Rhetoric and Communication Initiative Projects

St. Lawrence University’s Rhetoric and Communication Institute (RCI) is a three-day intensive workshop wherein faculty explore ways of integrating multiple modes of communication in course and assignment design. The foundational premise of the RCI is that all modes of communication (including speaking, writing, reading, listening, and creating) require rhetorical aptitude, or the ability to understand how audience, situation, and communication channel influence the meanings we create and exchange.

Through common readings, group interaction, hands-on application, and participation in focused follow-up workshops, faculty examine rhetoric and communication as more than simply skills that students must possess in order to demonstrate disciplinary knowledge. RCI faculty grapple with the ways in which meaning and knowledge are created through these multiple modes of communication.

This site provides examples of rhetorically integrated assignments that RCI faculty designed or revised based on what they learned during the course of their work in the RCI. In the spirit of learning through dialogue, feel free to contribute your reactions, questions, or insights to this work.