graduate interdisciplinary specialization (GIS)

• Core Course Descriptions
• Elective Courses by Concentration
• Elective Courses by Department

How scholars study literacy depends, in no small part, on the disciplinary framework within which they define literacy. The GIS in Literacy Studies curriculum brings together historical, contextual, comparative, and critical perspectives and modes of understanding aimed at understanding the different uses of literacy and what they mean to the participants and to the broader society. The program is designed to prepare students to pursue research that produces insights informed by multiple disciplines.

An interdisciplinary specialization in literacy studies will extend the educational and research experiences of any graduate student who wants to explore the role and relevance of reading and writing, no matter how broadly defined.

By encountering different methods of inquiry and the epistemologies that inform them, students will be better prepared to engage the questions they pose in their research and make career choices.

The Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Literacy Studies is designed to help prepare students to produce new knowledge and participate in the greater conversation about literacy and literacy studies.

The principal goals of the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Literacy Studies include:

• Understanding literacy in its specific historical, social, cultural, political, and economic contexts
• Comprehending the uses, abuses, complexity, and contradictions of literacy as a social practice
• Exploring literacy’s place in cognition and communication
• Developing critical approaches to common assumptions about the importance, power, and centrality of literacy
• Evaluating, critiquing, and redeveloping communication and understanding across different literacies
• Exploring and evaluating both traditional reading and writing and “new” literacies
• Distinguishing and evaluating the literacies of academic disciplines for their commonalities and differences
• Studying acquisition, uses, practices, and consequences of literacy and literacies across age, gender, race, class, ethnicity, geography, and media
• By encountering different methods of inquiry and the epistemologies that inform them, students who pursue this interdisciplinary specialization will be better prepared to engage the questions they pose in their own research, as well as make sound career choices.

Requirements

The GIS in Literacy Studies requires 21 – 25 hours of coursework in 5 courses. At least 14 hours must come from outside the student's home graduate program.

I. Core Courses 13 - 15 hours
The specialization includes 3 core courses. The first two core courses cover the foundations of literacy studies, the central questions, theories, approaches, methods, and history. The third core course provides an interdisciplinary perspective on particular forms of literacy and literacies and prepares students for their concentration.

1. First Core Course 5 hours
   
   English 750: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Literacy (WI 08)
   
   
2. Second Core Course 5 hours
   
   English 884: Literacy Studies: Past and Present (SP 08); cross-listed as History 775
   
   
3. Third Core Course 3 - 5 hours
   Select one course from the following list.
   
   • Arts & Sciences 720: Science Literacy (SP 08)
   • Education T&L 803: Language and Society (WI 08)
   • Education T&L 804: Trends and Issues in Language, Literacy, and Culture (SP 08)
   • Education T&L 901: Changing Perspectives in Language, Literacy, and Culture (AU 07)
   • Education T&L 906: Language Learning across Cultures (AU 07)
   • English 789: Introduction to Graduate Studies in Digital Media (WI 08)
   • English 883: Studies in Literacy (SP 08)
   • Near Eastern Languages and Culture 648: Studies in Orality and Literacy; cross-listed as Comparative Studies 648 (SP 08)
   • Coming AU 08: Health Literacy

II. Elective Courses 8 - 10 hours minimum
There are six clusters of interdisciplinary electives. The areas in which students might concentrate their elective courses include

• reading
• writing and digital media;
• language and culture
• social, cultural, and historical studies
• visual, spatial, arts and performance
• science, technology, health, and medicine

Ohio State's strengths in literacy studies range widely. Students should work with their faculty advisors and the GIS Advising Coordinators to determine how best to incorporate Literacy Studies into their program of study.

The GIS in Literacy Studies is open to all graduate and professional students at Ohio State. Students do not need to apply for enrollment.

For more information about the GIS in Literacy Studies, contact the advising coordinators: