20 years ago, the University of Rhode Island began its Writing and Rhetoric Department, which focuses on digital and technological writing.
To celebrate this milestone, the department threw a birthday party mixed with a National Day on Writing celebration. Professor of Writing Stephanie West-Puckett oversaw the planning of the party, and its various stations.
“The National Day on Writing is a nationwide celebration for the way writing is essential to our everyday lives,” West-Puckett said.
The writing department wanted to combine these two major events into one celebration that anyone on campus could enjoy. The party itself partnered with many different organizations around campus to set up different stations all themed around mental health, a theme chosen by undergraduate students from the Writing Center and Digital Writing Studio.
With multiple tables set up all around the Hardge Forum in the Multicultural Center, the central theme of the day was mental health and wellness.
“Writing for wellness is such a part of so many of our everyday practices, and so we wanted to give space to think about how writing can help us cultivate a sense of wellness,” she said.
Trying to reach as many students as possible was also a goal of the writing department. The event was required for any student enrolled in first-year writing, but the event saw nearly 700 students in attendance over the two-day celebration.
The event also served as a venue to announce the new name of the department, Public and Professional Writing. URI was among the first universities to break away from the English department and establish a writing-centered program.
Writing and Rhetoric Department Chair Genoa Shepley has been teaching in the department for 15 years.
“Professional and Public Writing is forward-thinking and continuously improving through groundbreaking scholarship, curriculum, and pedagogical innovation,” she said.
One area that helps students enhance their writing abilities is the Undergraduate Writing Center, which serves students from all around the University.
“It will help any student with any text-based writing assignment,” West-Puckett said.
URI’s Digital Writing Studio is another resource in the department that is unique to the multi-modal style of writing. It is open to any student taking a writing course who needs help with writing that is different from the typical words-on-paper style of writing. They can help students with projects that include audio, video, or anything else that is digital
“Assignments that would involve video, or images, or audio, things like podcasting,” West-Puckett said.
Multiple courses within the writing curriculum require digital writing, which requires students to know how to design and create new content. Help with all of this can be found in the Digital Writing Studio.
“We created that space to help students become savvy content creators across a host of multi-media genres and projects,” West-Puckett said.
The writing department has grown in the 20 years since its conception. The department has around 30 faculty members, both full and part-time.
“What keeps me here is the amazing faculty and students — and their unwavering dedication to improvement. In the 15 years I’ve been in this department, I have watched it evolve into one of the most exciting places for research and teaching on campus,” Shepley said.