Published December 14, 2023 by

Fall Quarter 2023

CONTENTS:
  • Faculty Spotlight
  • Teaching Circles

 

Faculty Spotlight

The PDC wanted to spotlight some of our newer Writing Program faculty! We’re so glad to have you as part of the program! 

Headshot of Dev Bose, smiling in front of greenery.

Dev Kumar Bose 

When did you start teaching for the Writing Program?

Fall 2023

Have you taught at/do you teach for any other programs here at UCSC besides Writing? For any programs outside of UCSC? 

Currently I’m only teaching here for the UCSC WP (as well as serving on many interesting projects, such as the writing minor) after working in writing program administration at University of Arizona for 9 years. I have also taught professional/technical writing and communication at Iowa State University and Clemson University, as well as dedicated time to teaching first-year writing at community colleges across the country.

What do you like to do outside of teaching?

Outside of teaching, I enjoy hiking, reading, and cooking. I’m also working on a couple writing projects on disability and writing, including a soon-to-be published book by the National Council of Teachers of English.

Any fun facts about yourself? 

I am the proud owner of several instruments, including a 6-string bass, a 5-string bass, and a didgeridoo. I’m not as well practiced as I would like to be, however.

Do you have any human, fur, or plant babies? If so, tell us a little about them.

My son is currently in first grade and adjusting well to life in a new city. The beach certainly helps! While my dog recently passed away at the ripe age of 18, my partner and I recently began fostering a kitten. We don’t see any beach trips for her in the future, however!

Headshot of Daniel Joesten standing in front of a castle.

Daniel Joesten

When did you start teaching for the Writing Program?

Fall 2018 as a GSI, Fall 2023 as a Lecturer

Have you taught at/do you teach for any other programs here at UCSC besides Writing? For any programs outside of UCSC? 

I have taught a world history summer course at UCSC in the past. Since Fall 2022 I have been teaching history at Monterey Peninsula College (World History, Western Civilizations, and U.S. History).

What do you like to do outside of teaching?

I enjoy listening to and creating music (piano, guitar, and bass). I also like to garden, though space is limited in my backyard. I recently resurrected a couple of sad looking crepe myrtle trees by adding some good old fashioned nutrients to the soil. I love playing video games when I have the time. The Legend of Zelda series is by far my favorite. I also like to jog on the wetland trails behind my house in Watsonville.

Any fun facts about yourself? 

I have been to six world capitals (London, Dublin, Belfast, Paris, Ottawa, and San Jose, Costa Rica) but never Washington D.C. I don’t know how fun that is, but I sort of think it’s interesting. 🙂

Do you have any human, fur, or plant babies? If so, tell us a little about them.

Yes! I have a son, Henry (11 years old), who loves to collect plushies and make gingerbread cookies no matter what time of year it is. I have a daughter, Emma (8 years old) who loves to sing rock music and went to her first rock concert at the age of 6. I also have two cats. Allie is the oldest and spends half the day outside in the backyard catching mice. Luigi is still a kitten(ish) and is more like a dog than any cat I have ever met. I have too many plant babies to count, though my favorite is my Japanese maple.

Image of Alexandra McCourt smiling in between a younger girl and a taller man.

Alexandra M. McCourt

When did you start teaching for the Writing Program?

Fall 2023

Have you taught at/do you teach for any other programs here at UCSC besides Writing? For any programs outside of UCSC? 

I have taught at North Carolina State University and Durham Technical Community College.

What do you like to do outside of teaching?

I like to make my own wine and watch Grey’s Anatomy (sometimes at the same time).

Any fun facts about yourself? 

I can speak Portuguese, French, and Spanish.

Do you have any human, fur, or plant babies? If so, tell us a little about them.

I have a human baby ☺️. Her name is Eduarda, she is 11, and she LOVES candy and Billie Eilish. I have a dog named Dean Winchester and I have three avocado trees that are growing 🥰.

Image of Don Miller , wearing a denim shirt and backpack and standing in front of the ocean.

Don Miller

When did you start teaching for the Writing Program?

