English Department NEWSLETTER 2016
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SJSUenglish department NEWSLETTER 2016 Table of Contents CCCC Is Coming to SJSU CCCC Is Coming to SJSU Olivia Lee & Chris Aronson Olivia Lee & Chris Aronson English Majors: Success After Graduation The English Department of San José State are deeply involved in the world we live, Donnie Woolsey & Jerry Li University is hosting the Conference of work, and study in,” Dr. Skinnell says. “The College Composition and Communication fact that they have chosen SJSU as a site CLA: Celebrating 30 Years of Connections (CCCC) in the summer of 2017. It will take for the regional conference is a great Kevin Eung & Casandra Michel place on campus and is open to teachers honor.” and scholars interested in the field of Started in 1949, CCCC has held annu- rhetoric and composition. al conferences every year since. The Incorporating Culture into the Classroom The theme of the summer regional conferences include workshops, panel Deanna Boutte & Martin Gonzalez conference is “Making Spaces for Diverse sessions, keynote speeches, committee Writing Practice.” The conference will cre- retreats, and more. Although CCCC’s main Upper-Division English Courses Going to ate spaces where people from different focus has been college composition, Four Units disciplines, professional backgrounds, it has widened to include a variety of Benjamin Saubolle-Camacho and perspectives can collaborate. “We topics. Panels range from teaching basic & Arturo Camacho want this to be an accessible event where writing to the history of rhetoric to French people feel welcome no matter what theoretical insights into the nature of Advice from Alumni Authors stage of their careers they’re in,” says writing ontologies to the unique and vital Ashley Lopez and Miranda Squires co-chair of the summer conference and position of historically black colleges and Assistant Professor, Dr. Ryan Skinnell. universities in American education. “In “This would be a great first conference for other words, it’s an incredibly diverse set Technical Writing Website: Coming Soon someone to attend.” of interests and concerns, which is part Caroline Ohene-Nyako & Michael To For those who are unfamiliar with the of what makes it such a rich experience,” CCCC, it is the largest and oldest organi- says Dr. Skinnell. The Protégé: Francisco Jiménez Honored zation for writing and rhetoric teachers In addition to these annual conferences, with John Steinbeck Award in the nation. CCCC is involved in interna- 2017 marks the first year CCCC will add Tracey Mach & Mikayla Valdez tional and local politics to shape writing summer regional conferences. For Dr. and literacy education in America and is Skinnell and other faculty, this makes dedicated to creating spaces for scholars SJSU “both part of a long tradition and at Dr. Shillinglaw Visits Steinbeck in Russia and teachers to discuss how to serve stu- the cutting edge of innovations for writ- Grant Gundersen & Kori Beaulieu dents enrolled in composition classes. ing teachers and teaching of writing.” The “Although CCCC may not be a household conference at SJSU will replicate some name, the organization and its members of the activities that take place in their “The fact that they have chosen SJSU English Majors: as a site for the Success After Graduation regional conference Donnie Woolsey & Jerry Li is a great honor.” “Are you going to be a teacher?” Every En- things to say about the program. Despite checks, rather than the company being glish major has heard these words before, how effective the program is, it has room unable to pay its employees. and thankfully for many of them, “yes” for improvement. All three of them com- — Dr. Ryan Skinnell is the answer. For the rest of us, it gets mented that the Visual Rhetoric and Doc- Mariah, on the other hand, works for one exhausting to hear that question and the ument Design class should be mandatory. of Blue Coat’s competitors. Her project follow up, “Well what are you going to do It offered skills that they did not get in experience is similar to Alia and Maria, then?”, or another favorite, “Why didn’t any other class but have all used in their but lately, she has been more focused on you pick something practical?” (Because jobs. Mariah added that learning a wider web-product than anything else. Her cur- there is absolutely nothing practical variety of programs would be beneficial, rent project is a user guide for new users. about being able to communicate effec- specifically programs such as MadCap Engineers have provided her with instruc- tively.) Mariah Faris, Alia Mohammed, and Flare and FrameMaker. tions, and she has to translate “engineer” Maria Puentes are recent San José State to understandable English. That may not As the program is so thorough, transition- University