that the crime associated with Juarez is really staying on that side of the border, and El Paso remains quite safe. I live about a mile from the border with Mexico, my living room apartment window looks out over Juarez, and I have never felt any danger here. I don't have a car, so I walk, bike, or bus everywhere I need to go. I have never felt unsafe at night or had anything happen to me. I even go running at night, often very late, after midnight, and it feels as safe as any city I've lived in. I actually feel less safe walking around Denver, which is where I'm from. In 2009 there were 12 murders total; I think Seattle and Denver usually get to 12 murders by mid Spring.

Some links about the study I mentioned are http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/nov/22/el-paso-san-diego-among-safest-cities/ and http://www.ci.el-paso.tx.us/homepage_safest_city.asp

Let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck with your apps!

R.J.

[franks98]

It's not negative, it's a very valid question. I moved to El Paso from Seattle in 2009 and, as you can imagine, most of my friends and family had similar questions and concerns. While Juarez considers to be a dangerous city and it is not recommended that people from El Paso visit there for recreation (as was quite common even just a few years ago, as when I first visited in 2005), El Paso continues to be quite safe. For the past several years (since 1997) El Paso has been in the top 2 to 3 safest cities with a population over 500,000 according to an annual study of crime statistics, and this year it was named safest city over 500,000 population. Of course, whether or not it's the safest in the country is irrelevant; the point is that the crime associated with Juarez is really staying on that side of the border, and El Paso remains quite safe. I live about a mile from the border with Mexico, my living room apartment window looks out over Juarez, and I have never felt any danger here. I don't have a car, so I walk, bike, or bus everywhere I need to go. I have never felt unsafe at night or had anything happen to me. I even go running at night, often very late, after midnight, and it feels as safe as any city I've lived in. I actually feel less safe walking around Denver, which is where I'm from. In 2009 there were 12 murders total; I think Seattle and Denver usually get to 12 murders by mid Spring.

Some links about the study I mentioned are http://www.kpbs.org/...-safest-cities/ and http://www.ci.el-pas...safest_city.asp

Let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck with your apps!

R.J.

I just got accepted into the Psychology Ph.D. program there and will likely take the offer. My research centers around prejudice and immigration issues, so I think that El Paso will be a prime location (especially seeing how U of Arizona just rejected me post interview! arghhh!). For a smaller school without the prestige of some of the the flagship state universities, I was very impressed with their funding offer. UTEP doesn't seem to be feeling the budget crunch that most schools are. I know the Texas legislature is pouring in a ton of cash in hopes of making the school on par with A&M and UT-Austin.

One of my concerns with the place is their nearly 100% acceptance rate for undergraduates. To me, this seems like the school is simply trying to boost enrollment to receive federal financial aid funding. While I understand the economies of such a move, I am a bit worried about being a TA and having to deal with kids who are not able to do college level work. Biding by my own moral principles, I don't believe that I could grade inflate just to help the university in its retention missions either. To me, it would be wiser for utep to pass on students who cannot do the work, get them into the local community college, and if they can hack it there, then get them into UTEP for their degree. Just my thoughts..