Sharing Our Intellectual Traces: Narrative Reflections from Administrators of Professional, Technical, and Scientific Programs (Baywood's Technical Communications) - Hardcover

Bridgeford, Tracy; Kitalong, Karla Saari; Williamson, Bill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0895038692 ISBN 13: 9780895038692

Publisher: Routledge, 2014

Synopsis

Administrators of academic professional and technical communication (PTSC) programs have long relied upon lore--stories of what works--to understand and communicate about the work of program administration. Stories are interesting, telling, engaging, and necessary. But a discipline focused primarily on stories, especially the ephemeral stories narrated at conferences and deliberated at department meetings, usually suffice primarily to solve immediate problems and address day-to-day concerns and activities. This edited collection captures some of those stories and layers them with theoretical perspectives and reflection, to enhance their usefulness to the PTSC program administration community at large. <br><br>Like the ephemeral stories PTSC program administrators are accustomed to, the stories told in this volume are set within specific institutional contexts that reflect specific institutional challenges. They emphasize the intellectual traces--the debts the authors owe to those who have informed and transformed their administrative work. In so doing, this collection creates another conversation--albeit a robust, diverse, and theoretically informed one--around which program leaders might define or redefine their roles and re-envision their administrative work as the rich, complex, intellectual engagement that we find it to be. <br><br>This volume asks authors to move beyond a notion of administration as an activity based solely in institutional details and processes. In so doing, they emphasize theory as they share their reflections on core administrative processes and significant moments in the histories of their associated programs, thereby affording opportunities for critical examination in conjunction with practical advice.

About this title

About the Author

Tracy Bridgeford, Karla Saari Kitalong, Bill Williamson

From the Back Cover

IN PRAISE OF "Whether a graduate student entering the field of technical communication, an assistant professor given an administrative responsibility in a technical writing program, an advanced professor with interests in the rhetoric, history, and administration of technical communication, or a dean of a college in which such a program resides, the reader will learn much from the stories told in Sharing Our Intellectual Traces. Here we encounter stories related to designing assessment plans, developing new programs, reshaping existing programs, establishing interdisciplinary relationships, and learning to be effective researchers and leaders. The reader experiences the struggles, frustrations, and rewards shared by these writers, most of whom are or have been administrators of technical communication programs. These stories give us a glimpse into current issues and concerns, such as globalization, critical awareness, and the appropriate use of technology. We find in these pages a profile of a discipline that, we may safely say, has emerged from adolescence and become a mature field of practice with a rich heritage of experience." —Dale L. Sullivan, Professor of English, North Dakota State University "Bridgeford, Kitalong, and Williamson and the 15 contributors to Sharing Our Intellectual Traces have given a most precious gift, a gift of stories that offers the field of technical, professional, and scientific communication (TPSC) a narrative history from those who know the field from the inside out: program administrators. Well conceived and expertly produced, this collection provides novice program administrators with a rich array of stories to draw upon as they tangle with the world of program development. For the experienced administrator, this book gives breaths of fresh air to invigorate your spirit. Sharing Our Intellectual Traces is a must read for all TPSC faculty and graduate students. It is also a gift that should be wrapped with a blue ribbon and presented to deans and provosts." —Robert R. Johnson, Michigan Technological University, Author, User-Centered Technology and Romancing the Atom

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0895038692
• ISBN 13: 9780895038692
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 220