English 706-001
Seminar in Professional Writing Theory and Pedagogy
Instr: Alred, Gerald
Office: CRT 566; 229-4569
e-mail: alred@uwm.edu
Office hours: TBA
Course Information: M; 5:30-8:10 pm; CRT 127
Course Description
The primary goal of this course is to enable students to design and teach a theoretically informed and pedagogically coherent undergraduate course in business and technical writing. To accomplish this goal, students will study the underlying assumptions of pedagogical strategies, critically examine the most influential textbooks, research key theoretical and pedagogical issues in professional writing, and create a syllabus for an academic or workplace course they may teach.
Graduate students and faculty from other departments and institutions often attend, so students are not expected to come to the course with extensive prior knowledge of the issues or scholarship in professional writing. English 706 is the primary qualification to teach English 205 or 206 as well as a core course in Plan G: Professional Writing curriculum.
Students who have taken this course are currently teaching business, technical, and professional writing at such diverse institutions as Milwaukee School of Engineering, Marquette University, Syracuse University, and The Stockholm School of Economics. Guest speakers are usually scheduled.
Readings will be taken from appropriate journals and works like the following:
Alred, The St. Martin's Bibliography for Business and Technical Communication.*
Alred, Brusaw, Oliu. The Business Writer's Handbook (8th edition).*
Douglas and Hildebrant, Studies in the History of Business Writing.
Dubinsky, James M., ed. Teaching Technical Communication.*
Johnson-Eilola and Selber, eds. Central Works in Technical Communication.
The complete syllabus in progress is available by using the English 706 link at http://www.uwm.edu/People/alred.
Why theory, practice, and pedagogy are inevitably connected.
"Essentially, the practice of writing and communicating in the workplace is both the object of our study and the goal of our pedagogy. Therefore, theory is necessary to prevent us from being overwhelmed by what is local, particular, and temporal. In turn, pedagogy both mediates practice and transforms our theory." - The St. Martin's Bibliography of Business and Technical Communication (Alred ix)
* Complementary copies will be provided by Bedford/St. Martin's.
