Composition Newsletter 7-1-2013

7/28/2019 Composition Newsletter 7-1-2013

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Welcome

In This Issue...

People - 2

Pro essionalDevelopment - 7

Projects - 11

UALR’s Composition Program Fall 2012 & Spring 2013

Department o Rhetoric and Writing

Clint Brockway, James Wilson, and Lea Clyburn (le t to right)attending an interview prepatory workshop in March. Lea isnow a ull-time aculty member at Pulaski Technical College.

By Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Composition Program Director

The composition program eatures a rhetoric-based curriculum that providesstudents with critical thinking and writing opportunities through the lens o the national learning outcomes, the Writing Program Administrators OutcomesStatement (WPA OS). We serve over 3,000 students each year; however, onlythree out o every ten graduating students take composition in our programbecause so many students trans er to University o Arkansas at Little Rock.

The composition sequence is intended to prepare students to write in upper-level courses, civic orums, workplace settings, and personal scenarios. We aimto help students think about how writing will impact all aspects o their li e. Asteachers o writing, we demonstrate to our students the importance o howwriting can not only shape their lives but also have an impact on those aroundthem. This newsletter showcases work both inside and outside the compositionclassroom during the 2012-2013 academic year.

I would like to acknowledge the diligent work o so many o our teachers whohave come together and served on committees to contribute to our program.I appreciate their dedication and service to the program. I am thank ul or thetireless work o graduate assistants Caleb James, Josh Johnson, and Jarod Dailyor their e orts and contribution to this newsletter. Kudos to Josh Johnson onhis design o this newsletter. It has been a wonder ul rst year as the directoro composition, and I am grate ul to be surrounded by so many talented,dedicated teachers.



People

Composition News Page 2

Hummel’s new book o poetry.

Exciting events have a ected the dynamic community o teachers in our program over the past year.Our program continues to grow through new graduate teaching assistants and a new lecturer. Andwe said goodbye to a ew teachers, who have graduated, accepted new positions, or retired. Ourprogram endured the signi cant loss o our colleague and riend, Larry Henthorn. We have beenproud o several members o our program who have been representing us in local communities,events, and pro essional con erences.

Congratulations to Our GraduatesWe are proud to announce severalgraduate teaching assistants (GTAs)completed their Master o Arts inPro essional and Technical Writing.GTAs who graduated in all 2012 andspring 2013 include: Jenni er Atkins-Gordeeva, Lea Clyburn, Caleb James,Deana Nall, Natalie Rego, Jessica Sahene,Lacey Thacker-Meislohn, and VeronicaWilliams. Additionally, Chad Garrett andAaron Baker, digital experts who supportthe composition program, completedtheir MA degrees. We would like tocongratulate all o our graduates or theirhard work. Caleb James will be begin hisPhD program in Ohio this coming all.

Jessica Sahene (le t) and Lea Clyburn (right) at the UALR graduationceremony spring 2013.

Meet Our Newest LecturerWe would like to welcome Heather Hummel to our program.She has an MA in English Literature rom Eastern WashingtonUniversity, and a BA in English rom the University o Cali ornia,Davis. In addition to teaching composition and compositionundamentals at the University o Arkansas at Little Rock, sheis on the Little Rock Writing Project Leadership Team, and sheedits the literary journal, Blood Orange Review . In addition toteaching writing at the university and community college level,she has also taught with Literacy AmeriCorps and at San QuentinState Penitentiary. Her courses are in uenced by her interest increative writing, contemplative pedagogy, and ecocomposition.She has published two poetry chapbooks, Boytreebird (2013)and Handmade Boats (2010). Boytreebird , a poetry chapbook by H.K. Hummel, was published by Finishing Line Press ( www.nishinglinepress.com ). Her work has recently appeared in Sugar Mule, Poemeleon , Meridian and Antigonish Review . We areso pleased to have Heather working alongside us. She’s been a

valuable contributor to the developmental composition redesignproject.

Heather Hummel



People


The late Larry Henthorn

By Mary Henthorn

Larry Henthorn retired rom the Department o Rhetoric and Writingin 2011 a ter nearly ten years as a ull-time sta member. His role inthe department, and the department’s role in his li e, extended a ulltwenty-year span rom 1993 until he passed away in February 2013.

