The Sweetland Podcast Series: Topics in Writing features interviews with guests at the Sweetland Seminar about current topics in the teaching of writing. Each of these guests, an expert in the field, is interviewed by T Hetzel, a member of the faculty at the Sweetland Center for Writing.
Episodes + Guests
Linda Adler-Kassner
From Wells to Wormholes: Writing and Thinking Within and Across Disciplines
Linda Adler-Kassner is Dean of Undergraduate Education and Professor of Writing Studies at the University of California - Santa Barbara. She teaches academic writing courses associated with public engagement and public discourse and graduate courses in composition theory and pedagogy. She also works with faculty across the campus and around the country on research-based teaching, learning, and assessment.
David Jolliffe
The Role of Reading in Analytical Writing
David Jolliffe is professor of English and, by courtesy, Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas, where he is the initial occupant of the Brown Chair in English Literacy. He earned a B.A. in English, magna cum laude, from Bethany College in 1974; an M.A. in English from West Virginia University in 1980; and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas in 1984. A native of New Martinsville, West Virginia, Jolliffe began his career as an educator at Triadelphia High School and then at Wheeling Park High School, where he taught both English and theatre. Jolliffe has also...
See MoreElizabeth Wardle
Teaching to Encourage Transfer Across Courses and Context
Elizabeth Wardle is the Howe Professor and Director of Roger and Joyce Howe Center for Writing Excellence at Miami University.
Christine Farris
The Role of Reading in Analytical Writing
Christine Farris has served as director of composition as well as associate and acting chair of the department of English at Indiana University. She teaches courses in writing, rhetoric and composition theory, and literature. She also coordinates the dual-credit college composition course for high school teachers as part of UI's Advance College Project.
Jonathan Alexander
Working with Faculty Across the Disciplines to Foster Good Writing Instruction
Jonathan Alexander is the Chancellor's Professor of English, Education, and Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Irvine, where he is also the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Writing & Communication. The author, co-author, or editor of eleven books,his scholarly work focuses primarily on the use of emerging communications technologies in the teaching of writing and in shifting conceptions of what writing, composing, and authoring mean. Jonathan also works at the intersection of the fields of writing studies and sexuality studies, where...
See MoreChris Gallagher
Assessing Student Writing
Chris Gallagher, Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning, and Experiential Education, holds a Ph.D. in writing, teaching, and criticism from University at Albany and a Master’s degree in English from the University of New Hampshire. Joining the Dean’s Office in July 2014, he works with colleagues throughout the college on researching and supporting the undergraduate learning experience; fostering excellence and innovation in teaching; refining curricula and assessment; and strengthening the connections between cutting-edge classroom work and experiential learning. Chris came to Northeastern...
See MorePaul Kei Matsuda
English Language Learners
Paul Kei Matsuda is Professor of English and Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University. He is also Concurrent Professor at Nanjing University. He has published widely on second language writing in various journals and edited collections in applied linguistics, rhetoric and composition and TESOL, and has received a number of prestigious awards for his publications. He has presented plenary and keynote talks as well as lectures and workshops in various countries, including China, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Qatar...
See MoreMarty Townsend
Writing Across the Curriculum
Marty Townsend teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in rhetoric and composition. She is a fellow of the Bryn Mawr Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration, former literacy consultant to The Ford Foundation, and former director MU's Campus Writing Program. Author of numerous book chapters and journal articles on writing-across-the-curriculum, she is the recipient of a Gold Chalk award for training and mentoring graduate students. Her work with academic writing has taken her to universities in Romania, Korea, Thailand, South Africa, China, and Costa Rica. She sits...
See MoreNorbert Elliot
Writing Assessment
Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Norbert Elliot was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended Brother Martin High School. He received both his BA and MA from the University of New Orleans and his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. He has taught at Mercer County Community College, Rider University, the College of New Jersey, and Texas A & M University at Commerce. Since 1988 he has been a member of the Department of Humanities at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). His research and teaching interests cluster in the following areas: History, Practice, ...
See MoreTerry Myers Zawacki
Multilingual Writers in the University Classroom
Terry Myers Zawacki is professor emerita at George Mason University where she also directed the university’s highly ranked Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program and the University Writing Center. She has published on writing across the curriculum (WAC), writing in the disciplines (WID), writing assessment, writing centers, writing in international contexts, and WAC and second-language writing. Her publications include Engaged Writers and Dynamic Disciplines: Research on the Academic Writing Life, Writing Across the Curriculum: A Critical Sourcebook, the WAC and Second Language...
See MoreJudy Swan
Writing in Science
When Judy Swan was growing up, everyone told her she'd have to pick just one thing to do. But that's not been true; after starting out in scientific research, she now teaches writing to scientists at all levels in education, industry, and government. A graduate of Harvard University and MIT, Judy is currently an Associate Director of the Princeton Writing Program, where she gets to work with 18 different academic disciplines as she ponders why we all have so much trouble communicating with one another.
Rebecca Nowacek
Transfer and Writing
Rebecca Nowacek is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Norman H. Ott Memorial Writing Center at Marquette University. Her research interests include: Transfer of writing related knowledge, Writing center research and administration, Interdisciplinary Curricula and Writing, and Writing Across the Curriculum Programs. She's especially interested in the question of "transfer"-- how writers connect what they know and who they are in one context with what they know and who they are in another context.
Mike Palmquist
Writing Across the Curriculum
Mike Palmquist is Associate Vice Provost for Learning and Teaching, Professor of English, and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar at Colorado State University where he directs the University's Institute for Learning and Teaching. His scholarly interests include writing across the curriculum, the effects of computer and network technologies on writing instruction, and new approaches to scholarly publishing. Since 1992, he has coordinated the development of Writing@CSU and its web-based writing environment, the Writing Studio. He is also founding editor of the WAC Clearinghouse...
See MoreChristine Tardy
English Language Learners and Writing Instruction
Christine Tardy is an assistant professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse and DePaul University in Chicago where she teaches undergraduate and graduate students in writing, writing and language teacher education, and genre and discourse related issues. Her research focuses on second language writing, genre and discourse studies, English-language policies, and politics, particularly related to writing and disciplinary writing development.
Carl Whithaus
Machine Scoring of Writing
Carl Whithaus is the director of the UC-Davis University Writing Program. He studies the impact of information technology on literacy practices, writing assessment, and writing in the sciences and engineering. His publications include "Teaching and Evaluating Writing in the Age of Computers and High Stakes Testing" and "Writing Across Distances and Disciplines: Research and Pedagogy in Distributed Learning." Carl earned his Ph.D. at the City University of New York. He has taught at Stevens Institute of Technology, Old Dominion University, and the University of...
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