Technical Writing and Literature in Dialogue in the Undergraduate English Classroom

Authors

  • Catherine Q. Forsa Roger Williams University

Keywords:

pedagogy, technical and professional communication, literature

Abstract

This essay considers the value and challenges of teaching literature and technical and professional communication (TPC) in the same course. I argue that teaching literature alongside TPC provides a context for students to understand connections between the variety of courses offered in English departments. Such a course also presents students with an opportunity to develop an early interest in TPC that could lead them to take additional courses or perhaps explore a minor, major, or secondary major in TPC. I review research on TPC pedagogy as well as scholarship on English departments' curriculum in general. The essay then describes a proposed course for first-year students. Students study TPC and literary texts. The course has four units that highlight the ways these texts overlap, diverge, and connect.

Author Biography

Catherine Q. Forsa, Roger Williams University

Catherine Forsa is an assistant professor in the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition at Roger Williams University. She teaches courses in the department’s Professional and Public Writing program and the university’s general education program. She received her Ph.D. in English from Case Western Reserve University.
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Published

2018-07-09

Issue

Vol. 46 No. 2 (2017): Summer/Fall 2017

Section

Articles

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