Irwin Weiser

 



HOME

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

COURSES


Curriculum Vitae


General Information Administrative Experience Teaching Research & Scholarship Service

GENERAL INFORMATION

Education

Ph.D. Indiana University, 1976: English
M.A. Indiana University, 1973: English
A.B. Miami University (Ohio), 1971: English

Professional Experience

Purdue University, 1981-present

Department Head, 2002-present
Director of Composition, 1986-1995, 1998-2002
Professor, 1998
Associate Professor, 1989-1998
Acting Director of Freshman Composition, 1983-1984
Assistant Professor and Director of Developmental Writing, 1981-1989

Tennessee Technological University, 1979-1981

Assistant Professor of English and English Lab Co-director

Illinois State University, 1977-1979

Assistant Professor of English

University of Louisville, 1976-1977

Lecturer in Composition

Indiana University, 1972-1976

Associate Instructor, Department of English

Awards, Honors, and Leaves at Purdue

2000: School of Liberal Arts Educational Excellence Award
1998: Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
1997: Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
1995/96: Lilly Endowment Faculty Open Fellowship for the study of critical and      student-centered pedagogy
1995/96: Purdue University Sabbatical Leave
1994: Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
1993: Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award
1993: Center for Undergraduate Instructional Excellence, Purdue University School of Liberal Arts (for Spring 1994)
1989: Purdue University Sabbatical Leave
1983: Purdue University Summer XL Grant

Professional Memberships

Council of Writing Program Administrators
National Council of Teachers of English
Conference of College Composition and Communication

return to top

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Head, Department of English, July 1, 2002-present

Programs Administered at Purdue

1998-2002 & 1986-95: Director of Composition, administering English 100, 101, 102, 103, and 304
1983-84: Acting Director of Composition, administering English 100, 101, 102, and 103
1981-86: Director of Developmental Writing, (English 100)

Curriculum and Course Development

1999-2002: As Director of Composition, I guided a proposal for a revision of first-year composition through the Department of English, the SLA Curriculum Committee and Educational Policy Committee. The proposal was approved by the SLA Senate on December 6, 2001. In January 2002, the Introductory Writing Committee began working on curriculum development and implementation strategies for this change, which will take place in August 2003. Our goal is to incorporate appropriate uses of technology and small-group and individual conferences into all sections of English 101.

1999-2002: I worked with the Lilly Endowment Retention Initiative to make English Composition courses an integral part of the Learning Communities project. Activities included setting up the basic articulation with the Learning Communities staff, recruiting instructional staff, and facilitating communication among Lilly and English Department participants.

1999: Developed a graduate seminar in Writing Assessment

1998: Worked with the School of Science Connections program to include English Composition courses in their school-sponsored retention program. Coordinated development of writing program participation, recruited staff, served as liaison between School of Science and Introductory Writing Program.

1996: Developed a graduate seminar in Writing Across the Curriculum

1989: Developed and taught for the first time English 304P, Advanced Composition for Professional Writing Majors, precursor to English 306, Introduction to Professional Writing

1985-86: Helped design and set-up the NCR Experimental Computer Classroom, the first networked instructional computer classroom for the English Department. Reviewed word-processing software for use in the computer class. Beta-tested a program for collaborative writing and commenting on drafts in one section of Developmental Writing.

1982-83: Introduced the use of undergraduate peer tutors in the lab component of Developmental Writing. Tutors participate in a for-credit practicum, then serve as paid tutors.

1981-82: Introduced a Writing Lab component to the Developmental Writing curriculum. The lab component enabled teachers to assign students to work on self-instructional materials appropriate for their individual needs and to work with graduate tutors as they revised papers.

Committee Leadership and Membership

School of Liberal Arts Committees

School of Liberal Arts Dean Search Committee, 2002
School of Liberal Arts Area Promotions Committee, 2001-present
Chair, School of Liberal Arts Writing Intensive Program Implementation Committee, 1997-present
School of Liberal Arts Nominating and Elections Committee, 1999-2001
School of Liberal Arts Center for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Selection Committee, 1995-1998; Chair, 1997-98.
School of Liberal Arts Agenda Committee, Chair, 1994-95
School of Liberal Arts Committee on Retention, 1992
School of Liberal Arts Senate, 1989-1991; 1993-95; 1998-2001
School of Liberal Arts Curriculum 2000 Committee, 1990

