Getting an Invitation to the English Table—and Whether or Not to Accept It.

Annotation by Joshua Barron

This recent article provides a well-paced and thoroughly commented walk-through of the long term changes that have taken place in the University of Cincinnati English Department over time. Building from the foundational concepts and values of its founding faculty, the article focuses specifically on the wide variety of changes the department and its programs have undergone through the years. The article culminates by articulating the three key concepts its authors believe are essential in helping Technical Writing, to be and to feel fully engaged.
The Principles offered are as follows:

1. The Professional Writing Faculty Must Become Visible Contributors in the Department and Find Ways to Integrate Their Program’s Purposes and Needs into the Department’s Priorities.
2. The Professional Writing Faculty Need to Use Caution When Responding to the Demand for Professional Writing Coming from Outside the Department and to Encourage the Demand Coming from Inside the Department.
3. The Department and the Professional Writing Faculty Need to Nurture
   an Intellectual (and to Some Extent Ideological) Compatibility Across English
   Subfields.
   

Rentz, K., Debs, M., & Meloncon, L. (2010). Getting an Invitation to the English Table—and Whether or Not to Accept It. Technical Communication Quarterly, 19(3), 281-299. doi:10.1080/10572252.2010.481536.