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Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design

Degree Program

Enrollment Opportunities

We presently have 57 students enrolled in the Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design (RCID) program at Clemson University. We are now accepting applications for new students in the Fall of 2024. For residential students this is a four-year doctoral program. Our online program is offered simultaneously with the in-residence program in Clemson, South Carolina. In 2024, we plan to accept seven to ten new online students and seven to ten new residential students. We offer at least six core and cognate seminars each semester, colloquia and working groups, as well as the RCID Research Forum and the Student-Work-in-Progress Colloquium, both for students and faculty. We offer an array of seminars, labs, and studios.

If you are considering applying to the RCID program, please contact the interim director Dr. David Blakesley once you're ready to begin the application process. The deadline for applications each year falls on January 15 for the following fall. 

graduation ceremony

Student Success

Since 2005, we have graduated 70 students and placed all of them in excellent positions upon graduation.

Over the past decade, 100% of our students accepted positions, including: 

Mark Ward (University of Houston-Victoria)Jason Helms (Associate Professor of English, Texas Christian University), Joshua Hilst (Utah Valley University), Steven Holmes (Texas Tech University), Wu Dan (returned to Xi'an International Studies University in the People's Republic of China), Andrew Hurley (Clemson University)Randy Nichols (Limestone College, South Carolina), Josephine Walwema (Oakland University), and Alicia Weir (senior usability engineer at the Vanguard investment management company corporate headquarters in Philadelphia).

Also, more recently, students accepted the following positions: A. D. Carson (assistant professor of Hip Hop and the Global South, McIntire Department of Music, University of Virginia), Kate Hanzalik (assistant teaching professor in the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition, Syracuse University), Eda Ozyesilpinar (assistant professor of English, Indiana State University), Patricia Fancher (lecturer, University of California-Santa Barbara), Glen Southergill (associate professor, Montana Technological University), Dan Frank (lecturer, University of California-Santa Barbara), Sam Fuller (assistant professor, Southeastern Louisiana University), Jimmy Butts (director of writing studies program, Louisiana State University), Kristen Gay (director of the writing center, University of South Florida), Mari Ramler (assistant professor, Department of English, Tennessee Tech University), Dina Septiani S. Basuki (Fulbright, returned to the Communication Department, Faculty of Social and Political Science, at Universitas Airlangga in Surabaya, Indonesia), Daphne Tatiana Canlas (Fulbright, returned to the Chair the Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication, at University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila), Sharon Henry (director of writing excellence studio, Tennessee Tech University), Josh Herron (associate dean of the Center for Innovation and Digital Learning, Anderson University, South Carolina), Whitney Adams (Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Writing, Berry College), Brian Gaines (Visitiing Assistant Professor of English at Virginia Tech University), Chris Stuart (Assistant Professor of Integrated Marketing Communication at University of North Carolina Wilmington), Karyn Campbell (assistant professor of communication at North Greenville University), Sam Fuller (assistant professor of English at Southeastern Louisiana University), Firasat Jabeen (Assistant Professor of Mass Communication, Forman Christian College, Lahore, Pakistan), Nicole McFarlane (Associate Professor of English at Fayetteville State University), Stephen Lind (Associate professor of Business Communication at Washington and Lee University), Lauren Mitchell (Gensler Architecture firm), Curtis Newbold (Associate Professor of Communication | Program Co-chair, Master of Strategic Communication | Westminster College), April O’Brien (Assistant Professor of Technical Communication at Sam Houston State University), Matt Osborne (Associate Director, Writing in the Disciplines, Critical Writing Program, Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing, University of Pennsylvania), Stephen Quigley (Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh), Justin Hodgson (Associate Professor of English, University of Indiana), Nicole Snell (Lecturer at Arizona State University, Board of Trustee member of Gallaudet University), Eric Stephens (The Center for Cyberethics), Drew Stowe (Assistant Professor of English & Director of the Writing Center, Anderson University), Octaviyanti Wahyurini (Assistant Professor in Visual Communication Design Department, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Surabaya, Indonesia), Anthony Collamati (Assistant Professor of New Media Studies, Alma College, Michigan), Lauren Woolbright (Assistant Professor of Communication & New Media, Alma College), Hayley Zertuche (independent scholar), Josh Abboud (Assistant Professor and Director of Bachelor of Liberal Studies at University of Kentucky), Dev Bose (Assistant Professor, Associate DWP, Affiliate Faculty, Department of English, University of Arizona), Amanda Booher (Associate Professor, Department of English, The University of Akron), Kristie Byrum (Associate Professor, Mass Communications, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania), Michelle Dacus Carr (Founder of Carr Communications), Stacy Cacciatore (Wells Fargo Bank), Victoria Houser (Assistant Professor of English, Methodist University), Eric Hamilton (independent scholar), Diane Beltran (independent scholar), Amy Patterson (postdoctoral position at Northeastern University), Heather Christiansen (UX Researcher, ACS Technologies), Jared Colton (Associate Professor of Technical Communication and Rhetoric, Utah State University), John Dinolfo (Center for Academic Excellence and Writing Center, Medical University of South Carolina), Kathy Elrick (Lecturer, Department of English, Wayne State University), Sergio Figuerido (Associate Professor of Applied and Professional Writing, Department of English, Kennesaw State University), Xiaoli Li (Assistant Professor, University of Dayton), John “Mac” McArthur (Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Furman University), Michael Lucas (independent scholar), Michael Russo (e-learning project manager), Charmayne Brown (Adjunct professor at Virginia Tech University, morning anchor at WFXR News), Michael David Measel (Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Appalachian State University).

More information on faculty and our current and former students appears on the RCID People web page.

College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities
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