Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

The Flight Attendants Of Academia: Liminality, Emotional Labor, And Feminization In Graduate Student Writing Program Administrators, Laura Vidal Chiesa

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Writing Program Administration (WPA) is an interdisciplinary field that addresses the management and development of writing programs in educational institutions. WPA entails writing instruction pedagogy, curriculum design, assessment, and faculty development pertaining to the teaching of writing. Graduate students in Humanities and English-based programs typically fill this position which can offer a career trajectory. However, the position is often experienced as demanding, unrewarding and does not deliver on the career-enhancing experience it seems to promise. Historically, this is unsurprising given that the position has been a subordinated role occupied by women in composition. And yet, the troubles besetting contemporary graduate …

The Association Of Vitamin D, Bone Mineral Density, And Injuries Among Acrobatics And Tumbling Athletes, K Lee, A Gallucci, J Forsse, L Cherpe De Souza, L Irvin, E Boyer, L Funderburk

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Introduction: Acrobatics and Tumbling (A&T) is an emerging sport incorporating various elements of gymnastics and competitive cheerleading. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the sport presents with high injury rates potentially due to the high impact nature of the activity. Due to the potential aesthetic sport related concerns, bone mineral density and risk of injury presents a concern for patients, athletic trainers and stakeholders. Increased understanding of the relationship between bone mineral density, serum vitamin D status, and injury incidence in A&T may be useful to athletic trainers, registered dietitians, and others working with these athletes. The objective of this study was …

The Influences Of The Religious Tradition Of Ramadan On Dietary Intake And Body Composition In Adolescent Athletes: An Evidence-To-Practice Review, Regina A. Duncan, Shannon E. Ryan, Erin M. Watlington, Nancy A. Uriegas, Zachary K. Winkelmann

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

When participating in the religious tradition of Ramadan, the body is subject to changes that adjust an athlete's regimented dietary intake. The guiding systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to gather the results of the limited research on the effect of Ramadan observance on body mass, body composition, and dietary intake in adolescent athletes. Data were extracted from two different databases, and a search through several journals exploring body mass and/or body composition and/or dietary intake was conducted. The methodological quality of each study was assessed via QualSyst. No significant differences were found when comparing the body mass, body composition, …

Bibliography, Jane Fife

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Jane Fife.

In Whitman's Wake, Kacie Megan Fodness

Dissertations and Theses

In Whitman’s Wake argues that nineteenth-century American writing includes a living invitation for its future readers. The kind of invitational writing prioritized in this work has not yet been fully accounted for in literary criticism. What’s more, even when we as readers have experienced such an invitation (one we feel is for us) we have not followed the feeling far enough. As a result, scholarship has largely neglected, and perhaps has consciously rejected, the intentional action of a writer that creates an encounter with their future reader. My project contributes to the ongoing critical conversation around the relationship of readers …

Teaching The Past To Protect The Future: Degenerate Art As A Modern-Day Cultural Warning, Cheryl Hogue Smith

Publications and Research

This chapter outlines how students who previously weren’t paying attention to the rampant antisemitism and racism embedded within American culture and systems see how the 20th century Degenerate Art Exhibition acts as a lesson against a racial nationalism that is attempting to take over the country.

Time As A “Built-In Headwind”: The Disparate Impact Of Portfolio Cross-Assessment On Black Tyc Students, Annie M. Del Principe

Publications and Research

This study of a departmental portfolio cross-assessment practice sheds light on factors that appear to influence assessment outcomes for Black students and helps to tease out some of the reasons why this assessment ecosystem has a disparate impact on these students. The findings, drawn from student outcomes data and student survey data, suggest that it isn’t only, or even primarily, Black students’ linguistic variety that leads to higher failure rates. The writing qualities most commonly flagged on Black students’ failing portfolios are likely related to the very different material conditions in which they write their papers. These conditions challenge the …

The Rhetorical Art Of Risk Assessment: Lessons From Risk Management In Rural And Tribal Communities, John L. Velat

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Risk assessment, mitigation, and communication rely on data from multiple sources to form a complete understanding of hazards and how to manage them. Experts can use these data to make informed decisions about the nature and extent of risks and inform the public to protect health, the environment, and economic welfare. However, in an effort to objectively make decisions, technical experts and policymakers increasingly rely on quantitative data as the most important determiner of risk, which can alienate the public, limit risk understanding, and delay or miss obvious signals of impending catastrophe. I examine several cases based on my experiences …

Robert Watson’S Lectures At St. Andrews: Logic, Rhetoric And Metaphysics, Rosaleen Greene-Smith Keefe

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines the contributions to rhetoric of Robert Watson (1730?-1781), Professor of Logic, Rhetoric, and Metaphysics at the University of St. Andrews from
1756-1778, and Principal from 1778-1781, based on surviving manuscript sources at St Andrews, and demonstrates the philosophic diversity in rhetorical theory at this time, showing differences among the Scottish literati on the epistemology of language and the origin of grammar, identifying some contrasts and connections between Watson and his near contemporaries Adam Smith, Hugh Blair, and George Campbell, and suggesting his distinctive place in the development of 18th century rhetoric and the history of English studies.

Rhetoric And Affect In Undergraduate Research: A Diary Study, Kristine Johnson, J. Michael Rifenburg

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

In this article, we examine undergraduate research as a site of rhetorical development by listening to undergraduate researchers narrate and reflect upon their work as it unfolds. We draw from diary entries and follow-up interviews with eighteen undergraduate researchers at two different institutions, analyzing the rhetorical and affective elements of undergraduate research. Connecting undergraduate research with the concept of meaningful writing, we conclude by offering recommendations for teachers, mentors, and administrators.

Situating Heirloom Presence Within The Family Narrative: That Is/Was Then, This Is/Was Now, Rachel Savorelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Intramundane objects often become “intergenerational transfers of contaminated objects,” commonly known as heirlooms (Belk 151; Heisley and Cours 425; Holmes). Rather than priceless possessions, heirlooms are mostly ordinary objects, such as photographs and gardening tools. Regardless of rarity or monetary value, as familial artifacts, heirlooms compel an ethic of responsibility. For this project, the term “heirlooming” is a performance of communicative practices of story-telling, ritualizing, and kin-keeping that contribute to heirloom preservation and continuation. A narrative ethics background structures family communication to both make meaning and make sense of ongoing and changing practices across generations. Heirlooms situated within family narratives …

Spatial Metaphors In Introductory Statements Of Humanities And Stem Disciplines: A Study Of English And Mechanical Engineering Departments, Olalekan T. Adepoju

Publications and Research

Advances in higher education, specifically in science and technology, have engendered a significant shift of interest from a mainly liberal arts curriculum to STEM-related fields of study, creating a rift in the value systems undergirding the two academic domains. One of the ways the disciplinary disparity is institutionally expressed is through the language used in describing the core values of these disciplines, specifically in the introductory statements of departments. Using the lens of spatial metaphor to consider how the language expresses distinct realities that align with the public perceptions of the disciplines, this paper examines the metaphorical framings in the …

Future Climate Rhetorics Of Belize: A Counter-Apocalyptic Inquiry Into Belize’S Possible, Probable, And Preferable Futures, André Habet

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation investigates future climate rhetorics of Belize through a variety of methods in order to mediate the various conceptions of the future professed in climate policy, experiential phenomenology, and acoustic ecologies of agroecology. Chapter one considers the values embedded in climate change policy documents, specifically the Nation Communications documents composed by Belize’s various ministries since the country signed to the Paris Agreement in 2016. Using the People’s Agreement of Cochamba as an alternative lens, the chapter explores how people-centered, as opposed to market-centered, attunements informing climate policy can potentially lead to a more just, equitable future that does not …

Developing A Corequisite Writing Textbook: How Two Novices Handled The Complex Nature Of Open Textbook Production, Dawn Atkinson, Stacey Corbitt

Writing

Despite the growing body of scholarship focused on Open Educational Resources (OERs), studies tracking open textbook production are exceedingly rare. To gain insight into the complexities associated with open textbook development, this article’s authors used concurrent verbalisation and pre- and post-concurrent verbalisation interviews to document writing episodes while composing their first coursebook, an open-source text designed for corequisite course pairings of writing fundamentals and introduction to technical writing. Corequisite classes combine content-area instruction with explicit skill-building opportunities, and although commercial publishing houses do produce corequisite textbooks for traditional general education courses, the authors were impelled by the need to create …

Reconnecting With The Truth: Conspiracies, Perspective Taking, And Misinformation, Scott Sellnow-Richmond, Mili Pinski

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

“I’ve done my research.” Misinformation has become a prevalent topic in communication courses, particularly those focused on argumentation, public speaking, or even interpersonal and family communication. Students thus benefit from adapting public speaking-focused assignments to illuminate how to understand - and thus combat- disinformation in their own lives. This assignment works toward this goal in two stages, allowing students to argue not just against misinformation and conspiracies, but also to argue for them as an act of empathy and understanding. The applied nature of this exercise also empowers instructors with a way to concretely address this issue in the classroom. …

“People Don’T Always Show Up The Way You Want Them To”: Utilizing The Hunger Games To Differentiate Between Persuasion, Coercion, Propaganda, And Manipulation, Nancy Bressler

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

The ability to define and conceptualize persuasion and its nuances without engaging in coercion, propaganda, and/or manipulation can be difficult for students at first. This activity centralizes the fine points among these persuasive concepts. Students also recognize the role of their audience in the persuasive messages that they create. Rather than only having a conversation about the common characteristics of these terms and how they differ, students can observe them within the fictional movie The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Lawrence, 2014). After discussing these ideas with their classmates, students then apply what they have learned by creating persuasive messages …

Front Matter

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Daca On Education & Employment And The Need For A Permanent Solution, Autumn Roemer

Honors Theses

On June 15, 2012 the Department of Homeland Security announced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an executive order from the President Barack Obama Administration, providing relief for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. when they were children. The move followed decades of litigation and failed actions in Congress, such as the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, attempting to address the group, known as DREAMers. DACA itself has also faced numerous challenges concerning its legality and application, the most recent of which have declared the program illegal, resulting in a halt on new applications and …

John O'Malley As A Guide For Eloquentia Perfecta, Community-Engaged Work, And Graduate Education, Allen Brizee, Stephanie Hurter Brizee, Colten Biro, Meha Gupta

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

John O’Malley, S.J., was primarily a Jesuit and Catholic historian. But to scholars in writing studies, his work is illuminative due to his rhetorical analysis of church documents and his discussion of eloquentia perfecta when examining Jesuit education. More recently, in works like “’Not for Ourselves Alone,” he stresses the importance of Jesuit education focusing on the betterment of others inside and outside of the academy. During an interview conducted four months before his death, O’Malley restated the necessity of Jesuit education including writing and vita activa, that is, active civic life. In this article, we pay tribute to …

Toward A More Humane Public Policy: How The Humanities Can, And Should, Inform The Creation And Analysis Of Public Policy, Eric Celler

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

This capstone investigates how the methodologies of the humanities can inform the creation and analysis of public policy. Since the mid-twentieth century, public policy has increasingly turned away from humanistic questions and toward technical questions. The result has been a public policy regime that focuses too much on manipulable variables and not on the humans that the policies are impacting. By applying humanistic methodologies to public policy, we are more likely to appreciate the inarticulable elements of human social organization and therefore devise public policy that is less harmful and more humble.

Feedback Conversations: An Activity To Initiate Instructor-Student Dialogues About Writing Development, Sarah M. Lacy

Journal of Response to Writing

In this essay I discuss the pedagogical implications of a classroom activity in which students work reflectively with instructor feedback provided to their writing. Using the comments feature in Google Docs, these “Feedback Conversations” create a dialogue between student and instructor using feedback as the exigence for collaboration in developing a student’s writing process. This activity addresses the work of Anthony Edgington (2020) and Pamela Gay (1998), by offering an exercise which allows instructors to remain reflective on their feedback practices, while also instigating a “conversation” between student and instructor. By offering a virtual space to house this conversational exercise, …

Feedback Practices In Hybrid Writing Courses: Instructor Choices About Modality And Timing, Ariel M. Goldenthal, Jessica Matthews, Courtney Adams Wooten, Brian Fitzpatrick, Lourdes Fernandez

Journal of Response to Writing

Despite a wealth of research on feedback practices in synchronous and asynchronous courses, little has been done to investigate such practices in hybrid writing pedagogy. How do instructors make choices about providing feedback when both instructional modes are operating in a course?

A qualitative study conducted with fourteen instructors who teach hybrid writing courses at a large state university reveals how they navigate a series of choices about providing feedback on student writing. This study shows that instructional modality, use of the LMS, and labor conditions influence the decisions instructors make about how and when to provide feedback, especially on …

Framing Contexts And Immersion: The Functionality Of Trpg Frames In Dimension 20’S Fantasy High Series, Lyndsey Clark

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This paper uses a form of rhetorical criticism known as frame analysis to analyze the perspective frames within the context of tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs). The three frames of interest in this study include the person frame, the player frame, and the character frame. These frames are used to contextualize certain person, player, and character interactions and immersion contexts within the first season of Dimension 20’s actual play podcast, Fantasy High. Through these three frames, we can see the breakdown of the person, player, and character mindset, as well as the overlap of thought, emotions, and ideas between …

An Inclusive Framework For Ministry: Fostering The Spiritual Formation Of Children In A Multicultural Church, Jennifer Reinsch Schroeder

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project thesis was designed to foster the spiritual formation of children in a multicultural church. A diverse team was assembled to design a curriculum to be used with volunteers in a children’s ministry context. Through seven two-hour sessions held over eight weeks in the spring of 2022, the curriculum development team first examined what it means to embody a multicultural perspective of the gospel while at the same time investigating the negative impact of a White, Eurocentric expression of Christianity. Next, they collaborated to develop a theological construct that centered around (1) the idea of being created in the …

Esl To Composition Transitions: Investigating The Differences In Disciplinary Values Among Two-Year College Faculty, Amy M. Flessert

English Theses & Dissertations

In this qualitative methods study, I draw on Paul Kei Matsuda’s 1999 article “Composition Studies and ESL Writing: A Disciplinary Division of Labor” to examine if, more than 20 years after its publication, there is still a significant disciplinary division between ESL writing and first-year college composition. I surveyed writing instructors from both ESL and ENG at Mid-Atlantic Community College (MACC) regarding what they value as “good” writing. I also worked with three faculty members – one in ENG, one in ESL, and a third who teaches in both departments, serving, in this study and the department, as a “bridge” …

Centering Community College Students' Experiences: A Multiple Methods Study Of Multiple Measures For Writing Placement, Nicole L. Hancock

English Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges are trying to reform their placement procedures from use of a single placement test score to a system that collects multiple measures to be used either as a replacement solitary measure or in conjunction with other measures for more accurate placement into writing courses than what occurred with the placement test, which often resulted in disparate impact for students of color. In this study of multiple measures placement assessment for writing courses, I critique several large studies of community college multiple measures assessment for the lack of a community college perspective. The studies largely supported use of high …

A Nexus Of Literate Activity: The Design Of Writing Assignments In The Disciplines, Lauriellen Stankavich

English Theses & Dissertations

Writing plays a critical role in higher education as students are inducted into disciplinary practices through different genres, methodological repertoires and argumentation strategies. In Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) initiatives, the instructor serves as an embodied reservoir of disciplinary knowledge and an arbiter of literate practices but most crucially employs the mediating capacities of the writing assignment as a potent pedagogical nexus. In this practice space, the instructor acts as designer of the pedagogical experience—the course as a whole and writing assignments in particular. This study used interviews, survey, and the collection of syllabi and other instructional artifacts to examine …

Natural History Of Discourse Of Missouri House Bill 1042: Bringing A Critical Perspective To Policy Engagement In Two-Year Contexts, Mary Casey Reid

English Theses & Dissertations

In this autoethnographically-infused natural history of discourse (NHD) (Silverstein and Urban, 1996; Slembrouck, 2001), I use methods from critical discourse studies (CDS) to trace 10 years of changes in “remediation” discourses within a corpus of texts associated with Missouri HB 1042, a piece of legislation passed in 2012 that requires higher education institutions to “replicate best practices in remediation” (CBHE, 2013). After providing national and state context related to HB 1042 and the discourses circulating within the HB 1042 corpus of texts, I describe what I call the “higher ed’s remediation problem” discourse, focusing on three discourse features that I …

Rhetorical Conversations: Race, Class, And Gender In The Works Of Jacqueline Jones Royster And Shirley Wilson Logan, Tanya Robertson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This project is an examination of Jacqueline Jones Royster and Shirley Wilson Logan as knowledge-makers in the field of rhetoric and composition. There is a large gap in research on the contemporary African American women scholars who act as knowledge makers of rhetorical theory and rhetorical pedagogy. There is circularity in the notion that as Royster and Logan examine the history of the fieldâ??African American rhetorical practices, feministic rhetorical practices, English language studies and literacy, and classroom practicesâ??they are, themselves, having an impact on the field.

Pursuing Personal And Professional Passions: A Final Master's Portfolio, Eileen Tse

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

As an English Language Arts teacher at the secondary level with some publishing experience looking to expand my professional writing repertoire, I sought to expand and transfer my knowledge and skills in rhetoric and technical writing in different realms of interests and areas of my life. The following is my final portfolio for the Master of Arts in English, fusing my various intellectual interests and professional pursuits. My first substantive project explores the technical communication that occurs in casual online spaces by exploring the documentation and interactions in an Animal Crossing: New Horizons Facebook fan group. The project blends my …