Resurrection

Enculturation and The Writing Instructor, two journals that had gone a few years without publishing, are back online. I'm happy to see them.

CCCCs' Use of the Web

It's a little late to try to circulate this ad (deadline is tomorrow), but I'm going to do it anyway. CCCC is looking for a web editor:

The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) is seeking applications from CCCC members for a new position as CCCC Web Editor (to be distinguished from CCC Online Archivist). The CCCC Web Editor’s term will be three years (non-renewable) beginning as soon as possible after the application deadline and ending in December of 2011. This is a volunteer position.

Actual programming or Web building is not required. Instead, the CCCC Web Editor will have the responsibility of orchestrating uses of new Web building structures made available in the coming months (e.g., blogs, Wikis, Face Book and so on), moderating new community spaces, publishing relevant information, and working with NCTE/CCCC to develop a stronger Website with new features. We anticipate that after the initial restructuring period, no more than 5 to 10 hours per month will be required of the Web Editor's time.

Persons interested in applying for the CCCC Web Editor position should send a cover letter of application to be received no later than October 1, 2008. The applicant letter should be accompanied by the applicant's CV, one sample of published writing, and a one-page statement of the applicant's vision for transforming the CCCC Website into an active community space. Two reference letters from CCCC members attesting to the applicant's qualifications can be sent under separate cover. Please do not send books, monographs, or other materials that cannot be easily copied for the Search Committee.

Applications should be mailed to Kristen Suchor, CCCC Web Editor Search Committee, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096; faxed to (217) 328-0977; or emailed to cccc@ncte.org.

I originally intended to post this as a "be part of the solution" exhortation, as several of us have expressed criticism of how CCCC has used the web in the past. For example, when they started a blog, some of us weren't impressed. I took a look at the CCCC blog right before writing this post, though, and I was very impressed. The blog had lain fallow throughout late 2006, all of 2007, and the first half of 2008, but now Joyce Middleton has started a series of posts titled Conversations on Diversity. She's featuring essay-length posts by -- so far -- Victor Villanueva, Krista Ratcliffe, Malea Powell, Paul Kei Matsuda, Haivan Hoang, Jonathan Alexander, and Mike Rose. Check it out; I will very likely be assigning this series of posts in my pedagogy classes.

Cross-posted at Kairosnews.

I want your teeth for the Federal Reserve

It's starting to feel that way, isn't it? I dread seeing our next TIAA-CREF statements, ugh.

No! Not that face!

is what we say when he makes the following face:

DSC01772

Market, Schmarket

I am thrilled to be NOT on the job market this year, and I hope I never have to do that again. I do have to chair a search committee (again, sigh), this time for a Writing Center director. Please don't hesitate to apply if you have some interest in this area and Writing Center experience.

Also, I've been asked to help circulate these two ads -- I'm happy to do my part. One for the University of Texas:

The Department of Rhetoric & Writing (DRW) at The University of Texas at Austin is accepting applications for an assistant professor position in emerging communication technologies and digital media, including video and gaming, and with emphasis on production.

DRW faculty members have the opportunity to teach a wide array of courses designed to contribute to the undergraduate major in Rhetoric and Writing and the graduate concentration in Digital Literacies and Literatures -- all with the support of our nationally renowned Computer Writing and Research Lab (CWRL), which operates state-of-the-art computer classrooms. As a member of the DRW faculty, the selected candidate will be expected to teach at all levels of our curriculum, to direct dissertations, MA reports, and honors theses, to publish actively, and to offer service to the Department, the College, and the University.

The successful candidate will demonstrate both a scholarly and a pedagogical commitment to the intersections of rhetoric and technology studies and should have completed a PhD in rhetoric and writing or a related field prior to start date.

The DRW boasts a dynamic, collegial, nationally and internationally recognized faculty with interests in the history, theory, and criticism of rhetoric, composition theory and pedagogy, technologies of writing, visual rhetoric, empirical research, writing in the disciplines and professions, rhetoric and poetics, and language and literacy studies. Sub-units of the DRW include the Undergraduate Writing Center, the Computer Writing and Research Lab, and the College of Liberal Arts Writing Across the Curriculum Initiative. Teaching load is 2/2; salary is competitive.

Application deadline is October 31, 2008.

Email a letter of application, curriculum vita, dissertation abstract, and statement of teaching philosophy (no longer than one page) to Search Committee Chair Clay Spinuzzi at clay.spinuzzi@mail.utexas.edu.

