<p>Does anyone know anything about the Rhetoric program at Berkeley?</p>
<p>Looking for some information...thanks! :)</p>
<p>It's pretty much the best at what it does.</p>
<p>I know things. :)</p>
<p>What sort of information are you seeking, SmileDarling?</p>
<p>Well - I want to know how large the program is, how difficult it is to get into, the quality of instruction, the focus of rhetoric (some places are more on written, some are more oral), etc. </p>
<p>Thanks ahead of time for any information.</p>
<p>Admissions? I'm not sure. </p>
<p>Size? Fairly small. </p>
<p>Quality of instruction? I imagine it varies, but generally good- many seem to love the department. Check out rate my professors.com for some random reviews (which will generally be really positive or really negative). </p>
<p>The focus is hard to describe because it's a collection of many professors with some shared but many different interests. The department, with regard to intellectual concerns, is somewhat fragmented. Different classes focus on differen things. It is not oral vs. written. It's hard to describe, but you can tailor your preferences to many different things, such as legal style writing, or English style stuff, or political science esque discourse, or philosophy esque discourse, film studies discourse. There is some stuff in anthropology related to folklore and oral tradition, as well as elsewhere on campus (some related to rhetoric, such as professor Melia). They have emphases, and you must have one. They are:</p>
<p>History and Theory of Rhetoric
Public Discourse
Narrative and Image</p>
<p>I've heard some students say they're not sure why a course counts in one category but not another- many are closes related.</p>
<p>My advice- read through the rhetoric.berkeley.edu website, and check out faculty interests. You'll see many common texts on various syllabi.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great information - I appreciate your time. I have one more question for everyone. Can anyone tell me how Berkley Rhetoric compares to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and also to UCLA?</p>
<p>I'm not sure if UCLA or UIUC has an equivalent program to Berkeley's rhetoric department- it's very strange and unique. :)</p>