2016 Coursework
Publishing Inside/Out
Spring 2016 // Michael Greer
Work Samples
After a semester-long hiatus from school after changing positions at work, it was refreshing to come back to Publishing Inside/Out. This class was true to its name, and the well-crafted assignments took me through the entire publishing process from idea generation to submission. Michael Greer also taught me a lot about how to organize an online class--I thought he did a great job of structuring a virtual course that avoided many of the pitfalls that sometimes plague classes that don't meet in person.
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For my book proposal, I decided on a handbook for yearbook advisers. There are a couple of published books on the topic, but they were published in the 1980s and earlier, so an updated version would be
helpful. I am proud of the product I created for this assignment, but I have learned so much in my first few years on the job, and I know that as I continue to learn, I will be able to add more content to the book. I fully anticipate fleshing out my plans and submitting this idea to a publisher at some point in the future.
The class also provided helpful information about other careers in publishing that I was previously unaware of. I was particularly drawn to the position of development editor--helping writers flesh out and improve their work would be a fun job. If for some reason teaching does not pan out for me in the future, I think a career in publishing would be a great alternative.
Publishing Final Portfolio
and Book Proposal
Writing for Social Media at Work
Summer 2016 // Dr. Karen Kuralt
Work Samples
One of my responsibilities as a publications adviser is to help my students learn about how to promote their publication's brand using social media, increasing exposure and interaction with their audience. I was glad when Dr. Kuralt offered Writing for Social Media at Work since I knew that I would learn some information that would be helpful for my students. I also learned a lot about how to use social media for effective networking and branding in general.
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For my first research paper for the class, I examined the social media habits of the 2016 presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. At the time, I noted Trump's populist appeal and seamless mastery of social media, as well as Clinton's vastly more professional, if not sometimes clumsy,
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approach. Now that the election is over and Trump is in office, it is interesting to look back on this data and think about how their social media presences affected the outcome of the vote. This paper won the departmental Student Writing Award for Research or Theory Writing in 2017 and also received the Outstanding Graduate Student Writing award.
For my second major project in the class, I developed a social media and branding strategy for my yearbook staff social media editors to use at the beginning of the year. After going through this class and developing a better understanding of how social media writing and branding work, I feel confident that I can help my students improve their professional communications on social media.
2016 Presidential Candidate
Social Media Activity
Yearbook Social Media
and Branding Strategy
Graphic Narrative
Summer 2016 // Dr. Heidi Skurat Harris
Work Samples
I love reading graphic novels and comics, so when Dr. Harris offered Graphic Narrative, I knew I wanted to take it. The book selections for this class were some of my favorites--I have recommended all of them to friends since I read them for class. I had read Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" previously, but the close reading that the assignments afforded me gave me a chance to appreciate it even more. "Marbles" by Ellen Forney was a delightful and insightful look into mental illness and creativity. "Understanding Rhetoric" by Elizabeth Losh and Jonathan Alexander is a fun and accessible introduction to rhetorical concepts. "March: Book Two" by John Lewis and Nate Powell is a gut-wrenching account of Lewis' experiences during the civil rights movement. All of these texts gave me a renewed appreciation of the graphic narrative form,
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and approaching them from a theoretical perspective just made me love them more.
I have never considered myself a terribly artistic person--while I have a pretty good eye for graphic
design and layout, drawing is not my strongest skill. When Dr. Harris asked us to create graphic works of our own, I decided to take a leap and draw my own comics and just embrace my imperfection, Allie Brosh style (check out her "Hyperbole and a Half"). I had a lot of fun playing with the elements of graphic narrative that we learned about in the class and saying what I wanted to say in a creative way. It was actually pretty cathartic, and I appreciate the opportunity to do something I may have never tried otherwise.
The Cynical Optimist
Dear Lisa
Intro. to Research Methods
Fall 2016 // Dr. Joanne Matson
When I left this class, I really wondered how I had thought I knew anything about research before I started it. It was that indepth. While this class was challenging, I learned more than I thought possible about research and got a chance to incorporate my newfound skills.
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The readings at the beginning of the course provided context and helped me understand everything I didn't know about research. While I taught 9th graders how to use databases and write research papers in my English class, I had never been exposed to the labyrinth that is academic research on a higher level. I learned about the differences in qualitative and quantitative research (and all of the terminology that goes with each) and also practiced coding information, a skill that I had never been exposed to formally. While it is similar to the kinds of analysis students do in English classes, I think the process used for coding in academic qualitative research could be applied to student analysis of texts in high
school English classrooms.
As an assignment for the class, I contributed to a study Dr. Matson was conducting about Legal Writing using the coding skills I learned earlier in the class. Dr. Matson provided interview transcripts which we then coded to find connections and insights. The process was enlightening and I found it similar to the skills I learned in Indexing. I have included my codes for the study below.
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I also created an Annotated Bibliography for the class, using the information we learned about database research. I chose to look up information about voice in composition to see whether there are proven methods for helping students improve the quality of voice in their writing. This is a complicated subject, and the information I found in my research gave me a new understanding of what voice is and how to help my students make their writing distinct and personal.