Rhetoric and Media Studies

Rhetoric and Media Studies Website

The Rhetoric and Media Studies program considers how our use of language and symbols shapes who we and others are, what we may become, and what we do.

Courses in this major bring critical attention to the nature of representations and communicative/knowledge practices and how they mediate our lives and experience, with particular attention to the contested and changing character of identity, community, public life, ethics, and morality.

The Skills for Success

Behind the scenes of an upstart political campaign stands a speechwriter thoughtfully crafting a message of political change. As she works, she relies on her diverse knowledge of persuasive speech, politics and social justice, public speaking, and the media to help her candidate succeed. Various fields are increasingly looking for employees with this same skill set: the ability to think critically about social issues and carefully analyze the communications and media industries.

Communications and Change

Drake’s Rhetoric and Media Studies (RMS) program allows students to explore how language and symbols shape who we are and what we do. Grounded in the liberal arts, the RMS program combines the study of a broad range of subjects with training in critical theory, discourse analysis, and cultural performance. Students in the program learn to analyze forms of media, knowledge, and power to become critical thinkers and engaged citizens.

Constantly Evolving Field

Although the academic discipline of rhetoric is thousands of years old, it is a field that is constantly evolving to meet new means of communication and expression. Rhetoric and Media Studies majors study public discourse, with particular emphasis on the role of persuasion in political life, social interactions, and popular culture. From political speeches and legal documents to less obvious forms of discourse and communication such as clothes, signage, tools, and toys, to film, television, advertising, art, literature, photography, and the Internet, opportunities to study rhetoric are everywhere. Drake’s RMS curriculum highlights the political and ethical issues at stake in these various forms of communication and more broadly, in language, power, identity and culture.

Professional Opportunities

The RMS program cultivates qualities of communications, leadership, and analysis that are valued in many aspects of professional life. RMS graduates have numerous opportunities for professional experience and/or graduate study. Students typically go on to careers in diverse fields such as law and public administration, medicine and public health, activism, social work, advertising and marketing, politics and public policy, business, banking, and consulting.

Degree Options and Requirements

Drake’s unique Rhetoric and Media Studies program within the College of Arts and Sciences allows students to partake in an interdisciplinary study of rhetoric. Students should work with their advisers to assure selection of courses are compatible with their educational and career objectives.

Students majoring in RMS must complete at least 36 hours of coursework across the disciplines of rhetoric and media studies, including a senior capstone.

Drake also offers a minor in Rhetoric Media Studies, requiring 9 credit hours of core coursework and at least one course from each of the three majors areas of rhetoric and media studies.

FIND OUT MORE

We love talking about the great things happening at Drake, but nothing beats a visit to campus. Let us know you're coming, and we'll arrange for you to meet professors, sit in on a class, or just hang out with current students.

For more information about the Rhetoric and Media Studies program, contact:

College of Arts and Sciences
English Department, Howard Hall 325
ask.as@drake.edu

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