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.
MP3's of episodes are available below. Episodes can also be found on Spotify.
Meaningful Writing in Students' Social Lives with Charles Bazerman
Charles Bazerman is Professor of Education at the University of California - Santa Barbara is interested in social dynamics of writing, rhetorical theory, the rhetoric of knowledge, production, and use, and the lifespan development of writing abilities. He is Steering Committee Chair of the International Society for the Advancement of Writing Research and recent Chair of the Conference of College Composition and Communication. His books include A Rhetoric of Literate Action, Theory of Literate Action, The Languages of Edison's Light, Constructing Experience, Shaping Written Knowledge, The Informed Writer, Handbook of Research on Writing, Traditions of Writing Research, Genre in a Changing World, and What Writing Does and How it Does it. He has published over one hundred chapters and articles. His works have been translated into Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Danish, and Chinese. He has worked with campuses throughout Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Integrating Attention to Reading Across the Disciplines with Ellen Carillo
Ellen Carillo is Associate Professor and a Writing Coordinator in the Department of English at the University of Connecticut. She is the author of many articles and books icluding most recently Reading Critically, Writing Well, the MLA Guide to Digital Literacy, Teaching Readers in Post-Truth America, A Writer’s Guide to Mindful Reading, and Securing a Place for Reading in Composition: The Importance of Teaching for Transfer.
How Disciplined is Writing? with Judy Swan
Judy Swan started 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.
The Power of Writing Across the Curriculum with Dan Melzer
Dan Melzer is the Director of First-Year Composition in the University Writing Program of the University of California, Davis. He teaches undergraduate composition courses and graduate courses in the theory and practice of teaching composition. His research interests include writing across the curriculum, writing centers, writing program administration, first-year composition, and multiliteracies.
Responding to Writing with Cheryl Glenn
Cheryl Glenn is Distinguished Professor of English and Women's Studies, Director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, and co-founder of Penn State's Center for Democratic Deliberation. She has earned numerous research, scholarship, teaching, and mentoring awards and has delivered lectures and workshops across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In 2015, she received an honorary doctorate from Orebro University in Sweden for her rhetorical scholarship and influence. In 2019, she received the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Exemplar Award. Professor Glenn’s scholarly work focuses on histories of women’s rhetorics and writing practices, feminist theories and practices, inclusionary rhetorical practices and theories, and contexts and processes for the teaching of writing.
From Wells to Wormholes: Writing and Thinking Within and Across Disciplines with Linda Adler-Kassner
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.
The Role of Reading in Analytical Writing with David Jolliffe
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. Jolliffe has also taught at West Virginia University, Bethany, the University of Texas, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and DePaul University. He moved to Fayetteville in 2005 to inaugurate the work of the Brown Chair, whose mission is to promote critical and effective literacy among Arkansans in all walks of life.
Teaching to Encourage Transfer Across Courses and Context with Elizabeth Wardle
Elizabeth Wardle is the Howe Professor and Director of Roger and Joyce Howe Center for Writing Excellence at Miami University.
The Role of Reading in Analytical Writing with Christine Farris
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.
Working with Faculty Across the Disciplines to Foster Good Writing Instruction with Jonathan Alexander
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 he explores what theories of sexuality, particularly queer theory, have to teach us about literacy and literate practice in pluralistic democracies.
Assessing Student Writing with Chris Gallagher
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 in 2009 as Professor of English and Writing Program Director. Previously, he was Professor of English and Composition Coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
English Language Learners with Paul Kei Matsuda
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, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and throughout the United States. Paul is Founding Chair of the Symposium on Second Language Writing and Series Editor of the Parlor Press Series on Second Language Writing. He has also served as the founding chair of the CCCC Committee on Second Language Writing and the Chair of the Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL (NNEST) Caucus.
Writing Across the Curriculum with Marty Townsend
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 on the Editorial Board of WPA: Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators and has consulted on writing and general education for over eighty colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. Her current research project involves literacy and high profile athletes in Division I football.
Writing Assessment with Norbert Elliot
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, and Theory of Writing Assessment; Theory and Practice of Technical Communication; Biography; Theory and History of Environmental Rhetoric; Empirical Research Methods; Technology and Education.
Multilingual Writers in the University Classroom with Terry Myers Zawacki
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 Writing special issue of Across the Disciplines, and the forthcoming WAC and Second Language Writers: Research towards Linguistically and Culturally Inclusive Programs and Practices. Her current research investigates the challenges faced by dissertation writers and their advisers across the disciplines.
Writing in Science with Judy Swan
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.
Transfer and Writing with Rebecca Nowacek
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.
Writing Across the Curriculum with Mike Palmquist
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.
English Language Learners and Writing Instruction with Christine Tardy
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.
Machine Scoring of Writing with Carl Whithaus
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 California - Davis.