A ter more than thirty years in broadcast radio, the companyLarry worked or was sold in the spring o 1993. Larry enrolled in agovernment retraining program at UALR that o ered two years o tuition assistance. He bravely took up the challenge o preparingor a new career at ty. A ter completing Composition I in thesummer, he gured, “Okay, I can do this!” In the all semester, as aull-time student with multiple part-time jobs and encouragement

Larry Henthorn

rom his Composition II instructor, Larry was surprised to discover that he could write. By the springo 1995, he was wrapping up a two-year degree through the Department o Criminal Justice butwas uncertain about a career path. He was now ascinated with the idea o writing and changed to adouble major, Criminal Justice and English with a writing emphasis. In 1996 Larry immersed himsel in English and writing and started his rst writing internship. Through the 90s he continued working in the University Writing Center; he helped establish theOnline Writing Lab and wrote about how to make an OWL y. Larry earned and appreciated manyUWC awards; however, his real reward was reaching students and assuring them they could come upwith ideas, use the computer to type words that made their stories live, and print their own revisedand edited work. Within a ew years Larry moved into a ull-time sta position in the Department o Rhetoricand Writing. He saw the early days o the Cyberspace Project, an online program or providingeedback to high school writers. Larry provided rst line support or evaluation, acquisition, setup,maintenance, and use o technology. He enjoyed teaching Composition I, Composition II, and Writingor the Workplace. In 2011 Larry took advantage o an excellent retirement package, but he never strayed ar rom UALR.

Larry continued helping with the department’s technology issues and inventory and teaching acouple o classes be ore his health started to decline in early 2012. Even when Larry was too sick toget to campus, he’d talk about his concerns: Was the inventory completed, the so tware updated, andthe new computers purchased? The Department o Rhetoric and Writing provided encouragement,support, guidance, and riendship rom his rst days in Composition I to his nal days, when he couldno longer write or hold a conversation. Larry received a posthumous Master o Arts in Pro essionaland Technical Writing during the spring 2013 graduation ceremony. His amily thanks all thestudents, aculty, and sta o UALR who enriched his li e.



People


Words rom a ColleagueBy Dr. George H. Jensen, Chair Larry Henthorn was serious about co ee. He was more than “I roast my own beans” serious. Morethan “I have my own espresso machine” serious. He was more like “I had an espresso at the new co eeshop in Hillcrest and then I told the barista what he did wrong” serious.

He searched or exotic beans on the Internet, special ordered green beans, and roasted them himsel .

He had an espresso machine (and a bean grinder) in his home and another one in his ofce. Bothmachines were pro essional grade.

The happiest that I have ever seen Dr. Toran Isom, who is a pretty happy person, was a ter she had acouple o shots o Larry’s espresso. I don’t think she slept or about three days.

Larry knew I also liked to sample exotic blends, and he o ten shared his recent discoveries. Oneday, he gave me some Kopi Luwak beans rom Indonesia. These are the beans known or a smoothand complex avor because they have been ingested by the Asian Palm Civet, mellowed out in thecreature’s intestines, and then excreted. The beans are then processed, I assume (and hope) puri edin some way, roasted, and sold.

With a little trepidation, I took the beans home, ground them, and made a pot o co ee or mySaturday break ast. I have to say it was some o the best co ee I have ever had. Be ore I could nishthe pot, my son and one o his riends came in, poured themselves a cup, and then said, “This is greatco ee!” I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the co ee was so good because the beans had beenexcreted rom an Asian Palm Civet.

While my ondest memories o Larry involve our shared love or co ee, I don’t want that to de nehim. He deeply cared about our students, and he was very generous with his time. He o ten went tothe house o one o our colleagues in the evening or on a Saturday to help resolve some technology

problem. When he announced his retirement, I began to mutter, “We are as doomed as doomed canbe.” I was worried about how we would manage—still am. We have muddled along, but things aremore difcult, and our lives are not as rich.

