8/6/2019 693-001 :: Writing in the Profession

1/7

ENG693001:: Summer I2011

MF11:0012:35:: RB105

Dr. Brian J. McNelyRB2111

285-8682

bjmcnely@bsu.edu

Ofce Hours :: T/TH12:452:00

mailto:bjmcnely@bsu.edumailto:bjmcnely@bsu.edu

8/6/2019 693-001 :: Writing in the Profession

2/7

[ABOUT]

After surveying conceptions of agency in rhetoric and professional communication, we argue that agency isnot an attribute of the individual, but the conjunction of a set of social and subjective relations that constitutethe possibility of action. The rhetorical performance that enacts agency is a form of kairos, i.e., social subjectsrealizing the contextualized opportunities for action. Drawing on Foucault, Bourdieu, Bordo, and Burke, weargue that agency is a diffuse and shifting social location in time and space, into and out of which rhetors

move uncertainly. Constrained agency emerges at the intersection of agentive opportunities and theregulatory power of authority. These reconceptualizations of agency, authority, and regulation complicate theframework for investigation and interpretation of how subjects function in cultural practices that reproduceknowledge, power, change, and identity.

Herndl & Licona,2007

But what are the criteria by which a eld may be judged a functioning discipline? One necessity is anepistemic court, which Toulmin describes as a community of experts who reach consensus in accord withtheir interpretations of the discipline's basic tasks. The court of composition studies consists of scholars whoare both knowledgeable about the range of existing research and contributing to one or the other types ofinquiry about written discourse. They evaluate the quality of research and substantive reasons that supportnew work, guided by the degree of relationship between the work and the eld's ideals and score ofunresolved problems. The also take into consideration man's [sic] accumulated experience in all culture andhistorical periods.

Lauer,1984

Change is inherently a discursive project. This means that change is restricted by the structures of languageand by the conventions of language use. Change will be a product of what can legitimately be said (orwritten) in a specic context at a specic moment in time.

Faber,2002

Writing in the Profession is about the mundane, everyday writing work that at once negotiates and workswithin the epistemic courts of one's discipline while also working to change that discipline through theconstruction of new knowledge and perspectives.

The various genres and artifacts that support this everyday writing work are rhetorical performances thatmay enact agency, carrying the potential for personal, interpersonal, and broader disciplinary change.

In this course, we will construct professional identity narratives supported by our everyday writing work,demystifying the vicissitudes of professional academic discursive norms.

We will explore tactics for situating academic writing within specic professional domains and venues whilecollaborating in a knowledge work model to strengthen and develop individual artifacts. We will discussstrategies for:

streamlining and aggregating publication and professional presentation opportunities reverse engineering existing, contemporary scholarship identifying trends and norms in specic venues establishing metrics of scholarly reach and inuence generating rhetorically effective prose tailored to specic publishing venues

8/6/2019 693-001 :: Writing in the Profession

3/7

We will produce a series of portfoliosone each weekrelated to the following areas:

[ professional identity + presentations + grants + job market + publishable manuscripts ]

[OBJECTIVES]

Emerging professional academics will

Explorethe norms and genres of professional academic writing work: Recognize and categorize important genres and styles of professional discourse

Consider the necessity of everyday writing work as essential to academe

Practice using common tools and technologies of professional writing production with prociency

and resourcefulness

Analyze written artifacts and epistemic courts: Critically interact with the norms and conventions of one's eld

Seek opportunities for the enactment of professional agency by skillfully deploying kairos Analyze specic artifacts and discourse community practices to better understand rhetorical, social,

cultural, and political implications of writing within the profession

Enact practices that support your career as a professional academic: Plan and implement routines and activity systems to support professional work

Recognize appropriateness of different methods for producing and researching practices and contexts

Explore and practice professional writing as a way of thinking, knowing, and being

Produce professional, scholarly artifacts: Apply rhetorical and design principles to producing professional, scholarly artifacts

Apply principles of fair use, copyright and documentation conventions for print and digital media

Recognize rhetorical possibilities of different modes (alphabetic text, images, graphics, video, audio,etc.) and make sound rhetorical choices when combining modes

[ SOURCES]

Selected academic journal articles sourced via BlackboardSelected blog posts, articles, images, and videos sourced via Twitter [ #9E3 ]Silvia, P. (2007).How to Write a Lot.Swales, J. & Feak, C. (2000).English in Today's Research World: A Writing Guide.Polanyi, M. (1966). The Tacit Dimension.

[ASSESSMENT]

Deliverables

Professional Identity Portfolio 200

Conference Presentation Portfolio 200

Grants Portfolio 200

http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Lot-Practical-Productive/dp/1591477433/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305498207&sr=8-1http://www.amazon.com/English-Todays-Research-World-Professional/dp/0472087134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305498350&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/English-Todays-Research-World-Professional/dp/0472087134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305498350&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/English-Todays-Research-World-Professional/dp/0472087134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305498350&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/Tacit-Dimension-Michael-Polanyi/dp/0226672980/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305498431&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Lot-Practical-Productive/dp/1591477433/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305498207&sr=8-1http://www.amazon.com/English-Todays-Research-World-Professional/dp/0472087134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305498350&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/Tacit-Dimension-Michael-Polanyi/dp/0226672980/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305498431&sr=1-1

8/6/2019 693-001 :: Writing in the Profession

4/7

Job Market Portfolio 200

Publishable Manuscript Portfolio 200

Course Total: 1,000

Grading Scale

A 9501,000

A- 900949

B+ 860899

B 830859

B- 800829

C+ 760799

C 730759

C- 700729

[DETAILS]

Grading Policy

Deliverables are assessed according to criteria distributed through Blackboard.