Fall 2023 (though I did teach WRIT 26 in Fall/Winter of 2016/7)

Have you taught at/do you teach for any other programs here at UCSC besides Writing? For any programs outside of UCSC? 

I also teach courses in Languages and Applied Linguistics (primarily courses toward our TESOL certificate).

What do you like to do outside of teaching?

Hiking/backpacking, trail running, cycling, gardening, photography…

Any fun facts about yourself? 

I’ve been tattooed in the traditional Samoan way–ink made from candle nut soot tapped into the skin with a boar’s tusk.

Do you have any human, fur, or plant babies? If so, tell us a little about them.

We’ve got two cats. 5-yr-old siblings named Huck and Meimei.

Headshot of Daniel Pearce next to a window.

Daniel Pearce

When did you start teaching for the Writing Program?

Winter 2020 (eek!)

Have you taught at/do you teach for any other programs here at UCSC besides Writing? For any programs outside of UCSC? 

Kresge, and before that I taught at Columbia and San Quentin State Prison.

What do you like to do outside of teaching?

Write and play music!

Any fun facts about yourself? 

I play the drums 🙂

Do you have any human, fur, or plant babies? If so, tell us a little about them.

I have a dog Rudy, an adorable chihuahua–terrier–aussie mix—he often sits in my lap during Zooms and will pop his head up to say hi to my interlocutors.

Image of Kate Ross standing on a beach.

Kate Ross

When did you start teaching for the Writing Program?

Spring 2022 (lecturer); I taught Winter & Spring 2019, and Winter 2020 as a GSI.

Have you taught at/do you teach for any other programs here at UCSC besides Writing? For any programs outside of UCSC? 

I also teach at Rachel Carson. 

What do you like to do outside of teaching?

Hiking/backpacking, cooking, reading, cards.

 

Teaching Circles

This fall, the PDC once again facilitated the opportunity for Writing Program Faculty to join a teaching circle. In teaching circles, faculty with similar teaching schedules and modalities are paired so that they can informally talk about teaching–successes, problems, strategies, assignments…. Faculty are encouraged, but not required, to take the opportunity to visit one another’s classrooms (or Canvas sites) in a non-evaluative, low-stakes visit. Past participants have spoken of the positive impact of these connections.

We encourage you all to join a teaching circle in the Winter or Spring Quarter. It’s a low stakes, low commitment way to feel connected and get support in this challenging time of teaching. 

Plus, teaching circles are something to add to your Biobib. We’ll send you a certificate when you’ve completed one. 

Look for an email in the Winter to sign-up for a teaching circle! 

 

 

 

 

 

Announcements

Published March 1, 2023 by

March 3 – Rothman Award in First-Year Writing Ceremony

Announcements

Published February 27, 2023 by

Open Pedagogy Workshop (Teaching Circle Follow-up)

SAVE THE DATE!

WHEN: Thursday Mar 16, 2023, 11:40-1:15 via Zoom

WHAT: “Open Pedagogy Workshop”

All Writing Program faculty are invited to participate in this pedagogy workshop–which is designed in conjunction with the PDC’s Teaching Circle–regardless of whether or not you’ve participated in the Fall ‘22 and/or Winter ‘23 rounds of the Teaching Circle. We encourage everyone to attend; it’s a chance to come and talk informally about teaching!

WHY: Because it is clear that as a department, we relish opportunities to informally and casually discuss approaches and strategies to teaching that can enrich both our students’ experiences and ours. Because we need these opportunities to talk through our teaching, and the Writing Program is supporting us to do so with time set aside for workshop…so, please join us!

***the PDC is soliciting recommendations for a portion of the workshop that will offer breakout rooms with areas of focus based on pedagogical needs and interests. Please email Dina and Steve (deldesso@ucsc.edu and sjcoulte@ucsc.edu) with anything related to pedagogy that you’re eager to discuss.

Announcements

Published December 1, 2022 by

PDC Blog Fall 2022: New Colleagues, WP Mini-Conference, and Teaching Circles

Introducing: Joseph Navarro and Fiona Weigant

Here’s an introduction to the two newest members of the Writing Program, who have been with us since the start of the 2022-03 academic year.