What I remember most o all is how much Larry loved his wi e, Mary, and his entire amily. Wheneverhe returned rom vacation or a amily event (like the amily bacon estival, a cookout in celebration o all things bacon), Larry came to my ofce with a ash drive o photos. We would spend about an hourlooking at photos and talking about his amily. He was a dear riend and a very good man.



People


Composition Teachers Share Their “Tales rom the South” This year two o our esteemed writers and composition teachers were showcased on NPR’s Tales romthe South. Mark Isbell shared his woes o chasing a beach tent in a summer storm. To hear his piece,go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw88ygX0QUw . Deana Nall was eatured on the Mother’s Dayedition where she shared her childhood story about the amily’s car, guerilla warrior insects, and alibrary book. For Deana’s piece, visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpBgrkPmGWE .

New Graduate Teaching AssistantsAlong with gaining a new Director o Composition, our program gained several new graduateteaching assistants in all 2012 and spring 2013 including: Drew Glover, Charla Hammond, RachellHayes, Joshua Johnson, Bethany May, Michael Measel, Deana Nall, Jenni er Stanley, Lacey Thacker-Meislohn, Shelley Watson, Jasmine Williams, and James Wilson. This group approached the teachingo writing with innovation and mind ulness toward uses o technology in composition and theWriting Program Administrators Outcomes Statement.

Composition Teachers Attend Pro essional Con erencesIn October o 2012, a group o students rom the University Writing Center attended theInternational Writing Center Association Con erence in San Diego, CA. In addition to the writingcenter interns, several o our program’s graduate teaching assistants including Drew Glover, JoshuaJohnson, and James Wilson, presented on topics examining the support o teaching compositionat the con erence. In spring 2013, GTA Jenny Crelia presented at the South Central Writing CenterAssociation Con erence in Corpus Christi, TX. Additionally, in spring 2013 Caleb James and JamesWilson attended the Con erence on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) in Las Vegas,NV. Our director, Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson o ered three presentations on the ollowing topics:developing prison-university partnerships, implementing online internships or composition, andmentoring amily history writing students.

Composition Teachers Work with Inmate Writers Throughout the 2012-2013 academic year, composition teachers Drew Glover, James Wilson, Dr.Michael Kleine, and Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson joined Dr. Charles Chastain, Pro essor o CriminalJustice, to o er writing workshops or the Inside-Out Program at the Arkansas Department o Corrections-Ouachita Unit in Malvern. Many writing workshops covered content also taught in rst-year composition courses and in the Little Rock Writing Project. Dr. Kleine locates and invites writingteachers to work in the prison. I you are interested in teaching inmate writers, contact Dr. Kleine([email protected]) or Dr. Rankins-Robertson ([email protected]).

Mark Isbell nishing his tale “The Thing About Shade.”

www.tales romthesouth.com

Deana Nall a ter reading “Benji and the Scamp.” Pictures arerom the ofcial TFTS Youtube channel.



People


Marcia Smith, Frankie Chadwick, Chancellor Joel Anderson,and Toran Isom (le t to right) all together at the UALR-hostedretirement event.

Retirement Events Celebrate 65 Years o Teaching and Service The Department o Rhetoric and Writingcelebrated the retirements o three

composition instructors, including FrankieChadwick, Dr. Toran Isom, and Dr. MarciaSmith. Their retirements were celebrated ata cookout hosted by Dr. George H. Jensen.In attendance were riends, amily, ull-timeaculty, lecturers, graduate students, andundergraduate students. The retirees also werehonored at a ormal UALR event or retiringaculty members. Together these three acultymembers provided more than 65 years o teaching and service to UALR.

Dr. Toran Isom said “When I think o my many years in the Department o Rhetoric and Writing, I drawrom the last two pages o one o my avorite books, Charlotte’s Web , in which it says: ‘Li e in the barnwas very good—night and day, winter and summer, spring and all, dull days and bright days. It wasthe best place to be...’ I eel much the same way about my students, my classroom, my colleagues, mydepartment. Pro essionally, this has been ‘the best place to be.’”

Pictures rom the retirement party at Dr. Jensen’s house:

Dr. Marcia Smith adds “It has been a joy and an honor to be a aculty member o the Rhetoric& Writing Department or 23 years. I have enjoyed a truly collegial, student- riendly, excellentdepartment. As Warren Bu ett claims o a job one loves, I have tap danced to work every day. I noweagerly move on to whatever the next phase o my li e holds. I do so with some sadness, but with a

sense o accomplishment and many warm memories and heart elt appreciation or my colleaguesand students at UALR.”

Susann Barr, Mary Henthorn, and Barbara Walker (le t to right).

Lashaundra Tyler (le t) and Dr. SherryRankins-Robertson (right).

Scott and Lacey Thacker-Meislohn(le t/middle) and Deana Nall (right).

Future graduate teaching assistants Kelsie Walker(le t) and Gail Richard (middle) along with graduateassistant Jarod Daily (right).

Lea Clyburn, Jessica Sahene, and Dr. Huey Crisp (le tto right).



Pro essional Development


Chair Dr. George H. Jensen o ers interview advice.

Top: Anna Waller, Kelsie Walker, Gail Richard (le tto right). Bottom: Charla Hammond.

The Composition Program has been extremely active with pro essional development opportunitiesover the last year. Many thanks to the events committee or their detailed coordination o theseevents. We have had top scholars in the eld visit campus and o er presentations on a range o topics: exploring rhetorical concepts in visual argumentation, meeting the needs o multilingualwriters, and teaching multimodal composition. We have o ered our graduate teaching assistantsworkshops on how to write personal statements or PhD programs and success ully responding ininterview situations. We started our academic year with a screening o a documentary with a cross-campus panel o scholars on race and civil rights.

Pro essional Development WorkshopsRhetoric and Writing Chair Dr. George H. Jensen andComposition Director Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson leda pro essional development workshop on interviewstrategies, what to expect when being interviewed orcollege-level teaching positions, and how to conduct asuccess ul teaching demonstration. During the Marchworkshop, Dr. Jensen covered the basics o interviewing,including how to dress, researching the department towhich you are applying, preparing or common questions,and how to ask questions to the interviewers. Dr. Rankins-Robertson gave a sample teaching demonstration toprepare graduate students and lecturers when applyingor ull-time positions. One o the attendees, Lea Clyburn,recently accepted a job as a ull time instructor at Pulaski Technical College. Congratulations Lea!

This workshop was a ollow-up toseveral workshops held in December2012 including:

• Requesting Letters o Recommendations with Dr.Jensen

•

Developing Personal Statementsor PhD Programs with Dr. JoeWilliams

• Workshopping your CurriculumVitae and Teaching Philosophywith Dr. Rankins-Robertson.





Dr. Cheryl Glenn guest teaching a Composition II class.

Dr. Maria Jerskey presenting to composition acultymembers.

Visit rom Dr. Cheryl GlennOn January 31, Dr. Cheryl Glenn, Pro essor o English at Penn State University and author o Unspoken: A Rhetoric of Silence, visited the UALRcampus to present her textbook, The HarbraceGuide to Writing . She guest lectured in Dr. SherryRankins-Robertson’s RHET 1312 class, coveringtopics o rhetorical audiences and visual arguments.While Dr. Glenn was on campus, she met with agroup o graduate students to discuss pursuing adoctoral degree. As a leading scholar in Rhetoricand Composition, she was a delight or everyonewho met with her.

Teaching Multilingual Writers:Challenges, Bene ts, and StrategiesOn Tuesday, May 7th, in conjunction with theAcademy or Teaching and Learning Excellence, Dr.Maria Jerskey, Associate Pro essor in the Departmento Education and Language Acquisition at LaGuardiaCommunity College, City University o New York, led aworkshop on multilingual speakers and writers. Topicscovered during the workshop included building ondiverse linguistics and literacy backgrounds, knowingwhen to provide language and grammar eedback,and cultivating language awareness in the classroomor multilingual writers. The attendees shared theirexperiences and exchanged strategies or acilitatingwriting education. This workshop was o ered tohelp aculty across campus consider the sca oldingneeded or multilingual writers.