Storage and Backup

This course will require the consistent use of one or more of the following methods of digital storage andbackup:

BSU iLocker ::Dropbox :: Google Docs

Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty

Proper citation is a hallmark of good scholarship. Crediting someone else's workwhatever form that worktakesis a nice thing to do.

It's nice to be nice to people.

Don't use someone else's work without giving them credit. Don't submit work for this class that you did foranother class. Don't falsify data. If in doubt, seeBSU's statementon academic integrity. But mostly? Be niceto peopleand give credit where it's due.

Attendance, Withdrawals, and Incompletes

Come to classit's fun!

Don't be lateyou'll miss important stuff!

If you miss more than 3 classesfor any reasonyour nal grade will be lowered by one step for eachmissed class beyond the limit (for example, 4 absences will result in a reduction from a B+ to a B).

Let me know early in the semester if you will miss class for university business or religious holidays. Please

http://cms.bsu.edu/About/AdministrativeOffices/HelpDesk/TechClips/StoringYourFiles/iLocker.aspxhttps://www.dropbox.com/https://www.dropbox.com/http://docs.google.com/http://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,1894,95111-6558-14705,00.htmlhttp://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,1894,95111-6558-14705,00.htmlhttp://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,1894,95111-6558-14705,00.htmlhttp://www.operationnice.com/http://www.operationnice.com/http://www.operationnice.com/http://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,1894,95111-6558-14705,00.htmlhttp://www.operationnice.com/http://www.operationnice.com/http://cms.bsu.edu/About/AdministrativeOffices/HelpDesk/TechClips/StoringYourFiles/iLocker.aspxhttps://www.dropbox.com/http://docs.google.com/

8/6/2019 693-001 :: Writing in the Profession

5/7

see the University Catalog for more information on withdrawals and incompletes.

Students Needing Accommodations

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medicalinformation to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated,please make an appointment with me as soon as possible. My ofce location and hours are listed on the rst

page of this document.

For additional information, please contact Larry Markle, Director of the Ofce of Disabled StudentDevelopment, at lmarkle@bsu.edu or 285-5293; TTY 285-2206. The DSD ofce is located at Student Center116.

Writing Center

The Writing Center offers free one-to-one assistance on all of your writing projects for all of your classes.Also? The Writing Center is full of awesome people.

They are located in RB 291, and are open 10 am to 8 pm, MondayThursday, and 10 am to 2 pm on Friday.

http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CentersandInstitutes/WritingCenter.aspxhttp://cdryan.com/blog/?p=1480http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CentersandInstitutes/WritingCenter.aspx

8/6/2019 693-001 :: Writing in the Profession

6/7

[CALENDAR+ SCHEDULE]

Important Dates

Professional Identity Portfolio 5.20

Conference Presentation Portfolio 5.27

Grants Portfolio 6.3Job Market Portfolio 6.10

Publishable Manuscript Portfolio 6.17

[ Details on readings will be disseminated during class, at least one full day before the reading is to bediscussed. Please study readingsbefore the class for which they are assigned, and prepare to interact in class. ]

Week1 [ Silvia, articles ]

5.16 Introductions and Infrastructures

RSS[UPENN] ScholarDocs PinboardAlerts BlogListservs NamespaceTwitter Splash [About,Flavors,DIY] Analytics

5.17 A quick primer on rhetoric, knowing, and being

Scott, R. (1967). On Viewing Rhetoric as Epistemic. [BB]Brummett, B. (1979). Three Meanings of Epistemic Rhetoric. [BB]

RSS and rationale; SNS and rationale

5.18 Identity/Brand Brief

5.19 Personal Page

5.20 Professional Identity Portfolio Due

Week2 [ Silvia, Swales, articles ]

5.23 Venues and CFPs (collaborative)

5.24 Lit Reviews

5.25 Abstracts

5.26 Ignite Presentations

5.27 Conference Presentation Portfolio Due

Week3 [ Swales, articles ]

5.30 Venues and RFPs (collaborative)

http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlereader/tour.htmlhttp://www.google.com/intl/en/googlereader/tour.htmlhttp://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/http://scholar.google.com/http://docs.google.com/http://pinboard.in/http://www.google.com/alertshttp://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/http://www.attw.org/?q=node/28http://www.dreamhost.com/domains.htmlhttp://twitter.com/http://about.me/http://flavors.me/http://flavors.me/https://github.com/weightshift/The-Personal-Pagehttps://github.com/weightshift/The-Personal-Pagehttp://google.com/analytics/http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlereader/tour.htmlhttp://docs.google.com/http://www.google.com/alertshttp://www.attw.org/?q=node/28http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/http://scholar.google.com/http://pinboard.in/http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/http://www.dreamhost.com/domains.htmlhttp://twitter.com/http://about.me/http://flavors.me/https://github.com/weightshift/The-Personal-Pagehttp://google.com/analytics/

8/6/2019 693-001 :: Writing in the Profession

7/7

5.31 Short Proposals

6.1 Fellowships

6.2 Mid-length Proposals + Budgeting

6.3 Grants Portfolio Due

Week4 [ Swales, articles ]

6.6 Academic C.V. | Journal Venues and CFPs (collaborative)

6.7 Dissertation Abstracts | Activity Log

6.8 Teaching/Administration Statements

6.9 Application Letter

6.10 Job Market Portfolio Due

Week5 [ Swales, Polayni, articles ]

6.13 Journal Analysis

6.14 Reverse Engineering an article

6.15 Manuscript preparation

6.16 Manuscript preparation | Submission Letter

6.17 Publishable Manuscript Portfolio