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

Faculty Accomplishments

The PDC wanted to highlight what our faculty was most excited about accomplishing this past year or this upcoming summer–conferences, publications, teaching awards, classes, hobbies, children’s or students’ achievements, etc. Thank you to those of you who responded!

“I consider it an accomplishment simply to have made it through this academic year.” 

— A common sentiment 

Small dog collapsed on what looks like a wood patio. Text says, "There's no tired like teacher tired."

Gail Brenner: Guiding/helping several of my W1E students who previously failed W1 or W1E to develop skills needed for passing-quality work this time around. Participating in a wider scope of WP involvement on WPPC, Leadership Committee and as Acting Chair of MLC. 

Steve Coulter: This summer I will be taking twenty UCSC students to Ireland for a 5-week Writing 2 course. I lived in Dingle, County Kerry, for about ten years, and on the occasion of returning, I have released a CD of Celtic harp music that I recorded in my studio there. You can listen to it here: https://stevecoulter.bandcamp.com/releases

​​Lara Galas: After this academic year, I am very much looking forward to getting back to the basics of mindfulness by practicing meditation, getting into nature, and creative writing. I also started a puzzle during spring break that I’d love to finish as a nice closing to this year. Finally, I am most excited about the collaborative work I did with the other members of the ELWR committee. I had such a lovely time getting to know and learning from faculty–who knew meetings could be so fun?! Happy summer everyone!

Joy Hagen: Star is graduating from UCSC with their degrees in Art: Games and Playable Media and Fine Arts! Spring 2022 marks my twentieth year working with the Writing Program. For myself this summer, I will make all the ribbon skirts I currently have planned (five!) and finally manage my first vacation break since the start of the pandemic (it’s remarkable how difficult it is to do these “for myself” things). 

Roxi Hamilton: My poetry book, The Songs that Objects Would Sing, was accepted for publication by Finishing Line Press for 2023.  I was awarded a Professional Development Fund grant for a trans-genre event I organized at the Philadelphia AWP.  My daughter, Emma, won an award in Biology at her high school.  And, for my family, just getting through the year feels like award enough.

Madeline Lane-McKinley: This year I published literary reviews and poetry in Boston Review and Protean Magazine, and in the fall my first book, Comedy Against Work, will come out from Common Notions Press. My kid started playing saxophone, and now reads an average of 2 cat fantasy novels per week. And this summer we’re going to Istanbul for a couple weeks to visit a friend. 

Phil Longo

Kate McQueen: This year I made strides in defining a new-ish area of specialization for me as a scholar: prison journalism. Three highlights: my book chapter on the Literary Journalism of the American Prison press coming out this summer in the anthology Literary Journalism and Social Justice, Journalism History published a short research essay of mine on the history of the American Penal Press Context, and  I was invited to introduce a new open-source digital archive of American Prison newspapers for JSTOR Daily.  I’m also excited to share that Prison Journalism Project launched a print digest of our online magazine this year, called PJP x Inside, with me as the managing editor. The purpose of this publication was to reach an incarcerated audience. The fall issue won an award of excellence from the Society of News design ! The spring issue was just published and the PDF is available online for free/ 

Brenda Sanfilippo: Teaching Excellence Award. Teach Access Faculty Grant. Completed Digital Instruction Project. Offered two trainings on working with student veterans. Continued working on accessibility, equity, and online teaching. I am looking forward to incorporating new digital tools into my pedagogy this summer.

Lisa Schilz: Not really an accomplishment, but my spouse and I adopted (aka “foster failed”) our long-term foster pup, Lola. She now joins our other 2 pugs (all adopted from TPPR) for a totally-unplanned grumble of 3. There can be a lot of snoring and snorting. 🙂 

Terry Terhaar: I’m trying to grow as many cherry tomatoes as possible as my pet ducks adore red tomatoes. (They’ll eat yellow tomatoes but reds are the favorite!)

Kristen Terry: I had two publications come out this past March that I wrote during the summer of 2020. It feels great to finally see them come out!

Amy Vidali: I gave a paper – a manifesto – on food access for those with food allergies at RSA (Rhetoric Society of America). It was nice to get fired up about it!