Department of English Committees

Chair, Introductory Writing Committee, 1990-1995; 1998-2002
Chair, Composition Committee, 1983-84; 1986-1989
Chair, Working Conditions Committee, 1990-1995
Chair, Ad hoc Committee on Advanced Writing, 1989
Policy Committee, 1982-83, 1988-1992, 1997-1999 (Chair 1999), 2000-2002 (Chair)
Recruitment Committees: Chair of Searches in ESL Composition, 1990-91; Composition, 1993-
    94; Composition and Technology, 1999-2000; Associate Director of Writing Lab, 2000-2001;
    Member of Department Head Search (internal), 1997; English Education, 1998-99
Ph.D. Preliminary Examination Committee, 1983, 1986-88, 2000-2001
M.A. Examination Committee, 1986-1988, 2001
Advanced Writing Committee, 1990-1996
Introductory Writing Committee, 1996-2002
Literary Awards Committee, 1981-1982
Graduate Admissions Committee

return to top

TEACHING

Courses Taught at Purdue

Undergraduate Courses:

English 100: Developmental Writing
English 101: English Composition I
English 102: English Composition II (conventional and in computer classrooms)
English 103: Advanced First-year Composition
English 304: Advanced Composition
English 304P: Advanced Composition for Professional Writing Majors
English 240: English Literature Through the Eighteenth Century

Graduate Courses:

English 502D: Practicum in Teaching Developmental Writing
English 502A/B: Practicum in Teaching Composition
English 505A/B: Approaches to Teaching College Composition
English 625: Seminar in Composition Research
English 680A: Seminar in Writing Assessment
English 680W: Seminar in Writing Across the Curriculum
English 589: Directed Writing
English 590: Directed Reading

Service on Ph.D. Committees:

        Service as Chair

Completed:

Mary Ellen Daniloff Merrill "Using Critical Discourse Analysis to Analyze a Basic Writing Workbook" 2001

Karin Evans "Broadening Environments and Practicing Literacy: A Contextual Developmental Approach to Basic Writing" 1997

Jeffrey A. Jablonski "Reconceiving Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Locating the Intellectual Work of Writing Across the Curriculum Consultants" 2000

                     Patricia M. Jenkins "A Pedagogy for Basic Writing" 1998

Amy C. Kimme Hea "Entanglements: Rearticulating Discourses and Practices of Web-based Teaching and Learning" 2001 (co-chair)

Sharon James McGee "A Qualitative Study of Student Response to Teacher-Written Comments" 1999

Jennifer Morrison "Purdue University’s School of Liberal Arts Writing Intensive Initiative: A Case of Professional Development for Teaching Assistants" 2001

Edwin R. Nagelhout "Writing and Professional Apprenticeship: Case Studies of Biology Graduate Students’ Entry Into the Scientific Community" 1996

Melinda Turnley "Re-writing Media: A Critical Investigation of Mediological Assumptions in Composition Pedagogies" 2001 (co-chair)

Michael J. Zerbe "Toward a Cultural Studies-Based Pedagogy for the Rhetoric of Science" 1998

In Progress:

Jennifer Courtney "Rhetoric and Contemporary Domestic Advice"

Chris Gilliard "Cultural Studies Pedagogy and the Construction of the Black Male Athlete: Sports, Power, and the Black Body"

Service as Committee Member:

 I currently serve as a member of eleven dissertation committees. I have served on the committees of over forty students who have completed their Ph.D.s in a variety of areas: rhetoric and composition, literature, and linguistics.

Service on M.A. Thesis Committees

Wladyslaw Chlopicki, M.A. in Linguistics, 1987
Joanne Lax-Farr, M.A. in Linguistics, 1994
Jessie Moore, M.A. in Rhetoric, 2001
Mark Staunton, M.A. in Creative Writing, 1994
Gladys Vega, M.A. in Linguistics, 1989
David Umbach, M.A. in Linguistics, 1990
Richard Zath (Chair), M.A. in Rhetoric, 1989
Yan Zhao, M.A. in Linguistics, 1987

return to top

RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

Publications

Books

In Progress:

Academic Writing and Research: Strategies for Inquiry and Argument. Under contract. Mcgraw-Hill/Mayfield Publishers. A first-year composition textbook. Expected publication: 2004.

In Print:

The Writing Program Administrator as Theorist: Making Knowledge Work. A co-edited collection of new essays articulating the relationships between writing program administration and theory. Co-edited with Shirley K Rose. Heinemann, 2002.

The Writing Program Administrator as Researcher: Inquiry in Action and Reflection. A co-edited collection of new essays defining the intellectual work and research methods of writing program administrators. Co-edited with Shirley K Rose. Heinemann, 1999.

Situating Portfolios: Four Perspectives. A co-edited collection of new essays on portfolios at all educational levels. Co-edited with Kathleen Blake Yancey. Utah State University Press, 1997.

