UALR’s Composition Program

Fall 2012 & Spring 2013

Welcome

By Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Composition Program Director The composition program features a rhetoric-based curriculum that provides students with critical thinking and writing opportunities through the lens of the national learning outcomes, the Writing Program Administrators Outcomes Statement (WPA OS). We serve over 3,000 students each year; however, only three out of every ten graduating students take composition in our program because so many students transfer to University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The composition sequence is intended to prepare students to write in upperlevel courses, civic forums, workplace settings, and personal scenarios. We aim to help students think about how writing will impact all aspects of their life. As teachers of writing, we demonstrate to our students the importance of how writing can not only shape their lives but also have an impact on those around them. This newsletter showcases work both inside and outside the composition classroom during the 2012-2013 academic year. I would like to acknowledge the diligent work of so many of our teachers who have come together and served on committees to contribute to our program. I appreciate their dedication and service to the program. I am thankful for the tireless work of graduate assistants Caleb James, Josh Johnson, and Jarod Daily for their efforts and contribution to this newsletter. Kudos to Josh Johnson on his design of this newsletter. It has been a wonderful first year as the director of composition, and I am grateful to be surrounded by so many talented, dedicated teachers.

In This Issue... People - 2 Professional Development - 7 Projects - 11

Clint Brockway, James Wilson, and Lea Clyburn (left to right) attending an interview prepatory workshop in March. Lea is now a full-time faculty member at Pulaski Technical College.

Department of Rhetoric and Writing

People Exciting events have affected the dynamic community of teachers in our program over the past year. Our program continues to grow through new graduate teaching assistants and a new lecturer. And we said goodbye to a few teachers, who have graduated, accepted new positions, or retired. Our program endured the significant loss of our colleague and friend, Larry Henthorn. We have been proud of several members of our program who have been representing us in local communities, events, and professional conferences.

Meet Our Newest Lecturer

Heather Hummel

Hummel’s new book of poetry.

We would like to welcome Heather Hummel to our program. She has an MA in English Literature from Eastern Washington University, and a BA in English from the University of California, Davis. In addition to teaching composition and composition fundamentals at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, she is on the Little Rock Writing Project Leadership Team, and she edits the literary journal, Blood Orange Review. In addition to teaching writing at the university and community college level, she has also taught with Literacy AmeriCorps and at San Quentin State Penitentiary. Her courses are influenced by her interest in creative writing, contemplative pedagogy, and ecocomposition. She has published two poetry chapbooks, Boytreebird (2013) and Handmade Boats (2010). Boytreebird, a poetry chapbook by H.K. Hummel, was published by Finishing Line Press (www. finishinglinepress.com). Her work has recently appeared in Sugar Mule, Poemeleon, Meridian and Antigonish Review. We are so pleased to have Heather working alongside us. She’s been a valuable contributor to the developmental composition redesign project.

Congratulations to Our Graduates We are proud to announce several graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) completed their Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing. GTAs who graduated in fall 2012 and spring 2013 include: Jennifer AtkinsGordeeva, Lea Clyburn, Caleb James, Deana Nall, Natalie Rego, Jessica Sahene, Lacey Thacker-Meislohn, and Veronica Williams. Additionally, Chad Garrett and Aaron Baker, digital experts who support the composition program, completed their MA degrees. We would like to congratulate all of our graduates for their hard work. Caleb James will be begin his PhD program in Ohio this coming fall.

Jessica Sahene (left) and Lea Clyburn (right) at the UALR graduation ceremony spring 2013.