Tiffany Lynn Wong: In July, I am going on a month-long retreat at IMS (Insight Meditation Society) Forest Refuge in Barre, Massachusetts, and in August-September, I will visit in Mexico to work with my COIL/VE (Collaborative Online International Learning/Virtual Exchange) partner Dr. Maria De Lourdes Perez Cesari who is a Theater Arts Professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Hidalgo. 

Faculty Spotlight

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 29, 2022 by

Pandemic-Related Resources (& Humor)

With the ongoing nature of the pandemic and the related upheavals in teaching, the PDC wanted to focus this post on resources (both humorous and serious) that normalize and speak to some of the challenging experiences we have been facing as faculty at UCSC. 

On January 13, The Chronicle of Higher Education crunched the latest student enrollment numbers for the fall of 2021. Using data published by the ​​National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the report shows that undergraduate enrollment is down across the board, at an average of 3.1 percent from the previous year. Community colleges have been the most impacted, with an estimated 700,000 student loss since 2019. Why the continued enrollment drop? Reporting by NPR’s Morning Edition suggests that young people are choosing to work since minimum wages are on the rise in many states, and online classes remain relatively unpopular. This supports reporting done earlier in the pandemic by other organizations, including Inside Higher Ed, that financial concerns are a primary concern for students returning to campus. 

– Kate McQueen

Colleen Flaherty synthesizes some of the research about the impact on faculty caregivers during COVID, including a March 2021 study which indicates that more women have suffered from job loss and/or have left the workforce due to lack of support. Similarly, a Stanford study of employees found that 45% of respondents were spending at least four more hours a day as primary caretakers, and that 50% of those respondents identified as women and 33% identified as men. Focusing on the intersection between gender and caregiving, Flaherty unpacks the research in helpful (and non-essentializing) ways. Although childcare is clearly an important facet of this issue, the article frames this crisis for caregivers in more robust terms to address the at-home working conditions of many faculty during the pandemic. 

At UCSC, the group Academic Mamas formed to address some of these concerns and find ways to support faculty caregivers during the pandemic. The group recently helped secure an out-of-network option for back-up family care with Bright Horizons. 

 – Madeline Lane-McKinley

And for some “fun,” a brief compilation of sardonically humorous articles on teaching during a global pandemic, complements of McSweeney’s:

Meme shows Steve Carell, as his character Michael in The Office, with mouth pursed shut, with the title: "When a teacher is asked to reflect on their time during distance learning." Michael's response is captioned: "I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do."

Etc.

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 9, 2021 by

Grading Survey Results

This is a drawing of various stick people collaborating. A few are working on a white-board and others are talking to each other. It is colorful and cheerfulA special thank you to the 42 instructors who responded to our PDC grading survey, about an 85% response rate! The full results are linked below, but here are the most important takeaways: 

The Writing Program faculty is fairly evenly divided between the three categories of grading policies: traditional points/percentages, portfolio/holistic, and contract grading. The traditional approach is the most utilized at about 43%. Portfolio/holistic grading is being utilized by 31% of instructors. Contract grading, a policy that many of us have only become aware of recently, is being utilized by about 26% of instructors.

  • About half of faculty who responded added notes on how they are combining policies. It appears to be common practice to adapt a combination of approaches to fit individual courses.
  • Low-stakes credit/no credit assignments appear to be an important part of most grading policies.
  • Many instructors utilize formative assessments to encourage revision.

About half of the faculty are satisfied with their grading policies while the other half might consider making significant changes. 

  • Of the 45% who are considering making significant changes, about 70% specifically mentioned contract grading as an alternative they would like to learn more about. 
  • There was little mention of a shift toward traditional grading or portfolio grading. 
  • The PDC plans on following up on this trend by providing a workshop (details TBD) for instructors who would like to incorporate some aspects of contract grading into their pedagogies and policies.

 

Detailed Survey Results

This is a pie chart breaking down who uses traditional points/percentages (42.9%), portfolio/holistic grading (31%), and contract grading (26.2%).. The statistics are in the text.

