Graduate Study in Humanities

Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture

The Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture program at Michigan Technological University is a vibrant intellectual community dedicated to the study of contemporary issues and problems from a variety of critical and theoretical standpoints within the humanities: 

We think about connections among

technology—systems, objects, practices, usability, new media, visuality

communication—composition, technical writing, rhetoric, language, discourses, gender, representation, and power

globalization—intercultural communication, transnational flows, post-colonial critiques

What unites these areas of inquiry is our broad orientation, as a Humanities department, to the study of culture in all its dimensions. Whether your interest is in rhetoric, cultural studies, technical communication, or media studies, as a RTC program graduate you will have a rich understanding of the ways in which communicative practices are embedded in cultural contexts with political, material, and social dimensions. 

The new technological and media landscape of globalized post-modernity has produced new objects and areas of study, calling for new kinds of scholars who can work across disciplines to grapple with complex cultural realities.

Our faculty come from a variety of fields, including communication, composition, cultural studies, film studies, linguistics, literature, modern languages, media and visual studies, philosophy, rhetoric, postcolonial studies, and technical communication. Faculty work closely with students, encouraging them to think critically about substantive issues and problems within their areas of interest, incorporating a variety of approaches and appropriate methodologies. This gives our program a distinct interdisciplinary character.

Degrees Offered

The Humanities Department offers two advanced degrees in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture:

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