wrtc symposium program

8/9/2019 WRTC Symposium Program

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Communication in the 21st Century:Obstacles and Opportunities

Program and Abstracts

April 16, 2010James Madison University

Harrisonburg, Virginia


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Table o Contents

Welcome & Introduction.............................................................................................................................................

Schedule o Events....................................................................................................................................................

Biographies & Abstracts.............................................................................................................................................

Behind the Scenes.......................................................................................................................................................

About WRTC...............................................................................................................................................................


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Welcome & Introduction

Welcome to the frst Communication Symposium o the School o Writing, Rhetoric, and TechnicalCommunication (WRTC) at James Madison University. The theme o this inaugural gathering isCommunication in the 21st Century: Obstacles and Opportunities. We are very glad that so manystudent-scholars are joining us here in Harrisonburg to discuss the complex issues o moderncommunication.

As we near the end o the frst decade o the twenty-frst century, our feld aces a lot o pressingquestions and challenges. Modern communication technologies have made the dissemination o in ormation easier than ever. As writing, rhetoric, and communication pro essionals we need to bepaying attention to technological developments such as media and device convergence, mobilecomputing and virtual workplaces. Together with providing unprecedented opportunities orcommunication and persuasion, these new technologies have created many new challenges. Amongthese challenges are issues o ethics, privacy, and corporate and civic responsibility, among others.

It is in this exciting and challenging context that over twenty presenters rom eight universities gather atJMU to share and discuss their work. When we began planning the symposium about a year ago, weenvisioned it as a regional event. However, in the 21st century in ormation travels ast, and we are happyto welcome participants rom Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington.We thank everyone or joining us in Harrisonburg or what we hope will become a regular andstimulating opportunity to discuss pressing issues o our feld.

The JMU graduate students, aculty advisors and sta who planned this event have worked very hard tomake this a ulflling experience or everyone. We hope that you will enjoy being a part o this event asmuch as we have enjoyed organizing it.

Dr. Michael Klein ([email protected]), Symposium Organizer, Assistant Professor, WRTC Dr. Pavel Zemliansky ([email protected]), Symposium Adviser, Graduate Coordinator, WRTC


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Schedule o Events

12:00-1:15pm ........Welcome and Opening Remarks Festival Highlands RoomDr. Reid Linn, Dean o The Graduate School, James Madison University

Lunch and Keynote Speaker Festival Highlands RoomDr. James Dubinsky, Associate Pro essor, Rhetoric and Writing, Virginia Tech

1:30-2:45pm ...........Panel Session I (individual presentations are approximately 20 minutes each)

Festival Conference Room 1 Moderator: Dr. Elizabeth Pass, WRTC

The Visual Rhetoric of Convenience-Food LabelsGracemarie Mike, Virginia Tech

The Language of Visuals: A Peircean Study of Text and Graphics on the Internet Jose M. Cortez, Eastern Washington University

A Breath of Fresh Air: Comics Journalism as Alternate Discourse in the 21st Century Molly Scanlon, Virginia Tech

Festival Conference Room 2 Moderator: Dr. Lucy Bednar, WRTC

Determining Intercultural Challenges in Technical Communication Melissa P au & Promeet Singh, James Madison University

Information Packaging in Colonial and 21st-century America:New Ways to Think About Old MediaTrisha Capansky & Alexis Poe Davis, East Carolina University

Whose Fault Is It?: The Role of Language Attitudes in Multicultural, Multilingual EducationLibby Anthony, Virginia Tech

Festival Conference Room 3 Moderator: Dr. Pavel Zemliansky, WRTC

Spacial Dimensions of Online ExpressionKaren Ives, Carnegie Mellon University

Communication and the Joomla Open Source Content Management System (CMS):How Social Networking Has Rede ned Instructional DocumentationCarly Finseth, Clemson University

The Internet and ConsilienceMichael Morrison, James Madison University



Schedule o Events

3:00-4:15pm ..........Panel Session 2 (individual presentations are approximately 20 minutes each)

Festival Conference Room 1 Moderator: Dr. Jim Zimmerman, WRTC

Twitter and Activism in the Globalized World:Social Networking and the Transmission of A ectsAmy Ann Metcal , Wayne State University

Cyberactivism and Women in the Blogosphere:The Role of a Virtual Wave in the Feminist Movement Heba Saleh, George Mason University

Festival Conference Room 2 Moderator: Dr. Traci Zimmerman, WRTC

Advocating for Social Change Through Web DesignJ.A. Dawson, East Carolina University

Gendered Discourses in Online EnvironmentsKatrina Hinson, East Carolina University

From Text Messaging to Micro-Blogging:Keeping Trials Fair in the Face of 21st Century Technical CommunicationDeborah Welsh, East Carolina University

Festival Conference Room 3 Moderator: Dr. Scott Luns ord, WRTC

The Eye of Hubble: Contexts for Images of Deep SpaceEvan Snider, Virginia Tech

The Use of Rhetoric in the Scienti c and Medical CommunitiesLindsay Deliman & Brandi Mooring, James Madison University

Ethics in CommunicationTeagan OBar, James Madison University

4:30-5:00 .................Closing Remarks and Wrap-up Festival Highlands Room Dr. Larry Burton, Director o WRTC

Dr. Pavel Zemliansky, WRTC Graduate CoordinatorDr. Michael Klein, Assistant Pro essor, WRTC



Biographies & Abstracts

Keynote Speaker

You are not a Gadget: Rhetoric, Engagement, and the Promise of Democracy Dr. James Dubinsky Rhetoric and Writing, Virginia Tech

Dr. Dubinsky ([email protected]) is an associate pro essor o Rhetoric and Writing and the inauguraldirector o the Center or Student Engagement and Community Partnerships. He earned his bachelorsdegree rom Wake Forest in 1977, his masters rom UC Berkeley in 1986, and PhD rom Miami (Ohio) in1998. He began his teaching career at the US Military Academy rom 19861990. While on active duty, healso directed the Communication and Ethics Program at the U. S. Army Field Artillery School and servedas an adjunct aculty member at the Command and General Sta College. He retired rom the U.S. Armyas a Lieutenant Colonel.

His research interests include pro essional writing pedagogy, service-learning and civic engagement,and the role o the academy in creating a participatory democracy. He combines historical, rhetorical,and qualitative methods to study the importance o experiential learning and makes a case orservice-learning as a pedagogical strategy that helps students and teachers become re ectivepractitioners and more engaged citizens through service and advocacy.

Dr. Dubinsky is the author/editor o Teaching Technical Communication: Critical Issues for the Classroom and has contributed articles to journals ranging rom Business Communication Quarterly to the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning . He also has edited special issues o Technical CommunicationQuarterly (on civic engagement and pro essional communication) and Re ections (on pro essional

writing and service-learning).Dr. Dubinsky chairs the board o directors or the YMCA at Virginia Tech and just fnished his term aspresident or the Association or Business Communication. Dr. Dubinsky is the aculty advisor or VTsSustainable Food Corps and or WUVT, the campus radio station. He is a recent winner o college-level awards or teaching and outreach, and the frst university level award or the scholarship o teaching and learning. University Unions and Student Activities recently selected him or the secondHokie Community Award, which honors exemplary multi-year service to the greater Hokie Nation;demonstrated support o the Universitys mission and values; and true embodiment o the universitysmotto Ut Prosim: that I may serve .



Biographies & AbstractsPanel Session I: Conference Room 1

The Visual Rhetoric of Convenience-Food Labels

Gracemarie Mike English, Virginia Tech

This presentation demonstrates how the visual rhetorical analysis o ood labels can illuminate theconstruction o labels and consumers responses to them. Focusing specifcally on the techniques oodcompanies use to communicate health in ormation, I discuss labels ability to persuade and resultingimplications or the public, the government, and industry.

Ms. Mike ([email protected]) is a graduate of Kings College, Pennsylvania. She is currently pursuing her Masters inEnglish at Virginia Tech. Her primary focus is composition and rhetoric.