TRADITIONAL POINTS/PERCENTAGES: Students receive grades on various assignments, especially final drafts. The assignments might be assigned to different categories with weighted percentages, or each assignment might receive a certain number of points. Students would usually have access to their current grade through Canvas or some other online program.

PORTFOLIO/HOLISTIC GRADING: Students are graded on their cumulative work at the end of the quarter. Individual assignments do not receive final grades, although students may receive feedback on whether they need revision. Students do not have online access to their current grade, although they may receive updates on areas of concern.

CONTRACT GRADING: Students receive a final grade of A or B if they have successfully completed the work specified in some form of contract. Grades are assigned based on some combination of labor and quality specified in the contract Students usually receive updates throughout the quarter on their completion of their contractual obligations.

If you use a combination of the policies above, briefly describe how you combine them.

  • I combine traditional points with a holistic grading approach.
  • I use points and percentages mostly because this is what students are used to. I have categories such as homework, essay #1, #2, various scaffolding assignments, etc. I give myself flexibility in two senses: the points aren’t weighted, they can be calculated at the end of the term so I can add and subtract assignments from a given category. And, more importantly, on my syllabus I clearly state that “I reserve the right to account for extenuating circumstances only to raise, not lower, students’ grades.” In practice I have a lot of flexibility while communicating the quality of students’ work quantitatively.
  • I use a contract that specifies what is required to earn a passing grade and do holistic grading by giving rubrics that provide specific feedback.
  • I grade holistically with portfolios, but there’s a portfolio for each unit of the course, and students receive percentage grades for each. I found that this carried forward some of the elements of the old grading policy that I most appreciated, but also gives students more clarity into the grading process.
  • I use labor-based contract grading that offers several “Above the B” pathways. I use the “complete/incomplete” grading system in Canvas to issue scores on individual assignments, and I offer “work token” opportunities (students can do one-offs to excuse a late assignment). For example, students can get additional peer feedback (or give it) to earn a work token. Or they can read and respond to one of the supplementary readings for the week.
  • I use contract grading in W2 and holistic grading in W1.
  • I use holistic but without the mystery implied above.
  • I use Google Classroom, which asks for points/percentages for each assignment. Students can follow their progress through the quarter by doing the math. I also let them know that their final grade is holistic and that all parts of the class, from assignments to participation in class and in groups to timelines and so on are factored in at the end of the quarter. I also ask them for a self-evaluation letter at the end of the quarter which allows them to assess their own progress and success and contribute to the final grading process.
  • I switch between traditional points and holistic grading
  • I’m in the process of shifting towards contract grading
  • I assign points/percentages for everything, but homework assignments are pretty much credit/no credit (i.e., if a student completes it and puts in moderate effort, they receive full credit).
  • I also have a participant contract in which students give themselves a grade based on their contract defining what participation means to them
  • Points/percentages on major assignments but with a lot of lower stakes ungraded assignments
  • I used to use a holistic model but have started using a more traditional model as I have shifted fully into using Canvas during Covid–I started to use the gradebook and the grading philosophy it embodies.
  • A significant amount of the work in my class is graded on a complete/incomplete basis in order to emphasize and honor the work that goes into multiple stages of student writing processes. Many assignments are also graded using the traditional percentage scale.
  • I’m using contract grading, though I don’t assign grades or points to formal writing assignments. I do provide detailed feedback as to where each assignment stands along with feedback that is useful for the revision process. Students submit a portfolio at the close of the quarter (contains early drafts with comments and later/revised drafts) that plays a large role in determining their final grade. As part of the portfolio, they need to show that they are revising at least 40% of each major writing assignment to earn at least a B.
  • Combination of traditional/contract, mainly labor based grading but they do get individual points, only nominal points deducted for assignments that are quantitatively judged, otherwise full labor = full credit.
  • None of the above. I’m teaching online so almost all assignments are scored complete/incomplete and only the 3 final writing projects receive a letter grade (with the ability to revise and resubmit).
  • I do a bit of a combination of weighted point grading that also uses a portfolio at the end of the quarter.
  • I have shifted around a lot between traditional points and holistic grading.

This pie chart indicates "current feelings regarding your grading policy." 52.4% indicate, "I'm satisfied with my grading policy and don't plan on making any significant changes." 45.2% say, "I"m not sure about my grading policy and might consider making significant changes." 2.4% say, "I'm not satisfied with my current grading policy and plan on making significant changes."

If you are considering changing your grading policy, what alternatives would you like to learn more about?

  • Contract grading
  • Adapting contract grading
  • Contract grading.
  • Decreasing complexity by providing more student menus (in lieu of more customized conferences or other discussions)
  • I’ve used qualitative feedback with narrative evaluations and letter grades, holistic and portfolio grading, rubrics (which I still use), and various iterations of points and percentages. I’m open to different systems but concerned about devoting much time to this. As it stands now I spend very little time discussing grading with my students as a class.
  • I’m satisfied but always interested in new perspectives.
  • I want to learn how to do contract grading.
  • I’d like to see other people’s contracts.
  • Contract Grading…
  • Contract Grading
  • I’m working to get better and better at contract grading.
  • I’m not sure. Weighted percentages? Contract grading that’s fairly simple?
  • I am interested in contract grading.
  • I have thought about contract grading, but it seems like a lot of work
  • I would love to try contract grading.
  • contract grading
  • Overall I’m satisfied with my grading strategy but grading writing is difficult and in many ways problematic so I have my doubts. I’m very open to learning about different approaches, especially contract grading.
  • Contract and holistic grading…I would like to just keep learning and tweaking.
  • I’m actually quite satisfied with my grading policy while still being open to experiment with new methods.
  • Contract grading—this is my New Year’s resolution!

 

Teaching

Published December 3, 2021 by

Three New Faculty!

The Writing Program welcomed three new faculty members in the fall quarter of 2021. Read on to learn a bit about our new colleagues! 

This is a white man wearing a bandana "mask." He's wearing a black button-up shirt and a hat and is seated in front of a bright turquoise wall. Empty coke bottles are to the right, a straw hat up to the left.

Chris Garrecht-Williams

Campus affiliations… I’ve been teaching Oakes Core for the last few years and am in the middle of my first quarter teaching Writing 2.
Before coming to the Writing Program… I opened a bar in Monterey, taught writing at a handful of colleges, and lived the generally itinerant life of the aspirational. 
When I am not teaching… I’m in the ocean, working on something I don’t really know how to do yet, or, hopefully, reading.
And also… I’m hoping to spend part of the winter doing a casual Almodóvar film festival/survey at my house. If anyone is interested please reach out. 

This is headshot of a white woman with long, layered brown hair and dark eyes. She smiles slightly in front of a fountain and grass.

Taylor Kirsch

Campus affiliations… In addition to my work in the Writing Program, I have taught for the History Department and worked with the CITL as a Summer Graduate Pedagogy Mentor. Writing 2 is my only Writing Program course so far, but I’m looking forward to teaching Writing 1 next quarter!
Before coming to the Writing Program… I was a graduate student in the History Department, and enjoyed facilitating learning through outdoor adventures as a Recreation Leader with the UCSC Adventure Rec. 
When I am not teaching… I love to spend time outside, travel, cook good food with friends and family, and hang out with the many cats in my neighborhood.
And also… My favorite recent book is Swell by Liz Clark – I highly recommend reading it by the ocean!

This is a photo of a white woman with medium-brown hair and dark eyes. She is wearing a white top and smiles at the camera in front of wood paneling.

Kristen Kennedy Terry

Campus affiliations… I am affiliated with the Writing Program where I am currently teaching Writing 2. I will be teaching Writing 1 in the Winter.
Before coming to the Writing Program… I taught French and sociolinguistics at Santa Clara University. Before that, I taught in the writing program at UC Merced.
When I am not teaching… I am probably drinking coffee, reading, walking, or spending time with my husband and two daughters.
And also… I love to travel and I am looking forward to going to Europe next summer to see my husband’s family (he’s from Ireland). We have planned the same trip three years in a row now, so I am crossing my fingers that 2022 will be the year!

 

Faculty Spotlight

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