What Makes Our Program Distinctive?

The Breadth of our Faculty

Our rhetoric faculty is among the broadest anywhere. This means our students have the opportunity to master a diverse range of perspectives on rhetorical issues, as well as the chance to work closely with faculty mentors who specialize in particular aspects of the field.

Professional Communication

Our program focuses strongly on the application of rhetoric and theory to contemporary academic and corporate workplaces. As a result, our students graduate prepared for a wide range of careers.

Impact on the Profession

The many publications that ISU faculty members have produced and edited are heavily cited in other publications and have earned faculty members over a dozen national awards. The Journal of Business and Technical Communication is published from the ISU department, as are the Technical Communication Library and the textbook Technical Communication, and beginning in January 2005, the Journal for Business Communication will also be edited at Iowa State.

100% Placement Rate

Among alumni who looked for an academic position, we have a 100% placement rate. Our alumni are prepared for positions in both academia and industry.

Diverse Perspectives

Our faculty focus on a wide range of issues within rhetoric and professional communication, including multi-modal communication pedagogy (Blakely, Russell), science (Goodwin, Wilson), visual rhetoric (Kostelnick, LaWare, Roberts), workplace communication (Sauer), technology (Gossett, Russell, Sauer), the history of rhetoric (Crosby, Russell), and public address (Goodwin, LaWare, Slagell).

The integration of communication with various forms of subject-matter expertise: as a result, we have students who come to our program with degrees from a wide range of fields.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The English Department at ISU is large, with programs in Creative Writing, Literature, Education, Applied Linguistics, Communication Studies and Speech Communication. MA students in RCPC have the opportunity to study and work with faculty in a wide range of specialties.

Technology Resources

Digital technologies are an essential part of professional communication. The skill to use them to produce high-quality communication products is not a talent; it is mastered by working in communities that foster such skills. The Rhetoric and Professional Communication programs have access to some of the best computer/technology resources available to any rhetoric program in the world; our technology resources are far superior to those in other rhetoric programs worldwide. The English Department at ISU has excellent multimedia facilities including state-of-the-art computer classrooms, numerous servers with high-end web application development frameworks for students' use, as well as multimedia suites available for graduate students. Our students and faculty work with the ISU Human-Computer Interaction Initiative and the Studio for New Media, as well as with the EServer.