Department of English
Pennsylvania State University
University Park,
PA 16802
814-865-1438
jls25@psu.edu
CURRENT POSITION
Associate Dean, College of the Liberal Arts
Professor of English, Pennsylvania State
University, University Park, PA
(joined the faculty in 1978; tenured in
1984)
EDUCATION
Ph.D.: Miami University, 1978
M.A.:
Miami University, 1972.
B.A.: Xavier University, 1970 (cum
laude); majors: economics, English
COURSES TAUGHT
Kenneth Burke (graduate)
Rhetoric and Pragmatism (graduate)
Introduction to the
Study of Rhetoric and Composition (graduate)
1977: A Course in the
History of Composition (graduate)
Practicum in the Teaching of Technical
Writing (graduate)
Reader-Response Criticism (graduate)
The Theory and
Practice of Technical Writing (graduate)
Practicum in the Teaching of
Composition (graduate)
Advanced Technical Writing (graduate students and
seniors)
Kenneth Burke and His Circles
Rhetorical Bodies
Rhetoric
and Poetics
Technical Writing
Rhetoric and Composition
Basic Writing
Other undergraduate courses in rhetorical and literary studies
AWARDS
Charles Kneupper Award for "Best Article of 1996" in
Rhetoric Society Quarterly (for "Kenneth Burke’s Counter-Statement
as Counter Statement")
Awards for "Best Collection of Essays" (1993, for Understanding Scientific Prose) and for "Best Article on Methods of Teaching" (1991, for "Critical Inquiry in a Technical Writing Course") from the NCTE Committee on Scientific and Technical Writing.
Honorary Fellow, Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, 1997.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Negotiating the Left: Kenneth Burke,
1931-1941. (with Ann George)
A study of the work of Kenneth Burke during
the 1930s, when Burke completed Auscultation, Creation and Revision
(1932), Permanence and Change (1935), Attitudes toward History
(1937), and The Philosophy of Literary Form (1941). Continuing the
work of Kenneth Burke in Greenwich Village: Conversing with the
Moderns, 1915-1931, Ann George and I make use of primary materials in Burke
manuscripts and correspondence at Yale, Brown, Penn, Penn State, Syracuse, The
Newberry Library in Chicago, the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia, Columbia,
Stanford,the University of Chicago, and elsewhere in order to situate Burke in a
cultural conversation involving leftists (e.g., James T. Farrell, Sidney Hook,
Malcolm Cowley), "aesthetes" and New Critics (e.g., Marianne Moore, William
Carlos Williams, John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, I. A. Richards, Robert Penn
Warren), and pragmatists (e.g., Dewey and Mead). Completed and submitted: 2005.
1977 (with Wendy Sharer, Brent Henze, and others). Monograph on composition history that has been submitted for publication. 155-page manuscript.
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
Associate Dean, College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State, 2005-present.
Responsible for overseeing graduate and undergraduate programs in the College.
Director of Composition Programs,
Penn State, 1986-1989; 1991-93.
Responsible for administering policy and
staff for a program involving thirteen courses (from Basic Writing and
Composition and Rhetoric through advanced electives such as Editing, Advanced
Composition, and Advanced Technical Writing), a Writing Center, 150
instructors, and about 500 sections per year. Helped to implement a
successful proposal to integrate personal computers into 250 annual sections of
advanced courses in Technical Writing, Business Writing, Writing in the
Humanities, and Writing in the Social Sciences. Worked with University
Writing Committee in developing a campus-wide "writing across the curriculum"
program. Developed courses in writing for graduate students in other
disciplines. Chaired the Composition Committee, which makes policy for the
Program.
Director of Graduate Studies, Penn State, 1999-2002; 2004. Responsible for administering a comprehensive English graduate program offering MA, MFA, and PhD degrees, including 100+ students receiving assistantships and fellowships. My goals: improving dissertation fellowship support for doctoral students, achieving a 100% completion rate for students admitted for PhD study within five years (and MAs in two), striving for a 100% placement rate for PhDs in tenure-track jobs, improving the quality of an already strong student body, and encouraging effective minority recruitment.
Co-Founder (1982), Conference Director (1984-85; 1988; 1997, with Sharon Crowley; 2005), and Co-Program Director (1982, 1983, 1986-90, 1992-93, 1995), Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Editorial Board, College
Composition and Communication (1985-89; 1999-present), Journal of
Business and Technical Writing (1985-present), WPA: Writing Program
Administration (1992-present), Journal of Business Communication
(1982-88), Written Communication (2003-present), and Baseball Research Journal (1979-84). Editorial
Advisor, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 1995-99.
Manuscript referee for University of Michigan Press, University of Wisconsin Press, Penn State Press, Yale University Press, Sage Publications, Southern Illinois University Press, Oxford University Press, University of Texas Press, University of South Carolina Press, Rutgers University Press, College English, Rhetoric Review, College Composition and Communication, Journal of Advanced Composition, Written Communication, Quarterly Journal of Speech, Technical Communication, Journal of Business Communication, Technical Communication Quarterly, Research in the Teaching of English, Public Understanding of Science, and other journals. Referee (one of twenty) for Rhetoric Society of America conference, 2002. Final-stage referee for annual Conference on College Composition and Communication, 1994 and 1996 (one of eight); for the program of the Rhetoric Society of America conference, 1998 (one of three); for meeting of Kenneth Burke Society, 1999 (one of two).
Committee on Technical and Scientific Communication, NCTE (1987-90); judge for the Committee’s 1992 and 1995 awards for excellence in scholarship.
President, Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, 1990-92; responsible for overseeing (under the direction of the Executive Committee) all of the activities of this professional organization. Served as Vice President, 1988-90. Member of Executive Committee, ATTW, 1985-96.
Writing Representative, Alliance for Undergraduate Education (1987-93): cooperated and consulted with representatives of other large, comprehensive research universities on matters of mutual concern, especially concerning the teaching of writing.
Chair, Braddock Award Committee, CCCC, 1995-96. Member, Examplar Award Committee, CCCC, 2003-05.
Departmental Service: Composition Committee, 1979-80, 1982-89, 1991-93, 1996-97; Personnel Committee, 1989-91, 1998-99 (chair, 1998-99); Graduate Committee, 1994-96; 1999-present; Business and TechnicalWriting Committee, 1980-82; Ad Hoc Committee to Devise a Ph.D. in Rhetoric, 1982-83; Ad Hoc Committee on the M.A. in Technical Writing, 1982-83; Policy Committee and Administrative Committee (i.e., the department’s "executive committees"), 1986-90, 1991-93, 1999-2002, and 2003; Search Committees, 1980-present (including the successful Headship Search Committee, 1989-90; the searches for senior rhetoricians, 1992-93 [chair] and 1994-95; the search for two African American rhetoricians, 1997-98 [chair]; and the successful searches for two named professorships, 1999-2000); Graduate Program Exam Committees, 1982-97; Careers Coordinator, 1980-84, 1996-99, and 2004-05 (responsible for counseling undergraduate and graduate students, arranging internships, and directing programs on career opportunities and job-search strategies); Chair, Planning Committee, 1990-91. (The Planning Committee was responsible for developing a comprehensive strategic plan for the English department at Penn State that included a long-term hiring plan, suggestions for internal improvements, and an argument for additional resources from the university administration to enhance the English department at Penn State. Partly as a result of this document, the College of Liberal Arts named as its highest priority the creation of at least eight new tenure-track lines (several for senior appointments) and 25 new teaching assistantships for English.
Dissertation and Thesis Committees: Eighteen dissertation committees at Penn State (six as chair, one as co-chair); one at Carnegie Mellon University. Directed or co-directed eleven MA theses or projects. Directed six undergraduate honors theses, including the 1988 Henry Sams Award winner. Currently directing three dissertations.
University Service: University Writing Committee (Writing Across the Curriculum), 1986-93; General Education Consultative Committee on Health Sciences, 1986-87; Committee on Liberal Arts/Business Minor, 1982-85; Liberal Arts Faculty Affairs Committee, 1989-91; Liberal Arts Ad Hoc Enrollment Management Committee, 1992-93; Graduate Council Committee on Academic Standards Subcommittee on Writing Competency, 1992-95.
Consulting: One- and two-day workshops/consultations on composition or "writing-across the-curriculum," Ohio University (1989), Cal State--Chico (1990), Drexel University (1990), Penn State (1989, 1992), Weber State (1995), Slippery Rock University (1996), Shepherd College (1996), Cornell University (1996), Lakeland Community College (1997), Cal--Irvine (1998), Temple University (1999). Outside evaluator for graduate programs in composition and technical writing, University of Arkansas at Little Rock (1988); for Ph.D. program at Northeastern; and for the Ph.D. programs in Rhetoric and Technical Communication, Texas Tech (1992) and New Mexico State (2000). Advisor to other universities on tenure and promotion decisions (e.g., Syracuse, Arizona, Wayne State, Carnegie Mellon, George Mason, Iowa State, MIT, Massachusetts, Southern Illinois, Maryland, RPI, Illinois--Chicago, Minnesota, Northeastern, University of British Columbia, SMU, Washington, Washington State, Michigan, Arizona, Rhode Island).
GRANTS
Research Grant, Research and Graduate Studies Office, and
Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies (roughly $3000), Spring,
1994. Provided funds for travel to special collections related to Kenneth
Burke at Yale, Princeton, Penn, Brown, and elsewhere.
Research Grant, Research and Graduate Studies Office, and Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies (roughly $4000), Spring, 1997. Provided funds for travel to special collections related to Kenneth Burke at Yale, Princeton, Penn, Newberry Library in Chicago, Syracuse, the Library of Congress, and elsewhere.
Research Grant, Research and Graduate Studies Office, Spring 1999. Provided funds to support the publication of a facsimile edition of the little magazine Tambour by the University of Wisconsin Press (with Mark Morrisson).
"Cohesion and Readability in Paragraphs: A Research Study." Pennsylvania State University Research Initiation Grant ($2070), Spring, 1980.
Fund for the Improvement of Instruction Grant to support "Greenwich Village 1915-1931," a course focused on Kenneth Burke and his circles. The award paid for a trip to Greenwich Village and environs and for hypercard software that enabled students to share their writing and to develop their writing for the use of future students.
Instructional Improvement Grant, Pennsylvania State University ($2300), Summer, 1982. Provided funds to complie and edit an Instructor's Handbook for Teachers of business and technical writing at Penn State and packets of student-written documents to serve as sample readings in business and technical writing courses.
Sabbatical leaves, Penn State, in 1985-86; 1993-94; 2001.
AFFILIATIONS
Modern Language Association
Conference on
College Composition and Communication
Kenneth Burke Society
Rhetoric Society of America
Association of Teachers of
Technical Writing
National Council of Teachers of English
Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication
Society for American Baseball Research