Co-Director, Digital Rhetoric Collaborative; Chair, Core Values Committee; Lecturer
About
I have been on the faculty at Sweetland since 2004, and in my current position as Associate Director since 2007. Over that time, I've had the opportunity to have a hand in developing several vibrant Sweetland programs, including our topics courses in new media writing (Writing 200), the electronic portfolio program in our Transition to College Writing course (Writing 100), our Minor in Writing, and most recently, our new program for U-M undergraduate multilingual writers. With Sweetland's research group, I have been studying U-M's Upper-Level Writing Requirement program (ULWR), our Directed Self-Placement program (DSP), and college student writing development within the context of the Minor in Writing electronic portfolio program.
A good part of my work at Sweetland involves faculty and graduate instructor professional development in connection to teaching and developing writing courses across U-M. I work closely with Sweetland faculty in supporting our one-to-one writing consultations in the Writing Workshop and Peer Tutor Program, and in our writing minor, in which I am also an instructor and academic advisor. Additionally, I am a co-founder and co-director of the Sweetland Digital Rhetoric Collaborative, a community webspace and born digital book series with the U-M Press.
Fields of Study/Research Interests
Writing studies, digital rhetoric, writing and multiliteracy centers.
As Associate Director of Sweetland, which houses both a writing center and first-year and upper-level writing programs, I have a professional and scholarly interest in the effects of a writing center ethos on writing program development, assessment, and faculty and graduate instructor professional development in diverse pedagogical settings.
My further research interests focus on multiliteracy centers; reflection and metacognition in writing pedagogy, including digital contexts; electronic portfolios; interdisciplinarity in upper-level writing; and institutional research on writing program effectiveness and best practices.
Courses/Teaching Assignments
Writing 220: Intro to the Minor in Writing
Writing 993: GSI Training for Writing in the Disciplines
Academic Advisor in the Sweetland Minor in Writing
SWC/Writing 993: GSI Training for Writing in the Disciplines
SWC 400: Advanced Rhetoric and Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences
SWC 390: The Art of the Essay (online)
SWC 301: Directed Peer Tutoring
SWC 300: Seminar in Peer Tutoring
LHSP 125: College Writing (The Art of Narrative: Telling Stories in Words and Images)
ENG 124: Writing about Literature (Back to the Future: Thinking through Time in Literature and Philosophy)
SWC 100: Transition to College Writing
Sweetland Writing Workshop (one-to-one writing consultations)
Grants
Silver, Naomi, Sigrid Cordell, and Doreen Bradley. (Co-PI.) “Beyond Plagiarism: Best Practices for Teaching Students about Integrating Research Sources and Joining an Academic Conversation.” New Initiatives/New Infrastructures Grant, LSA Instructional Technology Committee, 2013.
Gere, Anne Ruggles, and Naomi Silver. (Co-PI.) “Developing Gateway and Capstone Courses for the New Minor in Writing Offered by the Sweetland Center for Writing.” Faculty Development Fund Grant, CRLT, 2011-2012.
Presentations
“Born-Digital Scholarship and Long-Form Publishing in Online Environments,” Writing Research Across Borders III Conference, Paris, February 2014
“Accessibility as Rhetorical Practice,” Computers and Writing Conference, Frostburg State University, June 2013
“Futures of Composition,” Roundtable Convener and Chair, Computers and Writing Conference, Frostburg State University, June 2013
“Developing, Planning, and Implementing Directed Self-Placement,” Half-Day Workshop Co-Leader, College Composition and Communication Conference, Las Vegas, March 2013
“Teaching with the Sweetland Digital Rhetoric Collaborative Wiki,” WIDE-EMU Conference, Michigan State University, October 2012