Also submit three letters of recommendation via U.S. Mail to:

Clay Spinuzzi, Search Committee Chair

Department of Rhetoric & Writing
1 University Station B5500
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712-0200

Position funding is pending budgetary approval. A background check will be conducted on successful candidate. The University of Texas at Austin is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

And one for the University of Minnesota:

The Department of Writing Studies in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota invites applications for a full-time, nine-month faculty position beginning fall semester 2009 (August 31, 2009). Appointment will be made at the rank of professor with tenure or associate professor with tenure, depending on qualifications and experience and consistent with collegiate and University policy.

Required Qualifications: Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, English, Technical Communication, or a related field, and at least six years experience in an academic position; record of scholarship and teaching that meets the criteria for tenure and appointment as professor or associate professor at the University of Minnesota; established reputation as scholar and teacher with significant and innovative research agenda and experience

Preferred Qualifications: Familiarity with and enthusiasm for providing scholarly leadership for writing studies as an emerging academic field; demonstrated ability to bring visibility to the department and its programs through a nationally recognized and ongoing research agenda; ability to contribute to the department's existing and developing undergraduate and graduate programs; demonstrated successful teaching at several levels; success in or potential for mentoring and advising graduate students

We seek the strongest candidate in writing studies regardless of sub-field; however, we have interest in the following areas: visual communication; digital literacies; technical communication; rhetoric and composition; medical or health writing. We will favor candidates whose dossiers demonstrate scholarly distinction and on-going record of publication.

Candidates will be evaluated according to the overall quality of their academic preparation and scholarly/research profile, evidence of commitment to teaching and skills as a teacher, and strength of recommendations. We are most strongly interested in a full professor but would consider an advanced associate professor whose record demonstrates the ability to be promoted to full professor within the year.

For more information about the position and the department, please visit the job posting web site at

http://www2.cla.umn.edu/admin/faculty-research/CLAFacultySearchesFY09.html

(scroll down to Writing Studies and click on the link)

or contact Professor Mary Lay Schuster, search committee chair, at mmlay@umn.edu
or Professor Laura Gurak, department chair, at gurakL@umn.edu

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Yeah, bullets. What of it?

  • One unfortunate and very minor side effect of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike: I have the cloyingly sentimental song "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane" in my mind and have for weeks. It's by Tanya Tucker; I had thought it was by Lorrie Morgan.
  • During the many hours I was half-asleep, half-awake last night, I thought about an assignment one could give in a Classical rhetoric course. In my class, we've been talking about the rhetorical excesses of some sophists, the ones criticized by Plato and Isocrates. I thought it might be fun to do a "sophists travel through time" kind of assignment. Here goes: "you're one of those shady sophists who make big promises for what you can teach students. You can make ANYONE a great speaker who can use the power of rhetoric to make an audience do whatever you say. Who cares if that's the right thing or not? Make a video commercial advertising your services." What I saw in my head was a cheesy commercial after the fashion of for-profit colleges, but with florid, Don King-like language and delivery and gushing testimonies from former students. I'm not going to give this assignment in my class, but it seems interesting enough to write down anyway. Maybe I'll do it myself and send it to Disputatio.
  • The theme of the NCTE convention is "Because Shift Happens: Teaching in the Twenty-First Century"? I'm sorry, but FAIL. The subtitle is a total throwaway, and the first part is just bad taste.
  • To teach is to learn twice, as they say. I'm learning a lot in my Classical rhetoric class, and I hope to get some sort of publication out of it. One idea I have is about Isocrates and assessment, though that's some low-hanging fruit that I'm sure has been done.

The Baby Meme

I figured I'd create one of those survey/meme things for us babies as a way for us to get to know each other better. Remember, it's what YOU like, not what your parents like.

1. Cloth or disposable? Both, I don't have a preference.
2. Breast or bottle? Breast, unless I'm starving
3. Eczema or reflux? Eczema, but it isn't too bad.
4. Jumparoo or play mat? Jumparoo, I guess, but I'm not that into either of them.
5. Mommy or Daddy? I like them both about the same, but if I have to pick one: Mommy.
6. Sling, front carrier, or stroller? Front carrier
7. Pacifier or thumb? Thumb all the way
8. Bumbo seat or bouncy seat? Bumbo
9. White noise or silence while sleeping? White noise, LOUD -- and ceiling fan
10. Crib, Pack'n'Play, or parents' bed? Pack'n'Play, sometimes bed

I tag: Chico, AndyZ,, and Win.

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