Skyping with Rhetoric and Composition ScholarsOver the last year our program has brought in several scholars via online technologies to speak with rst-time composition teachers. Some o the scholars who Skyped with our Graduate TeachingAssistants included Dr. Edward M. White, who spoke about teachers as public gures, the history o the discipline, and student assessment; Dr. Duane Roen, who discussed his experiences teaching andinteracting with students and methods or developing teaching philosophies; and Dr. Claire Lauer,who provided an introduction to teaching multimodal composition in writing courses. Dr. White isthe recipient o the College Composition and Communication Con erence (CCCC) Exemplar award, inaddition to a wide variety o other awards and achievements. Dr. Lauer is currently at the ore ront o a disciplinary conversation about the role o multimodal composition in college writing courses. Dr.Roen is the current past-President o the Council o Writing Program Administrators.





Dr. David L. Briscoe (le t) and Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson(right).

Phyllis Brown (le t) and Yvette Johnson (right).

Documentary Screening and Scholar Discussion o Booker’s PlaceOn October 11, 2012 the Department o Rhetoric and Writing, with support o the Chancellor’sCommittee on Race and Ethnicity, screened the documentary lm Booker’s Place. Following thescreening, civil rights scholar Dr. John A. Kirk, Pro essor o History, and Dr. David L. Briscoe, Pro essoro Sociology, joined the granddaughter o Booker Wright, Yvette Johnson, to discuss the lm, thehistorical period in which Wright lived, and race issues in the south. Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson,Director o Composition, acilitated the discussion. Many inspired audience members sharedpersonal accounts. Booker’s Place is the story o an everyday man who was anactivist or civil rights in hiscommunity. The heart o thedocumentary is the universaldesire that we have to unearth,understand, and honor theheroic acts o our ancestorsas they ought to give us abetter li e than their own.Director Raymond De Felitta hascaptured a power ul and movingstory o not only Johnson’s journey to learn about heramily, but also about his own

ather’s 1966 decision to includeBooker Wright in what proved to be a li e-altering decision. Booker’s Place is a documentary abouttwo people who want to know the truth and learn about the impact o their amily members’ braveand stunning acts against oppression. The seeds or Booker’s Place were planted or Johnson in a amily history writing class taught by Dr.Rankins-Robertson at Arizona State University in the summer o 2007. Johnson interviewed her auntor a class project in which she learned about her grand ather’s business, Booker’s Place. For hersecond writing assignment, Robertson suggested to Johnson that she explore and examine the little juke joint her grand ather owned that brought the community o Greenwood, Mississippi together.

Rankins-Robertson mentored Johnson over the ollowing ve-year period as Johnson researchedand wrote about her amily history. Johnson tracked her progress and explored her ideas in aresearch blog that she began in Rankins-Robertson’s course. This blog was the catalyst or producerDavid Zeller ord to make contact with Johnson. The two met and the idea o the lm, Booker’s Place,was born. Tribeca purchased and screened Booker’s Place in the spring 2012 lm estival, and Johnsonappeared on Dateline in July 2012. In re ection on the class in which Johnson began this work, Dr.Rankins-Robertson said, “I believe every writing assignment is an opportunity or students to see theimportance o writing not only in their lives, but also in their communities.”





Teaching with Technology in CompositionOur program, mirroring the academic scholarshipo the discipline o Rhetoric and Composition, has

been ocusing on the best practices o acilitatingcomposition education using technology. SeveralGraduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) were o eredthe opportunity to participate in a research projectthat allowed them to teach in computer classrooms.Each GTA submitted a research proposal. Threegraduate teaching assistants were selected by AHSSLTC Director Chad Garrett to teach in computerclassrooms based on their proposals: Josh Johnson,Bethany May, and Lacey Thacker-Meislohn.

The GTAs have seen active student engagement, a new level o achievement in collaborativecomposition, and the opportunity or student initiative and innovation while composing. Johnsondetails some o his re ections on having access to the technology through the research project:

The rst day o class last semester, I began with the usual requirements o the rst day,introduction, covering the syllabi, and a community building assignment. The rst thing I did,however, was explain that the students in my class were lucky enough to be in a classroomwith computers at every station and needed to respect the technology and use it every dayor writing in one orm or another. One student asked, “Why do we need computers to write?”I asked him to name a career requiring a college degree that wasn’t going to require you towrite on computers. I wasn’t trying to placate my student, but I was hoping to impart what Isee as a severe need in our eld: writing with technology.