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People

Larry Henthorn By Mary Henthorn

Larry Henthorn retired from the Department of Rhetoric and Writing in 2011 after nearly ten years as a full-time staff member. His role in the department, and the department’s role in his life, extended a full twenty-year span from 1993 until he passed away in February 2013. After more than thirty years in broadcast radio, the company Larry worked for was sold in the spring of 1993. Larry enrolled in a government retraining program at UALR that offered two years of tuition assistance. He bravely took up the challenge of preparing for a new career at fifty. After completing Composition I in the summer, he figured, “Okay, I can do this!” In the fall semester, as a The late Larry Henthorn full-time student with multiple part-time jobs and encouragement from his Composition II instructor, Larry was surprised to discover that he could write. By the spring of 1995, he was wrapping up a two-year degree through the Department of Criminal Justice but was uncertain about a career path. He was now fascinated with the idea of writing and changed to a double major, Criminal Justice and English with a writing emphasis. In 1996 Larry immersed himself in English and writing and started his first writing internship. Through the 90s he continued working in the University Writing Center; he helped establish the Online Writing Lab and wrote about how to make an OWL fly. Larry earned and appreciated many UWC awards; however, his real reward was reaching students and assuring them they could come up with ideas, use the computer to type words that made their stories live, and print their own revised and edited work. Within a few years Larry moved into a full-time staff position in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing. He saw the early days of the Cyberspace Project, an online program for providing feedback to high school writers. Larry provided first line support for evaluation, acquisition, setup, maintenance, and use of technology. He enjoyed teaching Composition I, Composition II, and Writing for the Workplace. In 2011 Larry took advantage of an excellent retirement package, but he never strayed far from UALR. Larry continued helping with the department’s technology issues and inventory and teaching a couple of classes before his health started to decline in early 2012. Even when Larry was too sick to get to campus, he’d talk about his concerns: Was the inventory completed, the software updated, and the new computers purchased? The Department of Rhetoric and Writing provided encouragement, support, guidance, and friendship from his first days in Composition I to his final days, when he could no longer write or hold a conversation. Larry received a posthumous Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing during the spring 2013 graduation ceremony. His family thanks all the students, faculty, and staff of UALR who enriched his life.

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People

Words from a Colleague

By Dr. George H. Jensen, Chair Larry Henthorn was serious about coffee. He was more than “I roast my own beans” serious. More than “I have my own espresso machine” serious. He was more like “I had an espresso at the new coffee shop in Hillcrest and then I told the barista what he did wrong” serious. He searched for exotic beans on the Internet, special ordered green beans, and roasted them himself. He had an espresso machine (and a bean grinder) in his home and another one in his office. Both machines were professional grade. The happiest that I have ever seen Dr. Toran Isom, who is a pretty happy person, was after she had a couple of shots of Larry’s espresso. I don’t think she slept for about three days. Larry knew I also liked to sample exotic blends, and he often shared his recent discoveries. One day, he gave me some Kopi Luwak beans from Indonesia. These are the beans known for a smooth and complex flavor because they have been ingested by the Asian Palm Civet, mellowed out in the creature’s intestines, and then excreted. The beans are then processed, I assume (and hope) purified in some way, roasted, and sold. With a little trepidation, I took the beans home, ground them, and made a pot of coffee for my Saturday breakfast. I have to say it was some of the best coffee I have ever had. Before I could finish the pot, my son and one of his friends came in, poured themselves a cup, and then said, “This is great coffee!” I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the coffee was so good because the beans had been excreted from an Asian Palm Civet. While my fondest memories of Larry involve our shared love for coffee, I don’t want that to define him. He deeply cared about our students, and he was very generous with his time. He often went to the house of one of our colleagues in the evening or on a Saturday to help resolve some technology problem. When he announced his retirement, I began to mutter, “We are as doomed as doomed can be.” I was worried about how we would manage—still am. We have muddled along, but things are more difficult, and our lives are not as rich. What I remember most of all is how much Larry loved his wife, Mary, and his entire family. Whenever he returned from vacation or a family event (like the family bacon festival, a cookout in celebration of all things bacon), Larry came to my office with a flash drive of photos. We would spend about an hour looking at photos and talking about his family. He was a dear friend and a very good man.

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People New Graduate Teaching Assistants

Along with gaining a new Director of Composition, our program gained several new graduate teaching assistants in fall 2012 and spring 2013 including: Drew Glover, Charla Hammond, Rachell Hayes, Joshua Johnson, Bethany May, Michael Measel, Deana Nall, Jennifer Stanley, Lacey ThackerMeislohn, Shelley Watson, Jasmine Williams, and James Wilson. This group approached the teaching of writing with innovation and mindfulness toward uses of technology in composition and the Writing Program Administrators Outcomes Statement.

Composition Teachers Share Their “Tales from the South”

This year two of our esteemed writers and composition teachers were showcased on NPR’s Tales from the South. Mark Isbell shared his woes of chasing a beach tent in a summer storm. To hear his piece, go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw88ygX0QUw. Deana Nall was featured on the Mother’s Day edition where she shared her childhood story about the family’s car, guerilla warrior insects, and a library book. For Deana’s piece, visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpBgrkPmGWE.

Deana Nall after reading “Benji and the Scamp.” Pictures are from the official TFTS Youtube channel.

Mark Isbell finishing his tale “The Thing About Shade.”

www.talesfromthesouth.com Composition Teachers Attend Professional Conferences

In October of 2012, a group of students from the University Writing Center attended the International Writing Center Association Conference in San Diego, CA. In addition to the writing center interns, several of our program’s graduate teaching assistants including Drew Glover, Joshua Johnson, and James Wilson, presented on topics examining the support of teaching composition at the conference. In spring 2013, GTA Jenny Crelia presented at the South Central Writing Center Association Conference in Corpus Christi, TX. Additionally, in spring 2013 Caleb James and James Wilson attended the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) in Las Vegas, NV. Our director, Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson offered three presentations on the following topics: developing prison-university partnerships, implementing online internships for composition, and mentoring family history writing students.

Composition Teachers Work with Inmate Writers

Throughout the 2012-2013 academic year, composition teachers Drew Glover, James Wilson, Dr. Michael Kleine, and Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson joined Dr. Charles Chastain, Professor of Criminal Justice, to offer writing workshops for the Inside-Out Program at the Arkansas Department of Corrections-Ouachita Unit in Malvern. Many writing workshops covered content also taught in firstyear composition courses and in the Little Rock Writing Project. Dr. Kleine locates and invites writing teachers to work in the prison. If you are interested in teaching inmate writers, contact Dr. Kleine ([email protected]) or Dr. Rankins-Robertson ([email protected]).

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People Retirement Events Celebrate 65 Years of Teaching and Service The Department of Rhetoric and Writing celebrated the retirements of three composition instructors, including Frankie Chadwick, Dr. Toran Isom, and Dr. Marcia Smith. Their retirements were celebrated at a cookout hosted by Dr. George H. Jensen. In attendance were friends, family, full-time faculty, lecturers, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The retirees also were honored at a formal UALR event for retiring faculty members. Together these three faculty members provided more than 65 years of teaching and service to UALR.

Marcia Smith, Frankie Chadwick, Chancellor Joel Anderson, and Toran Isom (left to right) all together at the UALR-hosted retirement event.

Dr. Toran Isom said “When I think of my many years in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing, I draw from the last two pages of one of my favorite books, Charlotte’s Web, in which it says: ‘Life in the barn was very good—night and day, winter and summer, spring and fall, dull days and bright days. It was the best place to be...’ I feel much the same way about my students, my classroom, my colleagues, my department. Professionally, this has been ‘the best place to be.’” Dr. Marcia Smith adds “It has been a joy and an honor to be a faculty member of the Rhetoric & Writing Department for 23 years. I have enjoyed a truly collegial, student-friendly, excellent department. As Warren Buffett claims of a job one loves, I have tap danced to work every day. I now eagerly move on to whatever the next phase of my life holds. I do so with some sadness, but with a sense of accomplishment and many warm memories and heartfelt appreciation for my colleagues and students at UALR.” Pictures from the retirement party at Dr. Jensen’s house:

Susann Barr, Mary Henthorn, and Barbara Walker (left to right). Lea Clyburn, Jessica Sahene, and Dr. Huey Crisp (left to right).

Future graduate teaching assistants Kelsie Walker (left) and Gail Richard (middle) along with graduate assistant Jarod Daily (right).

Scott and Lacey Thacker-Meislohn (left/middle) and Deana Nall (right).

Lashaundra Tyler (left) and Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson (right).

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Professional Development The Composition Program has been extremely active with professional development opportunities over the last year. Many thanks to the events committee for their detailed coordination of these events. We have had top scholars in the field visit campus and offer presentations on a range of topics: exploring rhetorical concepts in visual argumentation, meeting the needs of multilingual writers, and teaching multimodal composition. We have offered our graduate teaching assistants workshops on how to write personal statements for PhD programs and successfully responding in interview situations. We started our academic year with a screening of a documentary with a crosscampus panel of scholars on race and civil rights.

Professional Development Workshops

Rhetoric and Writing Chair Dr. George H. Jensen and Composition Director Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson led a professional development workshop on interview strategies, what to expect when being interviewed for college-level teaching positions, and how to conduct a successful teaching demonstration. During the March workshop, Dr. Jensen covered the basics of interviewing, including how to dress, researching the department to which you are applying, preparing for common questions, and how to ask questions to the interviewers. Dr. RankinsRobertson gave a sample teaching demonstration to prepare graduate students and lecturers when applying for full-time positions. One of the attendees, Lea Clyburn, recently accepted a job as a full time instructor at Pulaski Technical College. Congratulations Lea! Top: Anna Waller, Kelsie Walker, Gail Richard (left to right). Bottom: Charla Hammond.

This workshop was a follow-up to several workshops held in December 2012 including: • Requesting Letters of Recommendations with Dr. Jensen • Developing Personal Statements for PhD Programs with Dr. Joe Williams • Workshopping your Curriculum Vitae and Teaching Philosophy with Dr. Rankins-Robertson. Chair Dr. George H. Jensen offers interview advice.

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Professional Development Visit from Dr. Cheryl Glenn

On January 31, Dr. Cheryl Glenn, Professor of English at Penn State University and author of Unspoken: A Rhetoric of Silence, visited the UALR campus to present her textbook, The Harbrace Guide to Writing. She guest lectured in Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson’s RHET 1312 class, covering topics of rhetorical audiences and visual arguments. While Dr. Glenn was on campus, she met with a group of graduate students to discuss pursuing a doctoral degree. As a leading scholar in Rhetoric and Composition, she was a delight for everyone who met with her.

Dr. Cheryl Glenn guest teaching a Composition II class.

Teaching Multilingual Writers: Challenges, Benefits, and Strategies

Dr. Maria Jerskey presenting to composition faculty members.

On Tuesday, May 7th, in conjunction with the Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence, Dr. Maria Jerskey, Associate Professor in the Department of Education and Language Acquisition at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York, led a workshop on multilingual speakers and writers. Topics covered during the workshop included building on diverse linguistics and literacy backgrounds, knowing when to provide language and grammar feedback, and cultivating language awareness in the classroom for multilingual writers. The attendees shared their experiences and exchanged strategies for facilitating writing education. This workshop was offered to help faculty across campus consider the scaffolding needed for multilingual writers.

Skyping with Rhetoric and Composition Scholars

Over the last year our program has brought in several scholars via online technologies to speak with first-time composition teachers. Some of the scholars who Skyped with our Graduate Teaching Assistants included Dr. Edward M. White, who spoke about teachers as public figures, the history of the discipline, and student assessment; Dr. Duane Roen, who discussed his experiences teaching and interacting with students and methods for developing teaching philosophies; and Dr. Claire Lauer, who provided an introduction to teaching multimodal composition in writing courses. Dr. White is the recipient of the College Composition and Communication Conference (CCCC) Exemplar award, in addition to a wide variety of other awards and achievements. Dr. Lauer is currently at the forefront of a disciplinary conversation about the role of multimodal composition in college writing courses. Dr. Roen is the current past-President of the Council of Writing Program Administrators.

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Professional Development Documentary Screening and Scholar Discussion of Booker’s Place On October 11, 2012 the Department of Rhetoric and Writing, with support of the Chancellor’s Committee on Race and Ethnicity, screened the documentary film Booker’s Place. Following the screening, civil rights scholar Dr. John A. Kirk, Professor of History, and Dr. David L. Briscoe, Professor of Sociology, joined the granddaughter of Booker Wright, Yvette Johnson, to discuss the film, the historical period in which Wright lived, and race issues in the south. Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Director of Composition, facilitated the discussion. Many inspired audience members shared personal accounts. Booker’s Place is the story of an everyday man who was an activist for civil rights in his community. The heart of the documentary is the universal desire that we have to unearth, understand, and honor the Dr. David L. Briscoe (left) and Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson heroic acts of our ancestors (right). as they fought to give us a better life than their own. Director Raymond De Felitta has captured a powerful and moving story of not only Johnson’s journey to learn about her family, but also about his own Phyllis Brown (left) and Yvette Johnson (right). father’s 1966 decision to include Booker Wright in what proved to be a life-altering decision. Booker’s Place is a documentary about two people who want to know the truth and learn about the impact of their family members’ brave and stunning acts against oppression. The seeds for Booker’s Place were planted for Johnson in a family history writing class taught by Dr. Rankins-Robertson at Arizona State University in the summer of 2007. Johnson interviewed her aunt for a class project in which she learned about her grandfather’s business, Booker’s Place. For her second writing assignment, Robertson suggested to Johnson that she explore and examine the little juke joint her grandfather owned that brought the community of Greenwood, Mississippi together. Rankins-Robertson mentored Johnson over the following five-year period as Johnson researched and wrote about her family history. Johnson tracked her progress and explored her ideas in a research blog that she began in Rankins-Robertson’s course. This blog was the catalyst for producer David Zellerford to make contact with Johnson. The two met and the idea of the film, Booker’s Place, was born. Tribeca purchased and screened Booker’s Place in the spring 2012 film festival, and Johnson appeared on Dateline in July 2012. In reflection on the class in which Johnson began this work, Dr. Rankins-Robertson said, “I believe every writing assignment is an opportunity for students to see the importance of writing not only in their lives, but also in their communities.”

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Professional Development Teaching with Technology in Composition

Our program, mirroring the academic scholarship of the discipline of Rhetoric and Composition, has been focusing on the best practices of facilitating composition education using technology. Several Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) were offered the opportunity to participate in a research project that allowed them to teach in computer classrooms. Each GTA submitted a research proposal. Three graduate teaching assistants were selected by AHSS LTC Director Chad Garrett to teach in computer classrooms based on their proposals: Josh Johnson, Bethany May, and Lacey Thacker-Meislohn.

Bethany May teaching Composition II.

The GTAs have seen active student engagement, a new level of achievement in collaborative composition, and the opportunity for student initiative and innovation while composing. Johnson details some of his reflections on having access to the technology through the research project: The first day of class last semester, I began with the usual requirements of the first day, introduction, covering the syllabi, and a community building assignment. The first thing I did, however, was explain that the students in my class were lucky enough to be in a classroom with computers at every station and needed to respect the technology and use it every day for writing in one form or another. One student asked, “Why do we need computers to write?” I asked him to name a career requiring a college degree that wasn’t going to require you to write on computers. I wasn’t trying to placate my student, but I was hoping to impart what I see as a severe need in our field: writing with technology. Garrett will continue to invite students currently in RHET 7360, TA Practicum to write proposals for this research project.

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Projects We have focused on a variety of projects over the past year to foster a sense of community, develop curriculum, grow our presence on campus, and invite teachers and students into a conversation about composition. Various committees have contributed to multiple ongoing projects. We have revised the composition program website, designed customized content and a cover for the programmatic writing handbook, and selected textbooks for the next several semesters. The events committee has been involved in professional development and the implementation of the National Day on Writing contest. We sponsored a mentor project, including a pumpkin-carving contest in October and an outing to an Arkansas Travelers baseball game in May. It is a challenge to name all of the projects we have begun over the year in this limited space; however, some of the highlights are provided here.

The Great Rhetorical Pumpkin Carving Contest

Kairos by the Faculty Team

Intertextuality by the GTA Team

Pathos by the Lecturer Team

On Halloween, the composition program hosted a pumpkin carving contest through the mentor committee. Three teams—graduate students, lecturers, and full-time faculty—competed to carve a pumpkin that best represented a rhetorical concept, theory, or person. The graduate students portrayed intertextuality, carving a spider web and weaving balloons through it and lighting it with glow sticks; the lecturers carved a representation of pathos by contrasting a happy face on one side with a sad face on the opposite; and the full-time faculty carved the face of a clock with a lightening bolt to represent the concept of kairos. Contestants and spectators Lacey Thacker-Meislohn, Lea Clyburn’s back, Joshua Johnson, and alike enjoyed the contest. James Wilson (left to right).

National Day on Writing Contest

In honor of the National Day on Writing, the Composition Program in conjunction with the Little Rock Writing Project (LRWP) sponsored a student writing contest. The contest organizers, Heather Hummell and Dana Garrison, reached out to local elementary and middle schools to participate in the contest along with recruiting UALR composition students. The goal of the contest was to promote awareness of the importance of reading and writing. The writing prompt asked writers of all ages to describe how a particular book has influenced them. The prizes for winning essays included two tickets for each level: Razorback vs. Ole Miss game tickets, college level; movie tickets, high/ middle school level; and zoo tickets, elementary level. The contest winners were: First Place Winners: Dan Swaim (college), Sarah Gilleran (10th grade), Alyssa Penny (5th grade) Honorable Mentions: Esmeralda Pena (college), Julia Nall (8th grade), JaCore Williams (5th grade)

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Projects Redesign of Developmental Courses

In keeping with the university-wide focus to increase retention and graduation rates, the Department of Rhetoric & Writing and the College Reading program worked to redesign READ 0321 College Reading and RHET 0310 Composition Fundamentals. As outlined in the Path to Accelerated Completion and Employment (PACE) Grant and modeled after the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) at The Community College of Baltimore County, the developmental redesign committee restructured courses so students could move through their developmental requirements in a shorter amount of time, thus decreasing student time-to-degree: RHET 0321 Academic Literacy: This course replaced College Reading. Students enroll in this course if their entrance scores indicate a need for developmental reading or developmental reading and writing. Once complete, students may take RHET 1311, Composition I. RHET 0310 Composition Fundamentals: Students whose entrance exams indicate a need for developmental writing complete RHET 0310, Composition Fundamentals and RHET 1311, Composition I in the same semester. A cohort of students is concurrently enrolled in RHET 0310 with RHET 1311. RHET 0310 functions as a writing studio that provides additional instruction for RHET 1311 curriculum and assignments. Once complete, students may take RHET 1312, Composition II. The developmental redesign committee is undergoing a summer evaluation of the program and will use its summer research findings to revise the UALR program and curriculum. Early feedback from instructors and students is positive. Accelerated students seem to become a tight-knit learning community, often encouraging each other and holding each other accountable for coursework and in-class participation. The RHET 0310/1311 model, where students have back-to-back class time with the same instructor, has led to some proactive management of affective issues that can so often derail a student’s success. The redesign of these courses has been a unique collaborative effort between faculty in both the Rhetoric and Writing Department and the College Reading program. The committee—made up of full-time faculty, part-time lecturers, and graduate teaching assistants—has met regularly since spring 2012 to plan, implement and assess the program.

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Projects ATLE’s Panel on Peak Learning

During the spring 2013 semester, the Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE) showcased an event based on Maslow’s concept of peak learning that allowed a panel of undergraduate and graduate students to discuss peak learning experiences at UALR. Three of the panelists--Jenny Crelia, Lea Clyburn, and Deana Nall--were Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) from the Department of Rhetoric and Writing. Each discussed a point that impacted her as a learner.

Jenny Crelia

Lea Clyburn

Deana Nall

Jenny Crelia indicated a key moment for her growth as a writer was with Dr. Sally Crisp. Dr. Crisp told Crelia at the onset of her academic career at UALR, “I have been doing this a long time. Do you believe in me?” Crelia replied “Yep” and then Dr. Crisp said, “You believe in me and I will believe in you.” This moment offer Creila solace in her early stages as a graduate student. Lea Clyburn’s pivotal moment was over a test that she had struggled with in her Language Theory class. Her faculty member, Dr. Cindy Nahrwold, said, “You retained 85% of information you encountered for the first time. Focus on that rather than the 15% you did not recall.” Clyburn’s perspective about celebrating her retained knowledge began central to her success as a graduate student and teacher. When Deana Nall was considering the graduate program at UALR, she decided that she would speak on the phone with the graduate coordinator and then would allow the results of the call to be the deciding factor for her application. She said to her spouse, “If the director sounds mean, I won’t do it.” Nall was pleasantly surprised at the chipper and warm welcome she received from Dr. Karen Kuralt and it was the deciding factor to submit her application. Nall said one of the best classes she took in the program was Grant Writing under the direction of Suzann Barr. Nall said, “You want the things you write to make a difference, and there’s no better way to do that than through grant writing.” These learning experiences have enriched all three of the graduate students’ perspectives as teachers and helped them think about kairotic moments as educators.

