Research
Rhetoric and Writing Studies (also called Rhetoric and Composition), and its sub disciplines of Technical and Professional Communication, are a relatively recent field that is concerned with the study and teaching of writing and speaking in academic disciplines, in the professions, in public contexts, and in government settings. Researchers in this field often study and teach writing, rhetoric, and communication in university, workplace, and public settings.
Many rhetoric and writing researchers study and teach courses on various specialized topics, such as rhetorical theory, including theories of genre, audience analysis, visual rhetoric, digital rhetorics, classical rhetoric; the rhetoric of technology, including more recently, the rhetoric of the internet; the rhetoric of science (scientific argument and persuasion); theories of writing and editing; theories of learning and teaching writing; legal and ethical issues in communication; communication across disciplines (e.g., communication in medicine, education, engineering, management, social work, criminology, psychology, architecture, etc.); workplace communication, including technical documentation, business communication, content management, document design, web design, usability testing, business reporting, grant writing; and communication in public settings (e.g., community literacy, policy writing, public deliberation, etc.).
Researchers in this field often work in various departments and faculties, including English, Communication, Education, Science, Engineering, or Management. What unites these researchers is their interest in how people use discourse as social action—to achieve their goals; to deliberate and negotiate their interests; to ensure collaboration; to create, share, or contest knowledge; to learn and teach; or to construct a shared reality.
- Explanations, Definitions, and Bibliographies of Rhetoric and Writing Studies
- Scholarly Associations
- Scholarly Journals and Newsletters
- Resource Sites and Online Libraries
Explanations, Definitions, and Bibliographies of Rhetoric and Writing Studies
- What is Rhetoric? Jennifer MacLennan, University of Saskatchewan
- What Connection does Rhetorical Theory have to Technical & Professional Communication? Tania Smith, University of Calgary
- Book of Quotations on Rhetoric (Definitions of rhetoric from ancient to modern times), Thomas J. Kinney, University of Arizona
- A Brief History of Rhetoric and Composition
- The Bedford Bibliography of Rhetoric and Composition
Scholarly Associations
In Canada
Canadian Association for the Study of Language (CASLL)/ Inkshed
Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing (CASDW)
Canadian Society for the Study of Rhetoric (CSSR)
Elsewhere
Association for Business Communication (ABC)
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW)
Council of Programs in Scientific and Technical Communication (CPTSC)
NCTE, National Council of Teachers of English
WPA, Council of Writing Program Administrators
PCS, Professional Communication Society
CCCC, Conference on College Composition and Communication
Rhetoric Society of America (RSA)
Society for Technical Communication (STC)
International Association of Writing Centres
Scholarly Journals and Newsletters
Across the Disciplines
Business Communication Quarterly
Canadian Journal of Discourse and Writing Studies (formerly Technostyle)
College Composition and Communication
College English
Computers and Composition
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Inkshed Newsletter
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy
Philosophy and Rhetoric
Rhetoric Review
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Technical Communication Quarterly
Written Communication
For more journals, see the list of journals in rhetoric and composition by Byron Hawks, George Mason University, or visit the overview of journals created by the English Department at Bowling Green University.
Resource Sites and Online Libraries
Rhetoric and Composition Portal, Iowa State University
Silva Rhetoricae, The Forest of Rhetoric, Gideon O. Burton, Brigham Young University
Technical Communication Library, Iowa State University
WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) Clearinghouse, Colorado State University