Garrett will continue to invite students currently in RHET 7360, TA Practicum to write proposals orthis research project.

Bethany May teaching Composition II.



Projects


We have ocused on a variety o projects over the past year to oster a sense o community, developcurriculum, grow our presence on campus, and invite teachers and students into a conversationabout composition. Various committees have contributed to multiple ongoing projects. We haverevised the composition program website, designed customized content and a cover or theprogrammatic writing handbook, and selected textbooks or the next several semesters. The eventscommittee has been involved in pro essional development and the implementation o the NationalDay on Writing contest. We sponsored a mentor project, including a pumpkin-carving contest inOctober and an outing to an Arkansas Travelers baseball game in May. It is a challenge to name all o the projects we have begun over the year in this limited space; however, some o the highlights areprovided here.

National Day on Writing ContestIn honor o the National Day on Writing , the Composition Program in conjunction with the LittleRock Writing Project (LRWP) sponsored a student writing contest. The contest organizers, HeatherHummell and Dana Garrison, reached out to local elementary and middle schools to participatein the contest along with recruiting UALR composition students. The goal o the contest was topromote awareness o the importance o reading and writing. The writing prompt asked writers o allages to describe how a particular book has in uenced them. The prizes or winning essays includedtwo tickets or each level: Razorback vs. Ole Miss game tickets, college level; movie tickets, high/middle school level; and zoo tickets, elementary level. The contest winners were:

First Place Winners: Dan Swaim (college), Sarah Gilleran (10th grade), Alyssa Penny (5th grade)Honorable Mentions : Esmeralda Pena (college), Julia Nall (8th grade), JaCore Williams (5th grade)

The Great Rhetorical Pumpkin Carving ContestOn Halloween, the composition program hosted a pumpkin carving contestthrough the mentor committee. Three teams—graduate students, lecturers,and ull-time aculty—competed to carve a pumpkin that best represented

a rhetorical concept, theory, or person. The graduate students portrayedintertextuality, carving aspider web and weavingballoons through it andlighting it with glow sticks;the lecturers carved arepresentation o pathosby contrasting a happyace on one side with a sadace on the opposite; andthe ull-time aculty carved

the ace o a clock with alightening bolt to representthe concept o kairos.Contestants and spectatorsalike enjoyed the contest.

Lacey Thacker-Meislohn, Lea Clyburn’s back, Joshua Johnson, andJames Wilson (le t to right).

Pathos by the Lecturer Team

Intertextuality by theGTA Team

Kairos by the Faculty Team





Projects


Jenny Crelia Deana NallLea Clyburn

ATLE’s Panel on Peak LearningDuring the spring 2013 semester, the Academy or Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE)showcased an event based on Maslow’s concept o peak learning that allowed a panel o

undergraduate and graduate students to discuss peak learning experiences at UALR. Three o thepanelists--Jenny Crelia, Lea Clyburn, and Deana Nall--were Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) romthe Department o Rhetoric and Writing. Each discussed a point that impacted her as a learner.

Jenny Crelia indicated a key moment or her growth as a writer was with Dr. Sally Crisp. Dr. Crisptold Crelia at the onset o her academic career at UALR, “I have been doing this a long time. Do you

believe in me?” Crelia replied “Yep” and then Dr. Crisp said, “You believe in me and I will believe inyou.” This moment o er Creila solace in her early stages as a graduate student.

Lea Clyburn’s pivotal moment was over a test that she had struggled with in her Language Theory class. Her aculty member, Dr. Cindy Nahrwold, said, “You retained 85% o in ormation youencountered or the rst time. Focus on that rather than the 15% you did not recall.” Clyburn’sperspective about celebrating her retained knowledge began central to her success as a graduatestudent and teacher.

