Grant Summary
$350,000 over 24 months to launch a 9-credit immersion and 15-credit certificate in "Analytic and Expressive Communication" (AEC). All students at RIT are required to complete at least one three-course sequence of nine credits referred to as an immersion. All courses for the immersion and certificate meet general education distribution requirements; the immersion may be nested within the certificate, and further, the certificate may be nested within a major or minor in the humanities. RIT will use a redesigned Public Speaking course as the anchor for the immersion and certificate. At least ten sections of the Public Speaking course will be offered each fall, reaching 15 percent of the incoming class. This approach is expected to encourage more engagement with the humanities at RIT, which otherwise does not require any humanities coursework as part of its general education curriculum other than a first-year writing course. In addition, RIT will support a multi-year postdoctoral fellowship for a young scholar to teach in the program, to be fully funded by the institution in the second year of the grant period and with a commitment to continue the fellowship beyond the grant period.