Faculty – Page 4

Student & Faculty Research

August 19, 2007 by gdoty

We at UMR — faculty and students alike — enjoy several research opportunities.
Dr. Ed Malone (Assistant Professor of English and technical communication and Director of technical communication) and Tara Gosnell (graduate student in technical communication) have recently received a grant for a project titled "The Role of Historical Studies in Technical Communication Curricula." The grant comes from the Council of Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication, of which both Prof. Malone and Ms. Gosnell are members.
A research project such as this allows the student to hone research skills and participate as an investigator in the faculty member’s professional research. (The history of technical communication is a main emphasis of Dr. Malone’s research.)
Prof. Malone and Ms. Gosnell have been meeting once a week this summer to write, design, and
test an online survey of technical communication program administrators and faculty. They plan to administer the survey in early September. They plan to present the results of the survey in an article.
In an article that will soon appear in IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, Prof. Malone notes that at least 200 historical studies have been published in the top five technical communication journals since 1990. These publications indicate an interest in and recognition of the value of historical research in technical communication. The research project will explore how academic programs in technical communication make use of the historical research.
Here are some examples of questions from the survey:

In your opinion, should a technical communication program offer, on a
regular basis, a course devoted entirely to the history of technical
communication?
Are students in your program expected to apply their knowledge of the
history of technical communication?
If so, how are they expected to apply their knowledge?
What is the value of historical studies to students of technical communication?
In your opinion, what benefits (if any) does a technical communication
student derive from studying the history of technical communication?

The results of the survey will enable program administrators and faculty to make better-informed decisions about the role that historical studies should play in their curricula. The findings may also benefit technical communication scholars who are researching the history of technical communication by giving them feedback about the value of their research.

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Filed Under: Faculty, Research, Students

A Marriage in the Department

July 29, 2007 by gdoty

On July 14, John Lemmerman and Laura Bettison were married at her parents’ St. James home. John is a Lecturer in English and Technical Communication. Laura is originally from St. Louis; now, she works and takes classes at Drury University in Rolla.
John and Laura each have livestock — specifically, she had two goats when they married, and he had eight. (At one time, Laura had 100 goats!) They have merged their goat herds in Belle, where they have some extensive acreage.
In a somewhat different area of putting two lives together, John says, "Her parents are great, so I lucked out in the in-law department, too."
This poem comes from Korea in the 16th century. I have slightly adapted the last line:

The mountain is silent,
The water without form.
A clear breeze has no price,
The bright moon no owner.
Here, after their fashion,
May you grow old in peace.

— by Song Hon, trans. by Peter H. Lee. The original last line reads "I will grow old in peace." The poem is from Poetry of Asia: Five Millenniums of Verse from Thirty-Three languages, gen. ed. Keith Bosley. New York: Weatherhill, 1979.

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Filed Under: Faculty

"Say What?"

July 25, 2007 by gdoty

Do you feel overwhelmed when you have to do research and presents the results in a written or oral report?
Writing is an essential skill for professionals in almost any field. Speaking to people, in groups large or small, is also an important skill for professionals. Most of our department’s writing courses include a presentation, usually toward the end of the semester, on a topic that the student writes about and makes the topic of a presentation. In this year’s summer school session, Dr. Kris Swenson’s English 60 class explored representations of World War II. In the photograph, Andrew Jones begins his presentation on the importance of the US Air Force in winning that war.
English 60 — Writing and Research — builds on skills the student developed in Freshman Composition to develop substantial reports both written and oral. With networked computers and projectors in each classroom, students have ready access to technology such as PowerPoint to support their presentations. We’ve come a long way from overhead transparencies and flip charts.
This may be the last summer school entry for this year. Students in writing classes benefit from the concentration of summer school; working each day instead of every other day make for better continuity and focus.

Filed Under: Courses, Faculty, Students

"I search, you search, . . . research"

July 22, 2007 by gdoty

The University of Missouri – Rolla is a technological research university. Does that mean that all research done at UMR is technological? Of course not. One immediately thinks of the sciences here and their vigorous research programs. Are there areas at UMR which don’t do research? What about the humanities and the social sciences?
This post will stick with the humanities and, specifically, with the Department of English and Technical Communication. Do members of this department’s faculty do research? Yes, of course. And what kind of research do we do? Even though the department has two disciplines — English, especially literary studies, and technical communication — the research techniques are very similar. For both literary studies and technical communication, research istext-based, especially if one defines "text" to include audio, visual, and electronic media.
As does scientific research, our research involves forming hypotheses that are investigated, tested, and applied with research. However, scientific and technical research occurs in very obvious laboratories or in specific sites. Where is research in English and Tech Comm disciplines sited? In libraries, on the Internet, and also in specific locations. We make use not only of traditional printed texts but of texts in other media, of observations and of firsthand explorations such as interviews.
Since we don’t have laboratories full of high-tech equipment, some folks assume our research doesn’t require much support. But we do need support for our research: funds for library purchases, for travel to specialized libraries (two of us have gone to England for research), for software, for the time needed to explore and complete a research project. Like other researchers, we also require support for travel to professional conferences and gatherings where we share and discuss our research.
It may not seem obvious, but even poets and fiction writers do research. The research done by creative writers needs much the same kind of support as literary or technical communication research.
My purpose in this post is not to discuss the value of research in our disciplines, but I will say that literary research and technical communication research add to our culture’s knowledge of human experience and its meanings. Trent Watts’ work on images of manhood in the southern USA, Kate Drowne’s discussion of the relationship between the social and literary experience of Prohibition in the 1920s, Jack Morgan’s account of Thomas Sweeney, the 19th Century Irish-American general, David Wright’s investigation of the diffusion of technology in the cattle industry — these examples come from half of the department but indicate the range of our explorations.

