Special Events

Mission: The mission of the Special Events Committee is to highlight the research and teaching interests of the Brittain Fellows, the Writing and Communication Program, and the LCC and to nourish the sense of community. In consultation with the Director and Assistant Director of the Writing and Communication Program, the Special Events Committee (1) coordinates the Writing and Communication Program’s Speaker Series, (b) plans and implements the Research into Teaching Colloquium, (3) organizes and supports special events, (4) assists with the Spring Symposium, and (5) organizes the Brittain Fellows’ contributions to Celebrate Teaching Day (sponsored by CETL).  In addition, the committee promotes social events for the LCC community.

Membership: The chair of the committee is invited by the Director in consultation with the Assistant Director of Writing and Communication. Members on the Special Events Committee are invited by the chair of the committee, in consultation with the Director and Assistant Director of Writing and Communication.

2011-2012 Committee
Chair: Brandy Blake

Committee Members: Andy Frazee, Christine Hoffmann, Leeann Hunter, Amanda Madden, Kellie Meyer, Brittan Spann, Jesse Stommel, Katherine Tanski.

Goals:       (1) Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Brittain Fellowship by incorporating it into events throughout the year.  (2) Organize the Colloquium, inviting former Brittain Fellows to attend the events as well as inviting them to participate. (3) Arrange the Speaker Series and improve its marketing. (4) Craft a manual that outlines the process of planning and marketing special events.
(5) Assist the Writing and Communication Program in creating consistent marketing designs for all special events, as well as a logo, in an attempt to better brand the program. (6) Create, assist with,
or organize other events throughout the year, such as the Spring Symposium, Celebrating Teaching Day, a Medieval Symposium, a Job Market Roundtable, etc. (7) Emphasize community by planning and participating in Social Events and by cultivating the interest of LCC faculty in Writing and Communication events.

Prior Committee History
2010-11 Chair: Brandy Blake
Committee Members: Leeann Hunter, Kellie Meyer, Rob Leblanc, Bob Blaskiewicz, Rebekah Sheldon

Colloquium Series: Arranged, publicized, and hosted the 2010-2011 Research into Teaching Writing and Communication Colloquium series, with these featured Brittain Fellow speakers:

1.   April 21, 2011—Lauren Curtright, “Digital Transformations of Writing on Edgar Allan Poe”; Tom Lolis, “Teaching Lies: Propaganda and Disinformation in the Classroom”

2.   March 29, 2011— Jo Anne Harris (Ph.D. University of Puerto Rico) — “Virtual Borders and Converging Cultures: A Digital Conundrum”; Paulette Richards, “In the Best Possible Light:  Applied Research on Producing Digital Video as Technical Discourse”

3.   February 22, 2011—Kathryn Crowther, “(Steam)Punking Pedagogy: Creativity and Digital Pedagogy in the English Composition Classroom”; Andrew Famiglietti, “Wiki in the Composition Classroom: Potentials, Pitfalls, Plans”

4.   November 18, 2010—Diane Jakacki, “Teaching in Real Time”; Jesse Stommel, “Feed: Texting, Twitter, and the Student 2.0”

Speaker Series: Arranged, solicited sponsorship, publicized, and hosted the 2010-11 Speaker Series:

1.   March 8, 2011—Dr. Marc Okrand, noted linguist who currently works for the National Captioning Institute and renowned as the inventor of the Klingon language for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, both participated in a Q&A forum where students and faculty members were invited to meet him and ask questions of him in a less structured format and also gave a formal presentation about his experiences as a linguist and as the inventor of Klingon.

2.   February 17, 2011— Joe Tedesco of the Alternative Media Access Center, a company that provides schools with technology to assist those with print-related disabilities, “Universal Access to Information: Influence of Alternative Media Production on Textbook Usability”

Special Events: Arranged, solicited sponsorship, publicized, and hosted the 2010-11 Special Events:

1.   April 13, 2011—Job Market Roundtable, Brittain Fellows King Adkins, Katy Crowther, and Crystal Lake shared their experiences on the job market.

2.   April 12, 2011— Alternative Career Paths, Guests Lisa Rosenstein, Amy Rowland, and Karen Schriver presented some alternative career paths where Brittain Fellows might find professional and personal satisfaction while applying their expertise in writing and communication.

3.   April 11, 2011—Provided support for the one-day “First Annual Atlanta Comics Symposium” that invited comic artists from around Atlanta, celebrating the connections between comics and other media. Organized and coordinated by Roger Whitson and Aaron Kashtan (then University of Florida), the Symposium involved scholars from Georgia Tech, the University of Florida, and Georgia State University, and a panel by Georgia Tech undergrads about writing comics in their ENGL 1102 class.

4.   March 17, 2011—Participated in Celebrating Teaching Day (sponsored by CETL). Our session with posters and digital displays by 11 Brittain Fellow, was organized and coordinated by Kathryn Crowther and Rob Leblanc.

Social Events: Helped organize and publicize the August 2010 (1) Orientation Dinner that includes all Brittain Fellows and their spouses or partners as well as friends of the Writing and Communication Program (about 70 people in all), (2) reception for Dr. Marc Okrand, (3) thank-you lunch with Joe Tedesco, (4) celebratory end-of-year event at Manuel’s Tavern

2009-10 Chair: Kathryn Farley

Arranged, publicized, and hosted the 2009-10 Research into Teaching Writing and Communication Colloquium series, with these featured Brittain Fellow speakers:

1.   November 19, 2009—Andrea Wood, Daniel Vollaro, and Jillian Pyatte, “Building Community in the Classroom: Service Learning as Pedagogy and Research Tool”

2.   March 18, 2010—Bob Blaskiewicz, “Carl Sagan’s Contact: How Science Confronts an Extraordinary Claim” and Tiffany Tsao,”Exploring Science in the Classroom”

3.   April 22, 2010—Olin Bjork and Jared Johnson, “Digital Technologies and the Re-Imagining of Art, Literature and Film”

 

 

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