ENGL 5365, Writing Studies & Well-Being

In this class, we will explore questions and problems related to rhetoric and writing about wellbeing, wellness, and similar concepts through questions such as the following: What, exactly, does it take to find a sense of wellness today and what role might writing and rhetorical practice, research, and theory play? How, for whom, and under what conditions might people experience writing for wellness—and how might we leverage such insight for the public good more broadly? What are the relationships among discourses and practices of wellbeing, wellness, gratitude, healing, contemplation, and democracy? To explore these questions, we will read work from writing and rhetoric studies, education, psychology, disability studies, and other areas. Assignments will include autoethnographic or other forms of selfstudy research, a book review, discussion questions, and in-class writing.

Readings will include articles as well as all or parts of the following books: Rhetorical Healing: The Reeducation of Contemporary Black Womanhood by Tamika L. Carey; The Art of Gratitude by Jeremy David Engels; Unwell Writing Centers: Searching for Wellness in Neoliberal Educational Institutions and Beyond by Genie Nicole Giaimo; Composition Studies special issue on Writing and Well-being edited by Susan Miller-Cochran and Stacey Cochran; Yoga Minds, Writing Bodies: Contemplative Writing Pedagogy by Christy I. Wenger; and Writing as a Way of Healing by Louise DeSalvo. Carey, Engels, and Giaimo are available as e-books through the TTU library; Miller-Cochran and Cochran and Wenger are open access.

ENGL 5377, Rhetoric of Entrepreneurialism and Innovation

This course explores the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation, and the writing and communication practices that constitute these areas of activity. First, this class will delve into theories of management, entrepreneurship, and critical entrepreneurship studies to provide necessary background information. We will explore such questions as what is entrepreneurship? Who counts as an entrepreneur? and Why is entrepreneurship a central societal innovation? Next, we will systematically engage with the types of writing and communication most important to these professionals. We will cover such popular topics as the business pitch, business plan, and business model canvas, but we will also explore the use of entrepreneurial storytelling, the formation of entrepreneurial ecosystems, and other important topics. The content of this class will be useful to any aspiring innovator or business owner but will mainly give students a foundation that they could use to begin publishing in the small cross-disciplinary field sometimes called entrepreneurship communication.

ENGL 5377, Risk Communication

The field of risk communication examines the relationship between information sharing and people's assessment and responses to possible harms. This course surveys research in risk communication that helps us understand how individuals and communities perceive and manage risks to their health, safety, and environment, as well as best practices for communicating risk information to community audiences. Throughout the semester students will read and discuss theoretical and applied literature on risk communication and apply best practices to design risk communication plans and messages that effectively address targeted audiences.

ENGL 5385, Ethics in TCR

This class offers an introductory overview of major Western and non-Western ethical frameworks that past and present technical communication and rhetoric scholarship has drawn on. Major western frameworks include virtue ethics, consequentialism (utilitarianism), and deontology. We will also cover introductory concepts such as metaethics to ask: What are values? How do ethical frameworks produce different values? Which ethical frameworks should I use in some situations but not others? Students will read work by some of the major ethical philosophers who contributed to these movements, such as Immanuel Kant, Alasdair Mcintrye, and Aristotle, but they will also learn how to apply ancient frameworks to contemporary causes such as the resurgent interest in “effective altruism” (a modified form of utilitarianism) in Open AI discourses. Students will also study the ways in which 20th century scholars have critiqued and extended these positions to include frameworks on indigenous virtue ethics, feminist ethics of care, black feminist ethics of care, and non-western virtue ethics (Confucianism; Ubuntu). We'll read about Lisa Tessman's efforts to update virtue ethics through diversity and social justice alongside Martha Nussbaum's ideas on feminist generosity and Margaret McLaren's work on feminist virtues such as feistiness and playfulness.

In this class, we will not only read about ethics, but we will discuss how to think about applying past and present Western and non-Western frameworks ethically through our unique positionalities. Students will be encouraged to apply an ethical framework of their choice to a wide range of academic, industry or pedagogical ends for a final project.