Teaching STEM Students Communication through the Lens of Science Fiction

Science Fiction’s Potential in the Communications-Classroom As an instructor who teaches introductory English communication courses (ENGL 1101 and 1102) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a leading institution in the fields of engineering and computer science, I was confronted by the challenge of engaging STEM majors in the communication course… Continue reading

Teaching, Coping, Living: A Collection of Six-Word Memoirs

Anxious campesina grasping peaceful power, struggling. Rocio Soto, fourth-year undergraduate, LMC major Educators and scholars lead stressful personal and professional lives, and, knowing that, we at TECHStyle wanted to create a space for self-expression in addition to our usual scholarly and pedagogical fare. To achieve this goal in an accessible… Continue reading

Life after the Brittain Fellowship: Rebecca Weaver

What does life after the Brittain Fellowship look like? What opportunities within academia or in other sectors do Brittain Fellows pursue? And how does the postdoc prepare Brittain Fellows for these positions? The Professional Development Committee reached out to former Brittain Fellows and other experts to find out the answers to these questions and more. The interview… Continue reading

Course Delivery and Contingency during COVID-19

GT students lay on the ground in a COVID-19 'die-in' protest

by Alexandra Edwards, Corey Goergen, and Kent Linthicum We wrote this article before the fall 2020 semester to show the disparity between non-tenure-track faculty and tenure-track faculty in our school at Georgia Tech. In addition, we hoped the method we outline below would be one other faculty could use to… Continue reading

Information Overload; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Media

The longer I teach, the more aware I become of a growing ideological separation between myself and my students. It’s not that I’m morphing into an out-of-touch, elbow patch-wearing professor (OK, I do have elbow patches), but there is definitely a widening divide, and over time, I’ve come to realize… Continue reading

Why Not?: On Punk and Pedagogy

Not long before the Primitives changed their name to the Velvet Underground, the band’s singer, Lou Reed, wrote to his Syracuse University professor, poet Delmore Schwartz, I decided that I’m very very good and could be a good writer if i work and work. i know thats what ive got to… Continue reading

Applications Open for 2018-2019 Brittain Fellowship

Applications are being accepted for a new cohort of Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows through February 1. 2018. The job ad has been posted at Inside Higher Ed, and also appears below. The Writing and Communication Program at Georgia Tech seeks recent PhDs (dissertation successfully defended by August 2018) in… Continue reading

The Office Hour, Chapter 23: “Crisis!”

In this episode, Toby draws on his professorial pedigree and Nick on his experience in the creative writing world in an attempt to find the source of the current crisis in the humanities. Have the humanities always been in crisis? Is there any other way? Our hosts do their best… Continue reading

The Office Hour, Chapter 15: “Public School”

On the occasion of Betsy DeVos’s confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Education, Toby takes over the microphone to school me on the history of public education. The podcast can be played using the embedded player above or downloaded as an mp3 file. Music: “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,”… Continue reading

The Office Hour, Chapter 12: “Refusing to Read”

In our first episode of 2017, Toby and I debate Amy Hungerford’s Chronicle of Higher Education editorial, “On Not Reading.” Along the way, Toby shares some of his expertise about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and I divulge my inexpertise about J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Special thanks to the panelists in the Modern Language Association 2017 session,… Continue reading

Applications Open for 2017-2018 Brittain Fellowship

  The Writing and Communication Program is now accepting applications for new Brittain Fellows. The job ad has been posted at Vitae, and appears below. To apply, please consult the job ad below and submit applications by February 1, 2017. The Writing and Communication Program in Georgia Tech’s School of… Continue reading

The Office Hour, Chapter 8: “Seasonal Allegories (A Post-Halloween Special)”

We had to take a week off last week due to some technical difficulties, but Toby and I are back with a Halloween special in which we discuss our spookiest academic fears. These include Northrop Frye’s theory of archetypes, the ongoing adjunctification of higher education, Donald Trump, and other nightmarish… Continue reading

Britt Fellow Goes Bibliophile

It always seems self-contradictory to proffer sage career advice to fellow teachers and academics. I am not too far removed from the realm of the Brittain Fellows, having been one from 2007-2008. Like you, I walked among the hallowed halls of Skiles and watched the ever-fluctuating stream of students, many… Continue reading