Writing: An Introduction. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman: 1989

Language and Writing: Applications of Linguistics to Rhetoric and Composition. With Victor Raskin. Norwood, N.J. Ablex: 1987.

Index of American Periodical Verse. With Sander Zulauf. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press: annually 1971-1977.

Book Chapters

"Theorizing Writing Program Theorizing." With Shirley K Rose. In The Writing Program Administrator as Theorist, ed. Shirley K Rose and Irwin Weiser. Heinemann, 2002, 183-195.

"Introduction." The Writing Program Administrator as Theorist, ed. Shirley K Rose and Irwin Weiser. Co-authored with Shirley K Rose. Heinemann, 2002, 1-6.

"WPA as Researcher and Archivist." With Shirley K Rose. In The Writing Program Administrator's Resource: A Guide to Reflective Institutional Practice , ed. Stuart Brown and Theresa Enos. Erlbaum, 2002, 275-290.

"When Teaching Assistants Teach Teaching Assistants to Teach: An Historical View of a Teacher Preparation Program." In Preparing Teachers of College Writing: Histories, Theories, Programs, Practices, ed. Betty Pytlik and Sarah Liggett. Oxford UP, 2002. 40-49.

"Academic Dishonesty is not Tolerated in Chem. 110." With Jeffrey Jablonski. In Writing Making Learning: Cross-Curricular Scenes for Reflection and Faculty Development, ed. Chris M. Anson. Oxford UP, 2002, 189-194.

"Self-Assessment, Reflection, and the New Teacher of Writing." In Self-Assessment and Development in Writing, ed. Kathleen Blake Yancey and Jane Smith. Hampton Press, 2000. 139-156.

"Local Research and Curriculum Development: Using Surveys to Learn About Writing Assignments in the Disciplines," in The Writing Program Administrator as Researcher, ed. Shirley K Rose and Irwin Weiser. Heinemann, 1999. 95-106.

"Introduction," The Writing Program Administrator as Researcher, ed. by Shirley K Rose and Irwin Weiser. Co-authored with Shirley K Rose. Heinemann, 1999. v-xi.

"Revising Our Practices: How Portfolios Help Teachers Learn," in Situating Portfolios: Four Perspectives, ed. Kathleen Blake Yancey and Irwin Weiser. Utah State University Press, 1997. 293-301.

"Portfolios and the New Teaching Assistant" in New Directions in Portfolio Assessment, ed. Jeffrey Sommers, et. al., Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann-Boynton/Cook, 1994. 219-229.

"Teaching Assistants as Collaborators in Their Preparation and Evaluation" in Evaluating Teachers of Writing, ed. Christine Hult, Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1994.133-146.

"The CCCC's 'Statement of Principles and Standards for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing': Implications for Writing Program Administrators and Teaching Assistants." With Karen Dwyer. The TA Experience: Preparing for Multiple Roles. ed. Karron Lewis. Stillwater, OK: New Forums P, 1993. 19-24.

"Portfolio Practice and Assessment for Collegiate Basic Writers," in Portfolios in the Writing Classroom: An Introduction, ed. Kathleen Blake Yancey, Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1992. 89-101.

Articles

"Linguistics" in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. Theresa Enos. Garland Publishing, 1996: 386-91.

"Coherence." in Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts, ed. Alan C. Purvis, New York: Scholastic, 1994. 205-207.

"Resemblance and Similitude in Academic Writing." Journal of Teaching Writing 11 (1994), 177-85.

"Ideological Implications of Social-Epistemic Pedagogy." Composition Studies 20 (Fall 1992), 29-35.

"Surveying New Teaching Assistants: Who They Are, What They Know, and What They Want to Know." WPA: Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators 14 (Fall/Winter 1990), 63-71.

"The Relationship Between Theory and Practice." Journal of Teaching Writing 7 (Spring/Summer 1988), 1-8.

"Better Writing Through Rhetorically Based Assignments." Journal of Teaching Writing 6 (Spring 1987), 41-48.

"Developing a Basic Writing Program: Addressing Error Individually." Arizona English Bulletin 29 (Spring 1987), 42-47.

"John Barth's Sabbatical." The Explicator 42 (Winter 1984), 22-23.

"Standardized Tests of Writing Abilities: Some Additional Thoughts." Freshman English News 12 (Spring 1983), 15-16.

"The Prose Paraphrase: Integrating Poetry and Composition." The English Record 32 (Winter 1981), 13-14. Rpt. in Instructor's Manual to Accompany An Introduction to Poetry, 5th. ed., X. J. and Dorothy Kennedy (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1982), 192-95.