Filed Under: Department, Faculty

Hawthorne and Summer in the Ozarks

July 15, 2007 by gdoty

The photo shows Dr. Trent Watts, Assistant Professor of English and Technical Communication, making a point in his summer school class. In this particular session, the class was discussing Nathaniel Hawthorne‘s short story, "The Minister’s Black Veil."
Hawthorne’s explorations of Puritan New England might seem like heavy work on a warm July day in the 21st century Ozarks. In fact, the atmosphere in Hawthorne’s fiction is often dark enough to chill the summer heat here in Rolla. Dr. Watts is teaching American Literature I this summer, thus the Hawthorne. I asked him to comment on summer school and on early American literature. Here’s what he told me:

On Summer Teaching

"In summer school students typically take one or two courses rather than the four or five they take during the fall and spring semesters. This more relaxed pace gives professors and students a chance really to concentrate on classes within the major or to explore a new subject. The classes are typically small and the campus offers few distractions from academic work. "

On Early American Literature

"This literature is timely and relevant because it shows Americans wrestling with the very same questions that animate us today: what does it mean to be an American? how can we make a nation from such diverse peoples? what is the best way to build a government that protects liberties and provides order? what is our connection to and responsibility for the natural world around us?"
Dr. Watts’ second comment, of course, includes much more than Hawthorne: just a few of the writers covered are
Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson.

Filed Under: Courses, Faculty

Ghazal? Say "guzzle," not "gazelle"

July 11, 2007 by gdoty

In the last eight years, I have published a webzine devoted to the ghazal as a form for poetry in English. I’ve been privileged to publish a number of excellent poems by accomplished poets, as well as some informative and provocative prose about the ghazal.
Recently, I’ve published the July issue and a special issue, both of which are important additions to The Ghazal Page. The July issue has six excellent ghazals, each with its distinct voice. The special issue is an article, "English Ghazals Based on Arabic Forms," which challenges some of the conventional ideas about ghazals in English.
Why do I publish The Ghazal Page? Why am I writing about it here?
As department chair, I have a number of duties and responsibilities. One responsibility is to maintain my research program. During my career, writing poetry has been my primary research. Recently, The Ghazal Page has been my major research project. I believe the ghazal form holds great promise for poetry written in English and want to do my part to make that happen.
UMR seeks to be a diverse community of scholars within a world-wide environment. The ghazal, originating in Arabic and Persian cultures, has potential for widening our understanding of and communication with important areas of the world. The Ghazal Page has published poems from India, South Africa, Uzbekistan, and Singapore (as well as Canada and New Mexico).
Here is some information on the ghazal form. There’re also several links on The Ghazal Page. The links take you to other sites that discuss or publish ghazals.

Filed Under: Faculty

Tales from the Street

June 26, 2007 by gdoty

Jack Morgan (Research Professor of English and Technical Communication) has just published an article on John McNulty, who wrote forThe New Yorker from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s. Prof. Morgan’s article appears in the Summer 2006 issue of The Recorder: The Journal of the American Irish Historical Society. The article’s title, "He’s Irish and He Broods Easy: John McNulty and the Irish Cohort at The New Yorker," is drawn from one of McNulty’s pieces.
Prof. Morgan’s article continues his scholarship exploring Irish and Irish American literature, history, and culture. Morgan’s 2006 book, Through American and Irish Wars: The Life and Times of General Thomas Sweeney (Irish Academic Press) is a full-length example of this scholarship.
John McNulty has been largely forgotten. A Google search for "John McNulty" shows that there are many John McNultys—lawyers, doctors, businessmen—but produced only a few entries for John McNulty the writer, including this review of This Place on Third Avenue, a collection of his stories published in 2001 by Counterpoint Press.
American popular culture contains many stereotypes of the Irish and Irish Americans. Professor Morgan’s article constitutes an introduction and appreciation of McNulty’s life and writing that directs the reader to the genuine experience.

Filed Under: Faculty

Deal Me Some New Ideas

June 21, 2007 by gdoty

The Salmon of Clubs

Imagine yourself sitting down to a game of poker and, while trying to fill an inside straight, learning how to recognize hostile aircraft or carve the Thanksgiving turkey. Decks of playing cards have been used for these and other informative purposes. (The card pictured is from the "how-to-carve food" deck.)
Dr. Ed Malone’s article, "The Use of Playing Cards to Communicate Technical and Scientific Information, has just been accepted for Technical Communication, a peer-reviewed journal published by the Society for Technical Communication. The article is scheduled for the February 2008 issue. In it Dr. Malone (Assistant Professor of English and Technical Communication) describes and analyzes several decks of playing cards that have been used to communicate technical and scientific information.
Decks from the 17th century include one with instructions on how to carve meat, fish, or fowl at the dinner table and one about mathematical instruments. From World War II, a deck of cards trained civilians to spot enemy aircraft. More recent uses include Iraqi most-wanted cards displaying fugitives.
Dr. Malone’s article will encourage readers to consider the implications of playing cards as a medium for technical and scientific information.

Filed Under: Faculty