Student & Alumni News

June 5, 2026 Callie McNorton

Spring Speaker Series Recap: Dr. Ana Milena Ribero

In April, The WRD Department welcomed Dr. Ana Milena Ribero for our Speaker Series: Writing and Rhetoric without Borders. Dr. Ribero is a MAWRD alum and an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Composition at Oregon State University. Her research has been on immigration for the last 15 years, which led her to focus on cruelty and lack of care in immigrant detention centers. Her talk, “Cruelty in the Name of Sovereignty: Im/migrant Detention in the Era of Enmity”, explored the use of solitary confinement and isolation as a means to communicate power and cruelty as deliberate rather than a failure

May 27, 2026 Chaia Van Der Aa

Reflections on the MA in WRD from Dylan Cabrera, winner of the 2026 Outstanding Graduate Student Award

Each program in DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences gives an annual Outstanding Graduate Student Award, and we are happy to announce that the recipient of this year’s award in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse is Dylan Cabrera! Dylan, who will graduate in June, is a Graduate Assistant for the First-Year Writing Program, a Writing Center tutor, a hard-working and enthusiastic student, and a joy to have around. We want to congratulate him on receiving this award! Read on to hear about his journey through the MAWRD program in his own words. After dabbling in film school for a

March 15, 2026 Chaia Van Der Aa

Event Recap: Winter Student Research Showcase

On Monday, March 2nd, folks from the WRD department came together in person and through Zoom for the Winter Student Research Showcase. At this event, WRD students Brittany Griffiths and Amber Corkey gave us the inside scoop on what they’ve been researching during their time at DePaul. They also discussed the process of funding, planning, and executing research projects as a student. From Proposal to Conference: A Case Study in Undergraduate Research Brittany Griffiths is the senior manager of operations at Brown Books Publishing Group. She graduated last autumn, after earning her BA in WRD as a fully online student living in Texas. Her research focuses on hybrid publishing: an alternative option to the more well-known options of

February 9, 2026 Chaia Van Der Aa

Freedom Readers: A Book Club That Builds Bridges

You may have read about WRD 377: Writing and Social Engagement here on our blog last year. This course is part of Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, giving DePaul students and their incarcerated peers a chance to learn alongside each other. It is a wonderful opportunity to create more community involvement and connection. But what about students who would love to get involved but couldn’t fit the class into their schedules? Well, we have good news! Freedom Readers is a book club born out of that class, and DePaul students and alumni are welcome to participate. In this article, we talk to Coray Ames Hoffner and Salli Berg Seeley, the two WRD faculty members who oversee the book club, as well as former WRD 377 student and current TA Michelle. Read on

November 18, 2025 Callie McNorton

Alumni Spotlight – Ella Yates

Do you remember when WRD alum Ella Yates sang the National Anthem at Wrigley Field earlier this year? We sure do! Not only is she an accomplished singer, she also excelled during her time at DePaul until her recent graduation in June. With a Bachelor of Arts in Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse, a minor in Creative Writing, and the William E. Hay Leadership Accelerator Certification, Ella continues to succeed outside of school. Learn more about her time at DePaul and how she applies what she learned in WRD in the real world. Why did you decide to pursue a degree

November 17, 2025 Callie McNorton

Student Spotlight – Amber Corkey

Amber Corkey is no stranger to WRD as a 5th year student completing the combined degree program. A graduate of the undergraduate program, Amber will soon complete the MAWRD degree with a Professional and Digital Writing concentration and a SWAN (Strategic Writing and Advancement for Nonprofits) certification. Not only is Amber a tutor and Professional Development Student Manager at the Writing Center, they also hold the title of Chief Copy Editor and Newsletter Editor at The DePaulia. Read on to learn more about this star student, their plans for the future, and what experiences have impacted them the most during

May 14, 2025 Callie McNorton

Alumni Spotlight – Grace Von Lehman

In her role as Central Indiana Outreach Coordinator at Faith in Place, MAWRD alum Grace Von Lehman is able to apply her knowledge gained from completing the MAWRD program in tandem with the SWAN certificate. Even though she graduated less than a year ago, Grace is breaking barriers through environmental justice work in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization she works for, Faith in Place, has been operating in Illinois for more than two decades, but its presence in Indiana only sprang up a couple of years ago, giving Grace the role of first outreach staff member in Indianapolis. Faith in Place works

May 1, 2025 Callie McNorton

Alumni Spotlight – Madeline Crozier

MAWRD alum and current PhD candidate Madeline Crozier started working in DePaul’s Writing Center in 2017 as an undergraduate student and garnered a sense of purpose that she has taken with her throughout her career. During her time at DePaul, she found an understanding of the power of mission-minded work and scholarship. “I found [at the Writing Center] shared values, beliefs, a core understanding of learning, and a sense of shared mission.” Through her current role as the Graduate Assistant Director of the Writing Center at the University of Tennessee (UT), MAWRD alum Madeline Crozier is fulfilling a sense of

April 8, 2025 Callie McNorton

Student Spotlight – Tabitha Jou Yi

Spring offers the excitement of defrosting from Winter Quarter and the joy of new beginnings, especially for those graduating in June. Tabitha Jou Yi is a MAWRD student who is experiencing just that. Tabitha is currently a full-time high school English teacher who started the MAWRD Program in 2023. After completing her undergraduate degree, Tabitha began her secondary education career after a short break to pursue music. She has since had a primary focus of teaching English Literature classes, and she had her first taste of rhetoric in teaching AP Language and Composition. Additionally, she was seeking an endorsement in

November 5, 2024 Callie McNorton

Student Spotlight: Andrea Hamler

Andrea Hamler is a soon to be graduate of the MAWRD program with a concentration in Professional and Digital Writing and an addition of the Strategic Writing and Advacement for Nonprofits (SWAN) certification. She completed an independent study looking into a rhetorical analysis of religious discourse communities and their relation to anti-environmental political discourse. She has roots in math and science tutoring, and her strengths include storytelling and understanding contemporary evangelical Christian discourse. We got to talk to Andrea about her experiences during her time at DePaul and what her next steps might look like post grad! How did you initially find