Instructional Development Highlights

E-Portfolio Workshop

Developed and implemented the capstone course for the Writing Certificate Program. Students in the workshop review and analyze the work done in their writing-intensive WCP credit courses and select pieces that represent their program of study for the certificate.

Writing and Community

New service-learning course developed to focus on the relationship between writing and community through exploration of the various communities in which we participate and the role of written communication in the development and maintenance of those communities.

Technical and Professional Writing and Writing for the Web: Service-Learning

Developed service-learning project working with the Archway Partnership to have students analyze and and revise current websites and develop new site design plans, including visuals, copy, and information architecture and then produce a professional report conveying the recommendations. Students at UGA in these courses have developed new website plans for Candler County and Pulaski County, GA, and the new Candler site recently went live: Everything's Better in Metter.

Advanced Studies in Writing: "Writing About Writing"

This course's central question is "What is useful in thinking about writing as an object of study in and of itself?" The focus is on all aspects of writing - the writing process, our conception of ourselves as writers, methods for teaching and learning writing skills, and understanding the process of textual production - and how focusing on writing as a subject of knowledge affects the development of writing skills.

Advanced Studies in Writing: "Community Writing"

Developed special topic course on that focused on the role of rhetoric and writing in the construction and development of community identity. Partnered with the Office of Service-Learning's Community Food Engagement Hub and ARST 4210: Special Topics in Photography (Instructor: Professor Michael Marshall) to create multimodal informational materials and publications for local agencies, including Campus Kitchen, UGArden, Athens Community Council on Aging/Meals on Wheels, and P.L.A.C.E.

Writing is a problem. Writing is design. Writing is negotiation. Writing is conversation.

My focus as a teacher of rhetoric and composition courses is on building the problem-solving skills that form the foundation of effective writing. I work to engage students in the process of analyzing and negotiating each unique rhetorical challenge. I treat writing as a design activity, in which writers must determine what they wish to accomplish and how they wish their audience to interact with and experience each textual composition and figure out how best to achieve their aims. My courses are structured around the iterative processes of research, drafting, review, revision, and editing. I emphasize research as a way to engage students in the questions that pique their curiosity, and I create opportunities for them to work through the academic process of exploration. I also emphasize authentic learning experiences that give students the chance to engage with and produce texts for actual readers and communities who are invested in the issues and topics they are exploring.