Welcome to ENGL 511

1
Welcome to ENGL 511

• Russell Willerton
• August 25, 2008

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Agenda

• Roll call
• Writing exercise in Blackboard
• Introductions
• Policies and assignments
• Break
• Discussion of Connors article
• Overview of professional societies, journals,
  resources
• Discuss culminating activity for MATC degree

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Writing Exercise

• 1) Find our class at
• http//blackboard.boisestate.edu
• 2) Go to the Discussion Board.
• 3) Write. Spend up to 10 minutes on this.

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Introductions

• We will read through each persons discussion
  posts and introduce ourselves.

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Introduction

• Russell Willerton. Year 4 at BSU.
• PhD, technical communication rhetoric, Texas
  Tech University
• MA, U of North TX BA, Abilene Christian U
• Research presentations on visual communication,
  genres of technical communication (esp. white
  papers), and online health information
• 5 years in technical writing in Dallas area
• 1 year as feature reporter for public radio,
  Shreveport, LA

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My Approach to This Class

• This is a seminar. We will all learn from each
  other. Discussion is the key to the class.
  Everyone must participate for the class to
  succeed.
• This is a graduate class. It is up to you to make
  meaningful connections between the things we
  discuss and things that impact your life.
• Everything is up for discussion. You wont
  necessarily get what you want, but the doorway
  to discussion is open.
• The more we can do in class, the more we can do
  online in lieu of class meetings.

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Policies

• Policies for ENGL 511 are posted online
  http//english.boisestate.edu/willerton/511/Polici
  es.htm
• See your handout for a summary.

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Assignments

• Assignments for ENGL 511 are posted online
  http//english.boisestate.edu/willerton/511/Assign
  ments.htm
• See your handout for a summary.
• Discussion board prompts should be posted by the
  Wednesday before the due date. If theyre not
  there by Thursday, please let me know.

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Connors Article

• See CTWC.

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Overview of Professional Societies, Journals, and
Resources

• See http//english.boisestate.edu/willerton/511/sc
  hedule.htm.

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Culminating Activity for MATC Degree

• See http//www.boisestate.edu/techcomm/ma_exit.sht
  ml.
• Options
• Portfolio (zero credits most popular option)
• Project (three credits not done often)
• Thesis (three credits rarely attempted)
• Plan ahead for this activity! Due dates in each
  semester are sooner than you think.

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Questions?

• Let me know
• russellwillerton_at_boisestate.edu