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Projects Publishers Offer Opportunity for Curriculum Development

In early February, we hosted representatives from five book publishers, including Bedford/St. Martin’s, Cengage Learning, Norton, Pearson, and McGraw-Hill, to showcase composition textbooks and technologies that respond to the programmatic learning outcomes. The presentations were organized so graduate teaching assistants and lecturers could vote on their choice of book for the upcoming academic year. The process began with a textbook committee that reviewed 30 books and narrowed down to eight books. These eight books were presented to faculty by the textbook companies. Using a scoring guide, forty contingent faculty members voted using an online form to select the five textbooks that will be used in our composition program.

Website Facelift for the Composition Program

In conjunction with our department’s website upgrade, our program has been working on a new programmatic website, which is set to go live in the fall. As a part of the project, we asked photographer and department alum, Adam Peterson of Restless Photography, to take faculty photos. The new composition program site will provide resources for students. We are thrilled to show the new face of the program.

Composition Program’s Custom Handbook Project The Composition Program recently completed an ambitious project with us handbook, ualr.edu/rhetoric to customize aStudy writing The Everyday Writer by Andrea Lunsford, for fall 2013. The project includes customized content about student expectations and UALR policies; it also included professional photos taken of the department for the front and back cover. The composition program would like to thank everyone for Earn a degree in Rhetoric and Writing their participation and assistance, especially Josh Johnson, who designed the cover, and Dr. Charles Anderson, Dr. Karen Kuralt, Dr. David Fisher, and Dr. Joe Williams for their guidance and support.

Study with us

ualr.edu/rhetoric

The Department of Rhetoric and Writing offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Professional and Technical Writing. As one of our students, you’ll have the opportunity to create powerful memoirs, competitive grants and proposals, cutting-edge Web texts, critical business and legal documents, and even video games.

The Department of Rhetoric and Writing offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Professional and Technical Writing. As one of our students, you’ll have the opportunity to create powerful memoirs, competitive grants and proposals, cutting-edge Web texts, critical business and legal documents, and even video games.

Publish your writing in Quills and Pixels.

Publish your writing in Quills and Pixels.

Classroom writing is a vital learning tool. We want students’ writing to make a real difference in the world. Through internships, student research projects, professional portfolios, and classroom writing aimed at publication, we foster an environment where your writing will make an impact on others’ lives.

Dr. George H. Jensen Chair of Rhetoric and Writing [email protected]

Learn with technology in small, innovative classes.

Grow as a writer by visiting the University Writing Center.

Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson Director of Composition [email protected]

The Everyday Writer Fifth Edition Department of Rhetoric and Writing

Andrea A. Lunsford with Understanding and Composing

Multimodal Projects and Portfolio Keeping

Classroom writing is a vital learning tool. We want students’ writing to make a real difference in the world. Through internships, student research projects, professional portfolios, and classroom writing aimed at publication, we foster an environment where your writing will make an impact on others’ lives.

Learn with technology in small, innovative classes.

Grow as a writer by visiting the University Writing Center.

Dr. George H. Jensen Chair of Rhetoric and Writing [email protected]

Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson Director of Composition [email protected]

Earn a degree in Rhetoric and Writing

Custom Publishing

Custom Publishing

bedfordstmartins.com

bedfordstmartins.com

The Everday Writer customized for UALR’s Composition Program.

Composition News Page 14

Departmen Rhetoric an Writing

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Composition Program Department of Rhetoric and Writing 2801 South University Avenue Little Rock, AR 72204-1099

US Postage

Take Me Out to the Ballgame Many thanks to Pearson Education, which sponsored our spring mentoring event. Twenty composition teachers, along with several graduate interns in the writing center, rallied on Saturday, May 18, to cheer on the Arkansas Travelers against the Springfield Cardinals. Department chair Dr. George Jensen was conflicted on rooting for the home team since he hails from Missouri. Graduate faculty, graduate teaching assistants, and lecturers joined together for a fun night of collegiality.

The Travelers at the Dickey-Stephens Ball Park.

A special thanks to the many people who assisted in the production of this newsletter and all of the activities it records. Composition News Page 15