Joseph Navarro – Lecturer

I am excited to return to UCSC and continue my service to this community. I view teaching writing and literacy as an opportunity to change the world. This approach provides me with a strong sense of purpose in my labor. I am working on my dissertation for a PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. My research and pedagogy are rooted in anti-racism and critical pedagogy. I wish that I had more time to spend with my partner (Ryah), two cats (Ezekiel, Comrade) and two dogs (Haruki, Miercoles). I also wish I had more time to read and write for myself.

Fiona Weigant – Writing Program Manager

​​I grew up in Dublin, Ireland and spent a decade living in Paris, France. I have now lived longer in Santa Cruz than anywhere else. I was a junior transfer student from Cabrillo College where I took the required writing courses. I graduated from UCSC with a BA in History and a minor in Legal Studies. I have 21 years of experience across multiple units and roles at UCSC. I am excited to bring my expertise and institutional knowledge to the Writing Program. I am a fierce advocate for our campus communities and currently serve on the Undergraduate Academic Advising Council. I am looking forward to getting to know the writing program community and learning how best to serve the program and our students.

Fun Fact: I don’t speak Irish but I do speak French 🙂

Save the Date!

The Second-Annual Writing Program Mini-Conference: April 20 and 21, 2023 

Image of dark wood library shelves filled with books that curve around the second-floor of a rotundaLast spring, the PDC organized our first annual Writing Program mini-conference, in which some of our WP faculty shared “recycled” or upcoming writing-related talks or presentations. This was a wonderful opportunity for our colleagues to share and learn from each other!

We are looking forward to our second-annual Writing Program mini-conference this spring quarter. More information below:

WHAT: 

  • If you are presenting at an upcoming conference (CCC, Young Rhetoricians, NTCE, etc), have given a paper/presentation on campus or at a conference in the last few years, or if you have been or are working on a publication, we invite you to present at the conference!
  • This year, we look forward to expanding the mini-conference to multiple genre-based panels:
    • Writing Pedagogy/General Pedagogy
    • Creative Writing
    • Independent Research
    • Journalism
    • Other
  • As previously, there will be time for discussion at the end of each panel. For non-pedagogy presentations, we will be asking you to reflect on how your writing/work/research helps inform or impacts your teaching of writing.

WHEN: 

  • Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21, 2023
  • Times TBD

WHERE: 

WHO:

  • All Writing Program faculty, staff, and GSIs!
  • We encourage all of you to consider presenting a piece of your past (or upcoming) writing/talk in a low-pressure environment. Presenters do not need to edit their presentations; presenters can begin by providing context for the presentation’s original/intended audience if needed.

WHY: 

  • We all do a lot of great work, but sometimes, we don’t get to share it with each other. This is a chance to share what we’re doing in a very low effort (but Biobib-able) free event.

Teaching Circles: Staying Connected

One recurring theme in our discussions in the Pedagogical Development Committee has been how we often feel isolated from other faculty members in the program. Our offices are scattered throughout the campus, and many faculty members are now working from home. We have so few chances to “talk shop” and find out what is happening in the classrooms of other faculty.

A few years ago, a group of faculty came together to form an unofficial group called the Faculty Learning Community. We visited each other’s classrooms, chatted afterwards, and met occasionally as a full group for discussion and informal presentations from members on innovative pedagogical strategies they were developing.

The PDC has taken on the initiative this quarter to re-establish a similar program. We began by taking a survey among faculty to gauge interest in the process. Those who responded positively were paired up with other instructors at convenient times and locations. Online instructors were paired with others working in the same modality. Classroom visits, whether online or in-person, were intended to be non-evaluative and not involve critique or unsolicited suggestions. Faculty would have the opportunity to sit in the back of the class, check out what was going on, and then afterwards have a brief chat to ask questions and talk about any new ideas for teaching.

We have matched up four in-person pairs and six online pairs. We have not yet collected any data on who had a chance to meet or how it went. Some of the in-person class visits have undoubtedly been derailed by the strike, but we are excited to continue the process over next quarter. We will send out another survey to see who was able to meet and to match up new pairs based on our Winter teaching schedules.

