Ph.D. in English-Rhetoric, Writing, & Culture North Dakota State University - Graduate School

The Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture program provides students with employable skills in the area of professional and technical communication. This innovative and regionally unique program invites students to work at the intersection of rhetorical, textual, and cultural studies.

100% of the graduates from this program find employment in their field. Our graduates may pursue careers as:

• Professors in universities or colleges
• Training and development specialists, user-experience experts, and human-computer interaction specialists in the industry
• Technical, scientific, or professional writers and editors in research and development organizations, high-tech companies, non-profit organizations, or government agencies

Hands-on experience is essential to our program. The Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture Ph.D. requires six credits of experiential learning. Students can work with professors or mentors in disciplinary writing. Others opt to intern for non-profits or local industries.

NDSU offers opportunities for students in the Ph.D. program to teach discipline-specific writing, such as:

• Writing in the sciences
• Writing for engineers
• Writing in business and finance

Meet our Ph.D. instructors

Degree Requirements

The Ph.D. program requires 90 credits beyond the baccalaureate degree and a minimum of 60 graduate credits taken beyond the M.A. and at NDSU.

• Students with a master’s degree in another discipline may be required to complete additional graduate course work in specific areas of English, as specified by their adviser and supervisory committee.
• No more than 10 credits may be transferred into the program.