The Language of Visuals: A Peircean Study of Text and Graphics on the Internet Jose M. Cortez Rhetoric & Technical Communication, Eastern Washington University

The Internet is a relatively new multimodal medium that a ords the combination o text, graphics, audio,and video, allowing new ways o creating and analyzing discourse. We can deconstruct and analyze therhetoric o the multimodal elements separately to examine how each communicates, but this papero ers a holistic way o analyzing the elements by applying Charles Peirces theories o rhetoric.

Mr. Cortez ([email protected]) is a rst-year graduate student at Eastern Washington University withresearch interests in social and political discourse, multimodal composition, and classical theory.

A Breath of Fresh Air: Comics Journalism as Alternative Discourse in the 21st Century Molly Scanlon English, Virginia Tech

Since their 17th-century origin, comics have served as social commentary, and have since broadenedinto several genres including comics journalismcombining the narrative o visual storytelling with thereporting o traditional journalism. A ordances o the medium allow comics to represent war in waysthat resist hegemonic pressures o mass media.

Ms. Scanlon ([email protected]) is a PhD student in the Rhetoric and Writing Program at Virginia Tech. Her

research interests include visual rhetoric, alternative discourse, and digital media studies.



Biographies & AbstractsPanel Session I: Conference Room 2

Determining Intercultural Challenges in Technical Communication

Melissa Pfau Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication, James Madison University Promeet Singh Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication, James Madison University In order to disseminate in ormation e ectively across cultures we must understand our internationalaudiences. These challenges can be addressed through the seven categories that Nancy Ho t relates tothe Iceberg Model: politics, economics, social traditions, religions, education, languages, and technology. Through research and examples, best practices in intercultural communication are examined.

Ms. Pfau (pfaumj@ jmu.edu) is graduate student in WRTC. Upon graduating in May 2010, she hopes to work inthe areas of technical writing and publications management.

Mr. Singh (singhpj@ jmu.edu ) is a WRTC graduate student. He will re-join IBM as the Global Program Manager for Market Intelligence when he graduates in December.

Information Packaging in Colonial and 21st-century America: New Ways to Think About Old MediaTrisha Capansky English, East Carolina University Alexis Poe Davis English, East Carolina University We will discuss the concept o audience as it relates to in ormation packaging, using our own studieso audience rom Colonial America and 21st-century America. We will demonstrate how in ormation

packaging determines how the audience will consume the in ormation, and conclude with insights intoproducing more e ective civic discourse.

Ms. Capansky ([email protected]) studies 18th-century Colonial American discourse. Her interests include political discourse and community activism and her dissertation focuses on the Declaration of Independenceand Englands response.

Ms. Davis ([email protected]) is nishing up her dissertation at ECU while focusing on collaborative writing processes. Other interests include cultural rhetoric, rst-year writing, and writing in the workplace.

Whose Fault Is It?: The Role of Language Attitudes in Multicultural, Multilingual EducationLibby Anthony Rhetoric & Writing, Virginia Tech

By analyzing assumptions teachers and students make based on what are perceived to be errors innon-standard English-speaking writers, I maintain that we can help our students, both monocultural andmulticultural, explore the ways in which they use language assumptions to categorize and representothers.

Ms. Anthony ([email protected]) received her BA from Dickinson College and MA from DePaul University. Sheis currently researching World Englishes and the relationship between language and identity.


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Biographies & AbstractsPanel Session 2: Conference Room 1

Twitter and Activism in the Globalized World: Social Networking and the Transmission of A ects

Amy Ann Metcalf English, Wayne State University

This project works to understand the capacity o Twitter to mobilize revolution through the transmissiono a ect. This project explores the ways in which online social networks transmit a ects betweenindividuals and urther pair those a ects with the dissemination o in ormationthus, providing ashared cognitive experience across multiple boundaries.

Ms. Metcalf ([email protected]) is a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Wayne State University. Her researchinterests include new media, network theory, digital literacy, and globalization studies.

Cyberactivism and Women in the Blogosphere: The Role of a Virtual Wave in the Feminist Movement Heba Saleh English, George Mason University In our electronic age, the blogosphere plays the role that consciousness-raising gatherings did or

eminism in the Sixties and Seventies: it provides women worldwide with an e ective orum to haveconversations that are integral in inspiring social and political change.