We also plan to schedule an optional online meeting at the beginning of Winter quarter to informally discuss what was learned from classroom visits, questions we have about our own pedagogy, or any other issues we are facing in the Writing Program. We are hoping you will see this as a low-stress opportunity to “talk shop,” get to know each other a little better, and see what’s happening in the classroom down the hall (or online).
Clip art image of 6 people sitting around a circular table, drinking coffee, and working on computers and in notebooks

Announcements Faculty Spotlight

Published November 18, 2022 by

Fall 2022: Resource Round-Up

As we head into the end of Fall term, we’ve put together a collection of resources from our Fall faculty meetings, including how to connect with Slug Support, Writing Program tutoring, and more.

At the Writing Program’s Nov. 8th faculty meeting, the Slug Support team answered faculty questions and presented ways we can leverage their resources to help students in need of their support. Here’s a rundown of some of the resources they shared and ways to get in touch.

Slug Support: Quicklinks

  • Points of Contact:
    • Slug Support website
    • Email: deanofstudents@ucsc.edu
    • Phone: 831-459-4446 (Monday thru Friday 9am-5pm)
    • Crisis Line: 831-459-7003
    • Instagram: @ucsc_dos
      *If getting in touch on a student’s behalf, Slug Support recommends including student name, ID, and a short description of concerns, barriers, needs, and questions

Writing Program Tutoring and Assistance

Here is the link to the Writing Program tutoring and writing assistance website! They offer embedded and drop-in tutoring for students in Writing Program courses. At this site, you can:

If you have questions, you can reach out here.

Teaching with the DTEN: A How-to Guide

During our last faculty meeting, the Online Education Committee shared resources regarding a valuable classroom teaching tool: the DTEN. These include an “Introduction to the DTEN” that covers step-by-step basics, including how to set up the DTEN machine in your classroom, how to reserve a room with a DTEN, some of the beneficial pedagogical features of the DTEN, and additional campus resources for this innovative teaching tool.

You can find the Online Education Committee’s “How-To Guide” here.

Announcements

Published November 15, 2022 by

Rothman Award Winners 2021-2022

This year we’ll be holding the Don Rothman Awards Ceremony for Excellence in First-Year Writing during the Winter quarter. We read dozens of amazing submissions this year, a testament to the excellent work of students and faculty in WP courses. We’ll share more details soon about the ceremony itself, but for now, we’re excited to share the finalists for the 2021-2022 academic year:

First Place: Camille Vergely, “Growing Up on a Dying Planet”

Second Place: Joy Malak, “Lesbian Community: Confusion or Connection?”

Third Place: Camille Lagunera, “From Splendor in the Grass to Sexploitation: The Sex Revolution of the 1960s in American Cinema”

Honorable Mention: Julia Spilman, “Aphantasia: An Unusual Blindness”

Congratulations to the winners and their instructors!

Announcements

Published June 9, 2022 by

End-of-Year Message from the PDC

So much has happened during the 2021-22 Academic Year! It’s been inspiring to see all the ways we’ve come together in the Writing Program to support each other throughout this year’s unique challenges. In the Pedagogical Development Committee, we’re really excited about some of the projects we began this year.

In the fall, PDC launched a new blog version of The Rhetorical Situation, with the goal of creating a more accessible format and featuring a variety of content for WP faculty. We look forward to continuing to develop this resource for WP, and we hope it will be a way to amplify faculty voices, stimulate discussion, and collaborate with one another. 

In the winter, PDC hosted our first WP “mini-conference,” in which some of our faculty presented recycled work from other conferences or contexts. (Presentation materials linked here.) It was a wonderful opportunity for our colleagues to share and learn from each other, and we intend to make this an annual event. Please stay tuned for more about next year’s conference. 

Throughout the year, we’ve been gauging faculty interest in establishing teaching circles to foster more collaboration and discussion among our colleagues. And this spring, we’ve begun making steps toward this goal for next year. The diagram below shows the results from our most recent survey. 

A circle diagram shows that 35% responded that they would be interested in joining a circle, 55% that they may be interested, and 10% said they they would not be interested. 20 people responded.

We’re excited to continue finding ways to connect with each other and support pedagogical growth in the Writing Program, and wish you all a wonderful summer!

Best,

PDC Committee

Lisa Schilz, chair

Steve Coulter

Madeline Lane-McKinley

Kate McQueen

Announcements

Published June 9, 2022 by

Conference Round-Up

With your help, the PDC has rounded up a list of conferences and workshops we as a faculty have loved in the past….

Instruction-focused Conferences

Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC)

What: The Conference on College Composition and Communication is committed to supporting the agency, power, and potential of diverse communicators inside and outside of the postsecondary classroom.

For: Scholars and teachers of composition

When: The 2023 annual convention on the theme “Doing Hope in Desperate Times” will be held February 15-18, 2023 in Chicago, IL.

ESCALA Educational Services

What: ESCALA is a consortium of higher education consultants based in the U.S. Southwest who are committed personally and professionally to increasing the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students in higher education. It works specifically with Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to close the gap in educational access and completion rates for Latinos, mainly through faculty development programming and remedial program evaluation.

For: teachers interested in developing culturally responsive teaching to benefit Latinx students

When: ESCALA’s Faculty Summer Institute on Teaching & Learning in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) offers multi-day programming; dates and info for 2023 are still TBD.

The Institute for Writing and Thinking 

What:The Bard College Institute for Writing and Thinking seeks to enrich learning in all disciplines through collaborative writing practices. Their July weeklong workshops help teachers deepen their understanding of writing-based teaching, its theory and practices, and its application in the classroom.

For: Teachers of writing

When: The next round of workshops will be held July 10-15, 2022

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

What: The National Council of Teachers of English is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.

For: Teachers of English/composition

When: The 2022 conference will be held November 17-20, 2022, in Anaheim, CA. No info yet on the 2023 conference.

Online Writing Instruction Symposium

What: The Online Writing Instruction Community is an academic resource that provides a sense of community for online writing instructors around the globe and that encourages the use of recent online writing instruction (OWI) scholarship, the sharing of assignments, feedback, and course design ideas. 

For: online writing teachers

When: Symposia were held in August and September of 2020 and 2021. No info currently available on the website about 2022 or 2023 dates. 

Young Rhetoricians Conference

What: This is a college composition conference and retreat held historically in Monterey, California.

For: College composition teachers

When: The current conference will be held virtually June 16-18, 2022. No dates have been announced for 2023, but it looks like this conference tends to take place in mid-June.

 

Linguistics and Other Genre-based Writing Conferences 

International Association for Literary Journalism Studies 

What: IALJS is a multi-disciplinary learned society whose essential purpose is the encouragement and improvement of scholarly research and education in literary journalism (or literary reportage).

For: Scholars, teachers and practitioners of literary journalism

When: The date of the 2023 conference has not yet been posted but this conference usually takes place the second week of May. 

Note: this conference is a great resource if you are interested in adding reported work to syllabi and or want to teach the art and craft of reported storytelling across genres. It’s an inviting place for first-time presenters.

Investigative Reporters and Editors  

What: Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting. IRE was formed to create a forum in which journalists throughout the world could help each other by sharing story ideas, newsgathering techniques and news sources.

For: teachers interested in learning to scrape data and use spreadsheets for reported stories

When: IRE has ongoing virtual and in person workshops, boot camps and two annual conferences. See their website for more information.

Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference

What: This is an annual conference hosted by the University of North Texas’ journalism department.

For: teachers, students, and practitioners of literary nonfiction

When: The next conference is October 28-29, 2022, in Dallas, TX, on the theme “Diary of a Storyteller: Crafting Words that Matter”

​​New Ways of Analyzing Variation

What NWAV is a yearly conference for the presentation and discussion of new research on sociolinguistic variation

For: anyone interested in sociolinguistics/language variation

When: The 2022 conference will be held at the Department of Linguistics, Stanford University, from October 13-15, 2022. 