When Deana Nall was considering the graduate program at UALR, she decided that she would speak on the phone with the graduate coordinator and then would allow the results o the call to be the

deciding actor or her application. She said to her spouse, “I the director sounds mean, I won’t do it.”Nall was pleasantly surprised at the chipper and warm welcome she received rom Dr. Karen Kuraltand it was the deciding actor to submit her application. Nall said one o the best classes she took inthe program was Grant Writing under the direction o Suzann Barr. Nall said, “You want the things youwrite to make a di erence, and there’s no better way to do that than through grant writing.”

These learning experiences have enriched all three o the graduate students’ perspectives as teachersand helped them think about kairotic moments as educators.



Projects


The Everday Writer customized or UALR’s Composition Program.

Composition Program’s Custom Handbook Project

Publishers Ofer Opportunity or Curriculum Development

Website Faceli t or the Composition ProgramIn conjunction with our department’s website upgrade, our program has been working on anew programmatic website, which is set to go live in the all. As a part o the project, we askedphotographer and department alum, Adam Peterson o Restless Photography, to take aculty photos. The new composition program site will provide resources or students. We are thrilled to show thenew ace o the program.

In early February, we hosted representatives rom ve book publishers, including Bed ord/St. Martin’s, Cengage Learning, Norton,Pearson, and McGraw-Hill, to showcase composition textbooks andtechnologies that respond to the programmatic learning outcomes. The presentations were organized so graduate teaching assistantsand lecturers could vote on their choice o book or the upcomingacademic year. The process began with a textbook committee thatreviewed 30 books and narrowed down to eight books. These eightbooks were presented to aculty by the textbook companies. Using ascoring guide, orty contingent aculty members voted using an onlineorm to select the ve textbooks that will be used in our compositionprogram.

The Composition Program recentlycompleted an ambitious projectto customize a writing handbook,The Everyday Writer by AndreaLuns ord, or all 2013. The projectincludes customized contentabout student expectations andUALR policies; it also includedpro essional photos taken o thedepartment or the ront and back cover. The composition programwould like to thank everyone ortheir participation and assistance,especially Josh Johnson, whodesigned the cover, and Dr. CharlesAnderson, Dr. Karen Kuralt, Dr. DavidFisher, and Dr. Joe Williams or theirguidance and support.

Te Department o Rhetoric and Writing ofers bachelor’s and master’s degrees inPro essional and echnical Writing.As one o our students,you’ll have the oppor-tunity to create power ul memoirs,competitive grants and proposals,cutting-edgeWeb texts,critical business and legal documents,and even video games.

Classroom writing is a vital learningtool.We want students’writing tomake a real diference in the world.Trough internships,student researchprojects,pro essional port olios,andclassroom writing aimed at publica-tion,we oster an environment whereyour writing will make an impact on

others’lives.

Study with us

Earn a degree in Rhetoric and Writing

Learn with technology insmall, innovative classes.

Grow as a writer by visiting theUniversity Writing Center.

ualr.edu/rhetoric

Dr.GeorgeH. JensenChair ofRhetoric and [email protected]

Publish your writing inQuills and Pixels .

Dr.Sherry Rankins-RobertsonDirector ofComposition

[email protected]

CustomPublishingbedfordstmartins.com

The EverydayWriter

Department of Rhetoric andWriting

Andrea A. Lunsford

with Understanding and ComposingMultimodal Projects

and Portfolio Keeping

Fifth Edition

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US Postage

University o Arkansas at Little Rock Composition ProgramDepartment o Rhetoric and Writing2801 South University AvenueLittle Rock, AR 72204-1099

A special thanks to the many people who assisted in the production o thisnewsletter and all o the activities it records.

Take Me Out to the BallgameMany thanks to PearsonEducation, which sponsoredour spring mentoring event. Twenty composition teachers,along with several graduateinterns in the writing center,rallied on Saturday, May 18, tocheer on the Arkansas Travelersagainst the Spring eld Cardinals.Department chair Dr. GeorgeJensen was con icted on rooting

or the home team since he hailsrom Missouri. Graduate aculty,graduate teaching assistants,and lecturers joined together ora un night o collegiality. The Travelers at the Dickey-Stephens Ball Park.

Documents

Composition Newsletter 7-1-2013