Ms. Saleh ([email protected]) received a BA (2007) and a MA (2009) in English from GMU. She has taught writing at GMU, and enjoys blogging about di erent topics.




Advocating for Social Change Through Web Design

J.A. Dawson English, East Carolina University

This presentation provides a model or e ective corporate activist websites designed to persuadedecision makers across the globe as well as insights into e ective textual design eatures in digital spaces

or technical and pro essional communicators.

Mr. Dawson ([email protected]) is a PhD student in the Technical & Professional Discourse program at East Carolina University.

Gendered Discourses in Online Environments

Katrina Hinson English, East Carolina University

Taking an ethnographic approach to the online environment o Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and usingparticipant-observation methods, this research sought to answer why some individuals, particularlymales, choose to adopt eminine traits, especially i they do not or would not portray such traits

ace-to- ace.

Ms. Hinson ([email protected]) is a PhD student in the Technical & Professional Discourse program at East Carolina University.

From Text Messaging to Micro-Blogging:Keeping Trials Fair in the Face of 21st Century Technical CommunicationDeborah Welsh English, East Carolina University

Drawing upon Bahktins discussion o speech genres, this paper shows how having instant access tolanguage outside the context o court proceedings can a ect the decisions that jurors make.

Ms. Welsh ([email protected]) is a doctoral student at East Carolina University. Her interests includetherapeutic jurisprudence, jury nulli cation and advocacy for the elderly abused.




The Eye of Hubble: Contexts for Images of Deep Space

Evan Snider Rhetoric & Writing, Virginia Tech

This presentation seeks to understand the various contexts in which in ormation about astronomicalimages is communicated. Astronomical images rely heavily on context or their meaning, and thispresentation asks: What contexts account or the mediation and construction o images? What contextspaint a more neutral and simplistic picture?

Mr. Snider ([email protected]) is a PhD student in Rhetoric and Writing at Virginia Tech. His research interestsinclude visual communication, digital writing, and the sociology of scienti c knowledge.

The Use of Rhetoric in the Scienti c and Medical CommunitiesLindsay Deliman Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication, James Madison University Brandi Mooring Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication, James Madison University This presentation explores how rhetoric is used as a tool to build the credibility o scientifc researchersand their work among various discourse communities. Science is legitimized by empirical research andobjectivity, but rhetoric plays an important role in strategic communication o knowledge to both thescientifc community and the public.

Ms. Deliman ([email protected]) will earn a Master of Science Degree in Writing, Rhetoric & Technical

Communication this May with the intent of specializing in medical writing and editing. Ms. Mooring ([email protected]) is a graduate student in the Writing, Rhetoric & Technical Communicationmasters program. Her interests include healthcare and nonpro t writing.

Ethics in CommunicationTeagan OBar Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication, James Madison University

Examining Immanuel Kants ethics o deontology, this presentation analyzes the implications o duty ethics in communication. This review o dishonesty in political campaign communication spells

inexorable ethical responsibility or communicators in all felds.

Mr. OBar ([email protected]) has a BA in English from James Madison University and is currently an MAcandidate in JMUs School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication.


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Behind the Scenes

Symposium Advisory Committee

Symposium logo designed by Lindsay CannadaySymposium program designed by Melissa P au

Sponsors

School o Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication

Bed ord/St. Martins

Thank You

The Advisory Commitee would like to thank the ollowing:

College o Arts and Letters The Graduate SchoolSchools o Communication, In ormation and Media

Faculty Support Dr. Michael Klein: Symposium Organizer, Assistant Professor, WRTC

Dr. Pavel Zemliansky: Symposium Adviser,Graduate Coordinator, WRTC

Mrs. Sandra Purington: Logistics Coordinator, Administrative Assistant, WRTC

Graduate StudentsMs. Lindsay Cannaday, MA Program, WRTC Ms. Cindy Chiarello, MA Program, WRTC Ms. Lindsay Deliman, MS Program, WRTC Ms. Brandi Mooring, MS Program, WRTC Mr. Teagan OBar, MA Program, WRTC Ms. Melissa P au,MS Program, WRTC


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wrtc symposium program

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