graduates with degrees in En- seem like a massive project, but one set ing from San José State University into the glish. None of them are living in squalor. of instructions has over two-hundred workforce was a fairly painless process. Instead, all three graduates are working steps. While that sounds mind-numbing- Having graduated in 2015, Alia has had as writers. ly tedious to most sane people, Mariah the most experience. She spent a year at enjoys it. She has completed one other Both Mariah and Maria entered the Blue Coat, who partners with Symantec, user guide already and is waiting for the English program with the intention of as a Technical Publications Intern. Maria okay from her manager to publish it on teaching. English was what they liked, is there now in the same position. Most of the company website. and they didn’t know what else to do. the work done there is document writing Working as professional writers has given photo by:photo Miranda Squires Consequently, like so many before them, and updating. Maria comments, “We were they defaulted to education. Alia, on the given an older document, and we had to these three English alumni independence other hand, entered without a concen- update it. It was awful. It had, like, neon they have never had before. Indepen- tration. However, by the time they all got pink and green fonts. I don’t know what dence obtained with a Liberal Arts to their third year, they became aware of people were thinking.” Maria was able to degree. It was not an easy journey, and annual conferences. There will be full-day And according to Dr. Cindy Baer, co-chair you’re trying to do, people who are facing the Technical and Professional Writing handle this job with relative ease, due they’ll have a lifetime of people asking, writing retreats, concurrent panels, and of the conference and assistant professor, the same challenges. At the very least, Program and switched. For Alia and Maria, in large part to the Visual Rhetoric and “So you work at Starbucks?” when people a series of half-day workshops. While the the summer conference will help stu- you commiserate, but frequently you get taking Modern English sparked their Document Design class. find out they majored in English. regional retreat will have fewer partic- dents get a sense of national academic new ideas to improve your teaching and interest in sentence-level English. Mariah ipants compared to the annual confer- discourse within the field of writing. She establish relationships with other instruc- After Blue Coat, Alia spent some time at Each writer offers advice for the current always had an interest in document writ- ence, the goal is “to generate a lot of the encourages students who are interested tors that continue after you come home.” a small startup company. The small busi- students. Mariah wants us to know that ing, but didn’t know that it was an option same intellectual energy and interper- in graduate coursework to attend this For him, a value of the CCCC is that it ness had some perks; it was very much we aren’t done learning yet. In fact, we for her degree. sonal engagement.” because “it is rare to hear regional and brings together an academic community a “work hard, party hard” kind of place. better love to learn, because as technical When asked about the program, all three It was not abnormal for people to have writers we are going to keep doing it. The Undergraduate and graduate students national conversations [about writing] on for interactions that “can’t be replaced by raved. They acted as if they were getting mini-fridges with alcohol at their desks. more she learns, the more she learns she can benefit greatly from participating ei- this campus.” reading journal articles.” commission for anyone they referred Somehow, that didn’t seem to damage doesn’t know. While Alia’s advice may ther as volunteers or attendees. Through Dr. Mark Thompson, Assistant Professor But as mentioned before, CCCC is not to it. While they enjoyed the program, the work/home balance like one might be a little cliché, it still rings true: “Grab the CCCC conference, students can gain and Director of Professional and Techni- an organization only for veterans of the the biggest source of their praise was expect. Instead, Alia had more freedom the bull by the horns and don’t give up.” “opportunities to engage with top-notch cal Writing, has also attended and orga- field. The SJSU regional conference will how it prepared them for the jobs they in a job than ever before. Coming into Maria, perhaps, has the best advice: “Do researchers, demonstrate their skills and nized panels in CCCC’s yearly conference. give students the opportunity “to see an have now. Alia comments that one of the the office was encouraged, but working your best on all the projects you do, not talents, add useful experience to their Dr.