Spring 2019 Newsletter from Writing Studies
Greetings friends and alumni,
The Department of Writing Studies has had a busy semester! Catch up on the news.
Department Happenings and News
- The Departments of Writing Studies and Communication Studies are pleased to announce the hiring of Rachel Presley for our joint hire assistant professor position in rhetorical theory. We look forward to her joining us in September 2019.
- We are pleased to welcome Aki Ito as a new member of the Technical Communication Advisory Board. A native of Japan, Aki Ito is an experienced localization professional who has worked in the industry since 1996 in sales, operation management, and consulting.
- Dr. Jason Tham defended his dissertation “Multimodality, Makerspaces, and the Making of a Maker Pedagogy for Technical Communication and Rhetoric.” Jason will be joining the faculty at Texas Tech as an assistant professor of technical communication and rhetoric in the Department of English.
Awards
- Congratulations to Barbara Jensen, our department administrator, on receiving the CLA Outstanding Service Award for 2017-2018! For over a decade, Barbara has consistently provided foundational support for the department through her exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, financial management abilities, and advocacy for employees.
- The Department of Writing Studies is pleased to announce that Professor Ann Hill Duin received the 2018-2019 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Professional Education at the University of Minnesota. This honor is awarded to exceptional candidates nominated by colleges in their quest to identify excellence in graduate and professional education.
- Congratulations to Dr. Molly Kessler who was recently awarded, with co-author Dr. Scott Graham, the Nell Ann Pickett Award for best article in Technical Communication Quarterly during 2018.
Alumni Accolades & News
- Congrats to Amy Propen (PhD ‘07, RSTC) on receiving tenure and promotion to associate professor at UC Santa Barbara!
- Kirk St. Amant (PhD ‘02, RSTC ) presented a session, "Research, Scholarly Identity, and the Academic Career Space," to our graduate students.
- TCAB members Karin Goettsch (PhD ‘14, RSTC) and Sam Racine (PhD ‘02, RSTC), along with former faculty member Janel Anderson, presented a panel webinar on global virtual teams.
- Cristina Hanganu-Bresch (PhD ’08, RSTC) and the late Dr. Carol Berkenkotter's book Diagnosing Madness: The Discursive Construction of the Psychiatric Patient, 1850–1920, is available to pre-order.
Warm regards,
Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch
Chair
Meet the Department of Writing Studies’ newest faculty member, Daniel Card. In both his research and teaching, Card bridges the gap between technical information and value-based motives to foster better decision making in our communities and beyond. Read “Rhetoric to the Rescue”.
In 2010 a group of teachers from across Minnesota came together to encourage the creation of writing centers everywhere. Now called the E-12 Writing Centers Collective, this group has been inspired, nurtured, and supported by the UMN Center for Writing. Read “Unite to Write”.
For alumna Austyn Rask, her technical writing and communications major combined the things she loves: science and writing. From the skills she developed as part of her degree, she now helps organizations that want to create bridges of understanding between generations. Read “Writing with Clarity is the Bridge to a Career”.
