Here’s what I read last month in five-word reviews. I did a lot of academic reading in October for an upcoming research trip to South African and Botswana. Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne: cute poems for Pooh lovers This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga: after war woman wanders, falters Rubyfruit Jungle... Continue Reading →
I've been pretty silent on social media lately, and on this blog. I used to speak up about current events, social practices, academic theory, morality, etc. But for the last two years, I haven't spoken up. I'm not sure why. There's a lot of discomfort within me because of this. After reading Rhetoric Retold: Regendering... Continue Reading →
I'm teaching a visual rhetoric course at my new university this year. It has been so much fun to create and just as much fun to teach. I have mostly upper-level English majors and minors in the class, and they are delightful, prepared, and interested. Our first few weeks of class focused on Molly Bang's... Continue Reading →
I recently visited my new university, which will begin employing me soon, for some preparatory meetings. As I waited for one meeting to start, I struck up a conversation with a student who was sitting near me. I asked him if he was an English major, since those are the students I will be teaching.... Continue Reading →
I wrote my dissertation about women's experiences as practitioners of technical and professional writing in the workplace. I graduated earlier this month, but I'm still working on getting the formatting of the final document approved by the graduate school. It turns out that formatting a dissertation is more tedious than writing one! As I've gone... Continue Reading →
This academic study called Our Sister Editors: Sarah J. Hale and the Tradition of Nineteenth-Century American Women Editors (1995) contains historical, cultural, composition, literacy, and rhetorical elements of the nineteenth century. Patricia Okker's research in this book gave me insight into how to approach research on a periodical that was published in Utah from 1872... Continue Reading →
I graduated on Friday. It was a momentous and wonderful occasion. Here are some pictures. From left to right, that's me, my dissertation adviser and mentor-extraordinaire Dr. Ryan Moeller, then Dr. Keith Grant-Davie, another mentor and dissertation committee member, and then Dr. Adam Bair, one of my favorite colleagues who graduated with me. We were... Continue Reading →
One of my favorite scholars to read and to talk with in the field of technical and professional communication is Brenton D. Faber. I used his article on what it means to be “professional” communication for my first major publication, and for my dissertation, which focuses on women’s agency within large organizations, I used his book Community... Continue Reading →
From July of 2013 to August of 2015, I worked in a history library as an intern for a remarkable scholar who has become one of my dearest friends. Her name is Jenny, and she is fighting leukemia again. I don’t want to focus on her illness, however. I want to focus on her influence... Continue Reading →
I've had a secret blog for the last few years. It has been focused on what I'm studying in my Technical Communication and Rhetoric Ph.D. program. The posts on that site helped me to study for and write my comprehensive exams last year, and I use it frequently to revisit the scholarship and conversations surrounding... Continue Reading →
The Bookshelf of Emily J. 