Note: NWAV is at Stanford this fall, so it’s highly recommended to anyone is interested in sociolinguistics/language variation

 Society for Professional Journalists MediaFest

What: MediaFest is a journalism convention, bringing together professional journalists, student journalists and college media advisers from every area of journalism, from across the country.

For: teachers, students, and practitioners of journalism

When: MediaFest22 will be held October 27-30, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

Announcements

Published January 24, 2022 by

WP Mini-Conference on March 4th!

♲ An Invitation from the Professional Development Committee (PDC) ♲

Writing Program Mini-Conference: Recycled Papers (PDF version)

March 4, 2022 (on Zoom)

WHAT: If you are presenting at CCCC in 2022, or if you gave a writing-related talk/presentation in the last few years, please participate in the Writing Program Mini-Conference! We invite recent-ish presentations/papers, such as those from CCCC, Young Rhetoricians, campus presentations focused on writing, etc. There will be time for discussion. 

WHEN: Our plan is to start at 10am on March 4, and we’ll determine the end-time when we see how many folks want to participate. We’ll send a schedule, and like a regular conference, folks are welcome to come to some talks/presentations and not others. 

WHY: We all do a lot of great work, but sometimes, we don’t get to share it with each other. This is a chance to share what we’re doing in a very low effort (but Biobib-able) free event. For this mini-conference, presenters do not need to edit their presentations – presenters can begin by providing context for the presentation’s original/intended audience if needed.

HOW: If you have an existing presentation to share with your colleagues, please complete this Google Form, which asks for: 

  • the presentation/talk title
  • a very short description of presentation/talk 
  • the original/intended audience and year 
  • presentation/talk length 
  • availability on March 4 

ACCESS: We welcome active and passive participation from audience members. If you are presenting, prepare to share your notes, outline, and/or text of your talk. Also, prepare to share links to slides or handouts. If you need accommodations for this event, please contact avidali@ucsc.edu with what you need. (Disclosing why you need this accommodation is not required.)

This is a single frame of the Head and Heart comic, which features a brightly drawn brain (with arms and legs) and heart (with arms, legs, eyes). The brain says, "I have a confession...Sometimes I avoid learning new things because I'm so afraid of acknowledging how little I really know. Heart says, "I also have a confession...I am super awesome and I couldn't be less awesome if I tried..."

Announcements

Published December 3, 2021 by

Welcome to the Rhetorical Situation!

This says WELCOME in yellow, with yellow lines above and below.

 

Welcome to the newest iteration of The Rhetorical Situation!

The Rhetorical Situation began as a newsletter in winter 2018. The then-newly-formed Pedagogical Development Committee, under the leadership of Denise Silva, envisioned pooling Writing Program faculty’s talents and experiences to create a water cooler space for checking in with each other. This space emerged as The Rhetorical Situation newsletter, which the PDC has continued producing since then. 

This year’s committee has transformed The Rhetorical Situation into a blog. This blog also contains the information from our previous PDC website. This transformation moves things out of our overflowing inboxes and provides a centralized location for diverse resources.

The Rhetorical Situation blog will be a continuation and extension of the tradition and goals of past PDC committees. We envision this blog as a common space to digitally come together and communicate with each other.

We will be updating the blog throughout the academic year and look forward to sharing faculty accomplishments, workshop dates, pedagogical material, and much more. We’re hoping that this blog evolves over time to become a source of community for the program, featuring submissions from any faculty interested in sharing. Please contact us if you would like to contribute at any point. 

We hope you enjoy and find this site helpful. 

Best,

The 2021-2022 PDC Committee

Lisa Schilz (chair), Steve Coulter, Madeline Lane-McKinley, Kate McQueen, and Amy Vidali

This is a screen-capture of a five person Zoom call. The first person is a white woman smiling and wearing a knit hat in a cabin; the second is a white woman with long brown hair against a sunset background, the third is a white man wearing a hate and glasses is a well-lit room, the fourth is a white woman wearing a Zoom filter red beret, the fifth is a brightly-smiling white woman with wavy blond hair with books behind.

Announcements