"Reading and Writing: Teaching Poetry and Composition in Six Weeks." F.E.R.N. (Freshman English Resource Notes) (Fall 1981), 8-13.

"Dickens' Great Expectations." The Explicator 39 (Summer 1981), 14-15.

"Dickens' Hearthless Hero: The Failure of Home and Family in Great Expectations." Illinois Quarterly 43 (Winter 1980), 28-39.

"Imitation in the Basic Writing Class." Arizona English Bulletin 22 (Feb. 1980), 139-43. Rpt. in Writing Projects, ed. Margaret Fleming (Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1981).

"Sentence Combining for Diction and Detail Improvement." F.E.R.N. (Spr/Sum 1979), 8-9, 12.

See also "(Inter)textuality, Semantics, and Coherence," "A Cross-Disciplinary Survey," and "Interpreting Diagnostic Essays" under Papers and Lectures, published in ERIC.

Reviews

"Review of the 1981 issues of The Journal of Basic Writing," The Rhetoric Society Quarterly 12 (Summer 1982), 167-72.

Papers and Lectures

National

"Supporting Future WPAs Through Administrative Apprenticeships." CCCC, Denver, CO, March 2001.

"How Being a WPA Has Made Me a New Abolitionist." WPA, Charlotte, NC, July 2000.

"Preserving Our Culture: Writing Programs’ Responses to Extra-Curricular and Cross-Disciplinary Initiatives." CCCC, Minneapolis, MN, April 2000.

"George S. Wykoff’s ‘Toward Achieving the Objectives of Freshman Composition:’ A Rereading." CCCC, Atlanta, GA, March, 1999.

"Learning to Reflect on the Self-as-Teacher." CCCC, Chicago, IL, April 1998. Session chair and presenter.

"Multiple Responsibilities, Constituencies, and Loyalites of the WPA." WPA (Writing Program Administrators), Houghton, MI, July, 1997.

"Connecting Assessment and Reflective Practice in the Preparation of New Teachers of Writing," NCTE Conference on Assessment and the Teaching of English, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June, 1997. Featured speaker.

"Not Just Administering Programs: The WPA as Tightrope Walker," CCCC, Phoenix, AZ, March, 1997.

"Strategies for Encouraging Reflective Practice among New Teachers of Writing," WPA (Writing Program Administrators), Oxford, OH, August, 1996.

"Curriculum Planning and Conceptions of Literacies in the Liberal Arts," CCCC, Washington, D.C., March 1995.

"Portfolios in the Academic Writing Class," (Roundtable), CCCC, Washington, D.C., March 1995.

"Beginning With Portfolios." Portfolios, Writing Across the Curriculum, and Program Assessment: National Portfolio Conference Series, Phoenix, June 1994.

"Revising Our Practices: How Portfolios Help Teachers Learn." Portfolios for Learning and Beyond: National Portfolio Conference Series, Baltimore, April 1994. Featured speaker.

"Portfolios as Extensions of Process Pedagogy in the Preparation of Teaching Assistants." CCCC, San Diego, April 1993.

"Portfolios and the New Teaching Assistant." New Directions in Portfolio Assessment, Oxford, OH, October 1992.

"Why I Wrote a Textbook and Why I (May) Want to Write Another." CCCC, Cincinnati, March 1992.

"The CCCC's 'Statement of Principles and Standards for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing': Implications for Writing Program Administrators." The TA Experience: Third National Conference on the Training and Employment of Teaching Assistants, Austin, TX, November 1991.

"Ideological Implications of Social-Epistemic Rhetoric." CCCC, Chicago, March 1990.

"Soliciting New TA's Concerns: Using Survey Responses to Plan an Orientation Program for Writing Teachers." Preparing the Professoriate of Tomorrow for Teaching: Second National Conference on the Training and Employment of Teaching Assistants, Seattle, November 1989.

"Addressing New Teaching Assistants' Concerns." WPA (Writing Program Administrators) Summer Conference, Miami University, Oxford, OH, July 1989.

"Publishing in WPA: Writing Program Administration." Roundtable discussion, WPA Summer Conference, Miami University, Oxford, OH, July 1989.

"Exploring Concepts of Writing: Theory Development in Advanced Composition Courses." Third Miami Conference on the Teaching of Writing, October 1988.

"(Inter)textuality, Semantics, and Coherence." CCCC, St. Louis, March 1988. Subsequently published in ERIC, Resources in Education, September 1988.

"Linguistic Applications to the Study of Coherence." CCCC, Atlanta, March 19, 1987.

"When Students Write About Writing," CCCC, New Orleans, March 13, 1986.

