Council of Writing Program Administrators

History

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Member for

3 years 26 weeks

Professional Information

Position Title

Director of Professional Writing

Institution or Organization

Purdue University

URL of Writing Program

http://pw.english.purdue.edu/

URL of Homepage

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~blakesle/

Rank

Professor

Areas of Research/Teaching/WPA Interests

Much of my scholarly work is in rhetorical theory, digital and visual rhetorics, film, and publishing. I teach courses in professional writing and rhetoric, including research methods, business writing, digital publishing, multimedia writing, Kenneth Burke, and mentoring. Lately, I have become more interested in emergence and complexity theory.

As a WPA first for a first-year composition program and now a professional (and technical) writing program, I am interested in the disciplinary issues that come into play as we move across these boundaries, including the ones that sometimes divide composition, rhetoric, tech comm, graphic design, and traditional English studies.

Publications of Interest to WPAs

"Directed Self-Placement in the University." WPA: Writing Program Administration 25.3 (Spring 2002): 9-39.

"Directed Self-Placement in the University." Directed Self-Placement: Principles and Practices. Ed. Daniel Royer and Roger Gilles. Hampton Press. 2003.

"Southern Illinois University Carbondale as an Institutional Model: The English 100/101 Stretch and Directed Self-Placement Program" (with Erin Harvey and Erica Reynolds). In Directed Self-Placement: Principles and Practices. Ed. Daniel Royer and Roger Gilles. Hampton Press. 2003.

The Thomson Handbook: A Writer's Reference for the Digital Age (with Jeff Hoogeveen). Boston: Thomson Publishers, 2007.

Breaking the Mold?

I love working with others on creative projects that involve new digital and publishing technologies, so I spend lots of time with Parlor Press, the scholarly publishing company I founded in 2002. (And that has since published some important work on WPA history, WAC, rhetoric, new media, visual rhetoric, and more.) I am the co-editor of The Writing Instructor and moderator/founder of the Kenneth Burke Discussion list and the "Virtual Burkeian Parlor."

Reassigned Time for WPA Work

The normal course load is 2/2. The WPA of the Professional Writing has a 2/1 teaching load, so reassigned time is for one course per year.

Program Profile and Information

Program Name

Professional Writing

Program Website

http://pw.english.purdue.edu/

Program Description

Professional Writing at Purdue University includes undergraduate major areas in Technical Writing and Writing and Publishing, Business Writing (ENGL 420) and Technical Writing (ENGL 421) courses for students across the University, and PhD Secondary Areas in Technical and Professional Writing and Rhetoric, Technology, and Digital Writing.

Our area, part of the Rhetoric and Composition Program in the Department of English, is noted for cultivating expertise in writing for the digital workplace, for teaching and researching multimedia writing and visual rhetoric, for digital and print publishing, and for emphasizing collaboration and community service.

In May 2003, we hosted the international Computers and Writing Conference, which brought hundreds of teachers, writers, and scholars to Purdue on the theme, "Discovering Digital Dimensions" (3-D @ Purdue). Professional Writing also publishes The Writing Instructor, a networked journal and digital community, hosts the Council of Writing Program Administrators' website and the KB Journal, and houses two small but state-of-the-art multimedia and electronic publishing labs.

Institution

Purdue University

Program Address 1

Department of English

Program Address 2

500 Oval Dr.

City

West Lafayette, IN 47907

State/Province

IN

Zip

47907

Country

USA