ENGL 306: Introduction to Professional Writing

In English 306, Professional Writing majors study texts, contexts, and concepts important to the practice of professional writing and produce documents for print and digital distribution. The class is organized around the question “What do professional writers do now and what will they do in the future?” and students read and analyze rhetorical theory, professional writing scholarship, and current popular conceptions of professional writing in order to answer this question. Students finish the course with an interview of a practicing professional writer and develop a report and infographic that helps future students better understand professional writing.

ENGL 420: Business Writing (x3)

ENGL 420 teaches students including Professional Writing majors, the rhetorical principles and writing practices necessary for producing effective business letters, memos, reports, and collaborative projects in professional contexts. This course focuses on ethical research and personal ethos within documentation production. In my courses, students focus on multimedia user manuals, green and white papers, employment projects, and documentation for community groups as a service-learning component.

ENGL 421: Technical Writing

In ENGL 421, students, including Professional Writing majors, work individually and in groups to learn ethical, effective, and rhetorically grounded strategies for communicating technical material, particularly in networked workplaces. In my courses, students focus on understanding the experience of the user and learn both user-centered processes and strategies for usability testing. Students produce a wide range of print and digital documents, and focus on several projects, including touch-screen interface design, usability testing, and user manuals.

ENGL 420E: Business Writing for Entrepreneurs

ENGL 420E is a special section of Business Writing where students can earn their Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in association with the Burton D. Morgan Center in Discovery Park. Coursework is focused on marketing and product-planning documentation.

ENGL 420Y: Business Writing Online

ENGL 420Y is the online version of Business Writing and attempts to find a middle space between the daily assignments, interaction of an onsite course, and the self-pacing students may expect of distance education courses. All coursework takes place through course Drupal-based Websites.

ENGL 106: Introduction to Rhetoric and Composition (x5)

English 106 is an entry-level, four-credit rhetoric and composition course where students engage with writing, multimedia composition, rhetorical strategy, and critical thinking skills. In the version I teach, students focus on composing as it happens online and work on projects including documentary videos, multimedia advertisements, thematic blogs, social media analysis, and a wide range of web-based publications. Much of the course examines students’ own digital literacy practices and productions, and, along with a rhetoric textbook, students read and analyze writing from a wide range of texts including Everything is Miscellaneous, Wikinomics, Convergence Culture, Ambient Findability, Cognitive Surplus, The Cult of the Amateur, Free Culture, The Future of Reputation, Everything Bad is Good for You, Access Denied, Reality is Broken, What Technology Wants, Born Digital, as well as videos from Authors @ Google, and TED Talks.

USSO 240: A People’s History of Cleveland

In USSO 240, a seminar course, students focus on understanding historiography, cultural studies, and working class studies, all while researching one city – Cleveland. The course centers on the questions “why is Cleveland described as working-class” and “what is the rust-belt”? In answering these questions, students investigate Cleveland history, visit local historical sites, engage guest speakers, and read about working-class themes. The course culminates in an empirical oral history project where students uncover stories of Cleveland life not previously told.