Ph.D., English, University of Minnesota, 1984
M.A., Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota, 1973
B.A., cum laude, Linguistics, University of Minnesota, 1967
Selected Publications
"Pluralism, Instrumental Discourse, and the Limits of Social Construction: A Comment to Laurie Grobman." Journal of Business and Technical Communication 14.1 (2000): 74-83.
"When Persuasion Fails: Coping with Power Struggles." Technical Communication 46.3 (August 1999): 351-359.
"Myths about Instrumental Discourse: A Response to Robert R. Johnson." Technical Communication Quarterly 8.2 (Spring 1999): 210-223.
"Rhetorical vs. Instrumental Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication." Technical Communication 44.2 (May 1997): 163-173.
"A Response to Miller and Kreth." Journal of Business and Technical Communication 10.3 (1996): 491-502.
"Instrumental Discourse is as Humanistic as Rhetoric." Journal of Business and Technical Communication 10.1 (1996): 100-118.
"Dioxin Contamination, Near Seveso, Italy (1976)," "Silicone-gel Implants (1960s-1990s)," "Dalkon Shield (1970s-1980s)." When Technology Fails: Significant Technological Disasters, Accidents, and Failures of the Twentieth Century. Ed. by Neil Schlager. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994: 397-402, 475-480, 481-485.
"Using Gestalt Theory to Teach Document Design and Graphics." (Co-authored with Chad Fitz.) Technical Communication Quarterly 2.4 (1993): 389-410.
"Gestalt Theory and Instructional Design." (Co-authored with Chad Fitz.) Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 23.2 (1993): 137-157.
"Intimidation and Communication: A Case Study of the Challenger Accident." Journal of Business and Technical Communication 6.4 (1992): 403-437.
"When Politeness is Fatal: Technical Communication and the Challenger Accident." Journal of Business and Technical Communication 6.3 (1992): 269- 292."Using Case Studies to Teach Courtesy Strategies." The Technical Writing Teacher 17.1 (1990): 8-25.
"Using the Front Page of The Wall Street Journal to Teach Document Design and Audience Analysis." The Bulletin of the Association for Business Communication 52.1 (1989): 25-26.
"The Raw and the Cooked: Using More Realistic Cases in Business- and Technical-Writing Courses." Journal of Business and Technical Communication 1.2 (1987): 91-97.
"Two-Headed Writing: A Reader Heuristic." (Co-authored with Marilyn M. Cooper.) The Writing Instructor 2.1 (1982): 19-28.
Technical Documentation:
Micro Business Applications, Inc., 1223 Wood Lake Drive, Burnsville, MN 55337 (Nov. 1983 to June 1986).
Wrote installation guides for PC/MS-DOS, CP/M-80, CP/M-86, Concurrent CP/M-86, and NEC APC.
Wrote user's manuals for Time Accounting; Multi-Company; PHD data base manager (co-authored); General Ledger; Sales Order Entry; Accounts Payable; Accounts Receivable; and four DWP Interfaces.Cytrol, Inc., 4620 West 77th St., Edina, MN 55435 (Mar. 1982 to Nov. 1983).
Wrote user's manuals for Inventory, Security Control, Mailbox, Error Reporting, File Maintenance, Text Filing, and Remote Spool Control applications.
Edited 12 programmer's reference manuals, proposals, and a software development methodology.Commercial Computer, Inc., 2545 West County Road C, Roseville, MN 55113 (Jan. 1981 to Dec. 1981).
Wrote user's manuals for General Ledger, Mail List, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Inventory, Payroll, and EDGEN/REPGEN applications software.
CPT Corporation, 8100 Mitchell Road, Minneapolis, MN 55440 (May 1980 to Feb. 1981).
Co-wrote: operator minimanuals for Rotary IV, V, VI, and VII printers; service manual for WordPak I hard disk storage unit.
Edited service manual for CPT 8000 word processor.
Literary Criticism:
"Ten Unpublished Letters from William Carlos Williams to Viola Baxter Jordan." William Carlos Williams Review 14.2 (1988): 30-60.
"Cubist Prosody: William Carlos Williams and the Conventions of Verse Lineation." Philological Quarterly 65 (1986): 515-536.
"William Carlos Williams and the Modernist Attack on Logical Syntax." ELH 53 (1986): 895-916.
"Symbol, Mask, and Meter in the Poetry of Louise Bogan." Gender and Literary Voice. Ed. Janet Todd. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1980: 67-80.
University Teaching Experience (1975-2000)
University of Arkansas at Little Rock (1989-present), Assistant and Associate Professor of English:
Technical Writing (18 sections), Freshman Composition (1 section), Theory of Technical Communication (1 section), Politics of Professional Communication (2 sections), Instructional Design (3 sections), Document Design (2 sections), Usability (1 section), Instrumental Discourse (1 section), Scientific Controversies (1 section), World Literature (18 sections), Cyberpunk Literature (1 section), Cyberpunk Fiction and Film (2 sections), Sexual Politics (1 section), Science Fiction (2 sections), Grammatical Analysis of Modern English (1 section).
University of Alabama in Huntsville (1987-1989), Assistant Professor of English:
Business Writing (3 sections), Technical Writing (8 sections), English Survey: Beowulf to Milton (2 sections), Modern Poetry (1 section).
Youngstown State University (1986-1987), Assistant Professor of English:
American Romantics (1 section), World Literature (1 section), Epic and Romance (1 section), Freshman Writing I (4 sections), Technical Writing (2 sections), Technical Writing Lab (2 sections).
University of Minnesota (1975-1984), Teaching Associate and Lecturer:
Freshman Writing I (6 sections), Freshman Writing II (4 sections), Intermediate Composition (3 sections), Technical Writing (3 sections), Writing as an Engineer and Manager (4 workshops), Facing New Writing Responsibilities (7 workshops), Writing Lab Tutor.
Selected Administrative Experience
President, Arkansas Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication, 1995-1997, 1999-2000.
Vice president, Arkansas Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication, 1993-1995.
Affirmative Action Information
Vietnam Era Veteran. Served in the U. S. Army from February 1968 to February 1970. Honorable Discharge.