Human Centered (Re)Design: Revising a Rhetoric and Writing PhD Program
Imari Cheyne Tetu, Claire Oldham Griffith, Floyd Pouncil, Liza Potts · 2023
In October 2022, the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures at Michigan State University proposed an admissions pause to our Rhetoric and Writing PhD program to reimagine the possibilities of the program based on disciplinary trends and the needs and contexts of current students in the program. As part of a team of three WRAC PhD students who chose to join the research committee, we provide insight into the human-centered methodologies and mixed methods relevant to evaluating and restructuring a doctoral humanities program. This experience report describes the methodological rationale, the current status of the project, and reflections on the research teams’ experiences as graduate students working towards large-scale programmatic change.