Through a number of interactions with family and friends over the last several months, it has come to my attention that the vast majority of people I know have no idea what I'm doing in grad school. So, I've decided to write up an entry about that.
So where am I, what's the program, what's my degree, etc.?
This stuff can get confusing. In May 2013 I finished my 3rd semester of my MA degree at UALR, I will finish my courses and begin my thesis in Dec of 2013. During the spring semester of 2014 I will finish writing my thesis and graduate in May. My degree will be Master of Arts: Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS). Interdisciplinary studies is the name of my degree program. That graduate program is housed in the Department of English (undergrad interdisciplinary studies is in the Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies, confusing? yes!).Students in the MAIS program split their graduate hours between multiple departments: 15 hours in a primary focus, 9 hours in a secondary focus, and 12 hours in interdisciplinary studies. My primary focus is the degree program: Professional and Technical Writing (PTW) program housed in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing (RHET) of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (AHSS, I actually built the AHSS website you visit with concepts learned in my PTW courses as part of my graduate assistant work at UALR). My secondary focus is the degree program: Applied Communication Studies (ACS) housed in the Department of Speech Communication (SPCH) of the College of Professional Studies (CPS).
Break down: I study in a program in a college within the university that allows me to study within another program in the same college within the university and a second program in a different college with in the university. So, I am "a part of" three programs, in three different departments, in two colleges, in one university. Clear as mud? Good. On to what I'm actually studying.
My disciplines and what I actually study.
So, as I said above, my primary program is the PTW program in RHET. In this department I have taken the following courses: Rhetorical Theory, Advanced Persuasive Writing, Language Theory, Theory of Technical Communication, Composition Theory, and done an independent study on Ethos.
In Rhetorical Theory, we study theories about what rhetoric is, how it works, how it should work (ethics), power/politics/language relations, and a number of other topics. In Adv. Persuasive Writing we learn different strategies for persuasion using the traditional rhetorical triangle, particle-wave-field analysis, the six-part Ciceronian structure, Toulmin analysis, and other appeals. Language theory introduces basic structural linguistics (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, lexicon), sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and other topics. Theory of Tech Comm covers usability, information design, ethics, visual rhetoric, document design, business writing, and other topics. Composition theory covers what counts as writing, how we teach writing, how we evaluating writing, what writing processes are, and other topics.
Understand, RHET has much more to offer than just these courses, the PTW curriculum is robust and allows students to explore their own interests. We have students that focus on digital literacy and new media, on auto/biography/memoir writing, on argumentation, on writing for the web (including coding), and many other areas. The courses I've taken represent the four, core theory classes upon which the rest of the curriculum is built, and two courses that apply to my interests: persuasion structures and ethos.
My secondary program is ACS in SPCH. In this department I have taken Intercultural Communication and will take Human Communication Theory and Interpersonal Communication Theory and Contexts this fall.
In Intercultural Communication we study how to analyze interactions between people from different cultures, how to identify and understand our own cultural values and attitudes when we interact with others, strategies to bridge cultural differences, and a number of other topics. I would write more about this program, but I've only taken the one course so far.
The thesis.
The nature of interdisciplinary studies is that it allows you to blend elements from various disciplines to address an issue/topic that does not fit neatly into the boundaries of a single discipline. With my background in interpreting American Sign Language (ASL) and English, and my graduate studies in RHET and SPCH, I will write my thesis on how RHET and SPCH can be used to improve the interpreter education curriculum in higher education.
I start thesis this fall (2013) and will complete writing and defending by the end of this spring (2014). Once I graduate, I will likely begin a Ph.D. program directly, though I may work for a few years before pursuing doctoral studies.
So that's a pretty good overview of what I do. If you could follow all that mumbo-jumbo, you've got a decent introduction to where I am situated within the university, what I study, and where my thesis research is headed. If any of you want to know more about any of this, feel free to shoot me an email or Facebook message.
