WRT 302: Writing Culture is an upper-level elective in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Rhode Island (URI). As part of a group of four 300-level courses, Writing 302 draws many junior and senior majors in Writing and Rhetoric, English, and other majors who are looking to add creativity and experience with design to their skill sets. Writing 302 and its counterparts (Public Writing, Writing for Community Service, and Travel Writing) are a cluster of courses that can fulfill any student's general education requirement in the category of English Communication/Writing. The course's unique approach offers students the chance to write a range of genres not immediately associated with culture "qua" text, art, or artifact; that is, students in Writing 302 study and create the kinds of writing that surround a cultural milieu and support it as an institution, such as descriptive art museum placards. This article presents a local rationale for upper-level writing curricula in the institution and explains the theoretical rationale for Writing 302 as a writing course generally speaking.