Department of English
UNCG Composition & Rhetoric Program
Home Faculty TAs Resources Related Sites English Dept Writing Center
Welcome to the Composition Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, which has been recognized in Rhetoric Review as an outstanding first year writing program. The training received in our Rhetoric and Composition major provides the kinds of philosophical training and practical experiences that are highly valued by other academic institutions. We have graduated scholars who currently administer writing programs and writing centers at colleges and universities across the country. This Rhetoric and Composition program is based on the pragmatic principles of action and belief. A belief, writes William James, is something upon which we are prepared to act. As teachers of reading and writing, we believe that all students can become good writers and readers as well as critical thinkers, and we act on this belief by providing classroom contexts to make this possible. Program features such as the All Freshman Read, the Essay and Portfolio Contest, and the use of portfolios as assessment progress tools provide evidence of our support and nurture of first year students.
Our writing program is informed by rhetorical and feminist theory, social constructionist principles, liberatory pedagogy and ethnographic fieldwork. It draws on ideas that best service students learning and development as thinkers, readers, and writers. It is not a writing across the curriculum program, not a basic grammar program, and not a creative writing or literature program, although we see the value in each of these perspectives within the curriculum. Composition teachers are given the great responsibility in helping prepare students for lifelong literacy as well as academic success. To support new teachers of writing for this task, we want to draw on the expertise they bring to the classroom as they work with the most vulnerable group of students in the university, first year writers.
This site has information on our esteemed graduate faculty and teaching assistants. Here our composition instructors will find helpful resources, sample syllabi, links to professional organization and journals, as well as links to crucial related sites, such as UNCG's Speaking and Writing Across the Curriculum site and our Writing Center.
If you have any questions about our program or wish to add a resource to our web pages, please email us & let us know!
Home Faculty TAs Resources Related Sites English Dept Writing Center