"Research Opportunities for the Composition Instructor," CCCC, Minneapolis, March 21, 1985.

"The Relationship Between Theory and Pedagogy: Problems and an Alternative Model," CCCC, New York, March 1984.

"Experimental Studies and the Teaching of Writing: What Sentence-Combining Research Has Taught Us," Second Miami University Conference on Sentence-Combining and the Teaching of Writing, Oxford, OH, October, 1983.

"A Cross-Disciplinary Survey of Writing Expectations," CCCC, San Francisco, March 1982. Subsequently published in ERIC, Resources in Education, August 1985.

"Interpreting Diagnostic Essays: Basic Writer or Composition Student?" CCCC, Dallas, March 1981. Subsequently published in ERIC, Resources in Education, June 1982.

"Using Sentence Combining to Teach Diction and Detail Improvement," The Miami University Sentence-Combining Workshop, October, 1978.

Regional and Local

"Resemblance and Similitude in Academic Writing," Indiana College English Association, South Bend, September 29, 1991.

"Social Theories of Rhetoric," Miami University Department of English, March 1989.

"Writing About Writing: What Our Students Teach Us," Indiana Teachers of Writing, Indianapolis, September 28, 1986.

"Imitation Techniques in the Writing Class," Fifth Purdue English Workshop, West Lafayette, November 1, 1985.

"Preparing High School Students for College Writing Courses," Mid-America Conference on Composition, Vincennes University, Vincennes, IN, April 19, 1985.

"The Value of Doing Research in Your Own Classroom," Indiana Teachers of Writing, Indianapolis, September 29, 1984.

"Establishing Priorities in Introductory Composition," Set It Right Conference, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, April 1978.

Workshops

"The Intellectual Work of the WPA." Pre-convention Workshop at the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, March 20, 2002. Co-leader.

Designing Writing Assignments to Support Course Goals, a three-day workshop for faculty from all disciplines. Carleton College, December 10-12, 2001. Leader.

Developing Writing Intensive Courses, a week-long faculty workshop sponsored by the School of Liberal Arts, May 1998, repeated May 2000, May 2001, May 2002. Co-leader and presenter.

"Writing and Learning," a two-week faculty workshop sponsored by the School of Liberal Arts, May 1995. Co-leader and presenter.

"Portfolios and Writing Across the Curriculum," Nazareth College, Rochester NY, May 11, 1994. Co-leader and presenter.

"Evaluating Teachers of Writing," CCCC, Boston, March 1991. Co-leader and presenter.

"What Are We Doing as a Research Community," CCCC, St. Louis, March 1988. Presenter.

"Teaching Basic Writing," University of Alabama at Birmingham, September 9-11, 1985. Leader and presenter.

"Sentence Combining and the Teaching of Writing," Lilly Foundation Workshop, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, IN, August 12, 1983. Leader and presenter. Repeated by invitation, August 31, 1984.

"Using Statistical Data in Composition Research," CCCC, Detroit, March 1983. Co-leader and presenter.

return to top

SERVICE

Related Professional Activities

Elected to the Executive Board of the Council of Writing Program Administrators (WPA). 2002-2004.

Member, Plaigiarism Task Force, Council of Writing Program Administrators, 2002-present.

Elected to the Executive Committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC). 1996-1999.

Editorial Board Member, WPA: Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators. 1986-1989 and 1991-2002.

Review Board Member, Rhetoric Review. 1994-present.

Consulting Reader, College Composition and Communication. 1987-present.

Editorial Board Member, Journal of Teaching Writing. 1985-1987.

Editorial Board Member, Journal of Basic Writing. 1985-1995.

Manuscript and text reviews for Little, Brown; Winthrop; Scott, Foresman; Bobbs-Merrill; Macmillan; Prentice-Hall; D. C. Heath; Harper and Row; Houghton-Mifflin; Allyn & Bacon; HarperCollins; St. Martins'; Bedford ; Mayfield ; Blair Press; Longman’s; Sage Publications; Heinemann Boynton/Cook.

Proposal Evaluator, Conference on College Composition and Communication, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002.

Member of Exemplar Selection Committee, Conference on College Composition and Communication, 1997-1999.

Member of the Nominating Task Force, Conference on College Composition and Communication, 1998-2000.

 Judge, James Berlin Memorial Dissertation Award, CCCC, 1995.

 Forum Chair, "Introductory Composition Pedagogy: Researching Our Practices," CCCC, March 1995, Washington, D.C.

Discussant, Caucus on Intellectual Property Issue, CCCC, March 1996, Milwaukee, WI.