Tech Writing and English departments and research (somewhat long)

["walden miller" <wmiller -at- vidiom -dot- com>]

Bruce writes:
However, to put tech-writing in its current state on a par with academic
subjects does seem a rather inflated claim. So long as literature
courses that are unavailable anywhere else go begging for funding, I
don't think that tech-writing should be entering English departments.

wm: tech writing programs are funded, even in English departments.

Diane adds:
It's not that tech writers do not have the desire to do these things, but we
don't have the time.  No one pays me to conduct independent research.

wm: most professionals don't do research unless their company's pay them to
do research.  Don't feel bad.

Bruce adds more:
...Even if some doctors are only in the
profession for the money, the profession as a whole has an academic
orientation that tech-writers just don't have. I'm not sure whether this
difference is a good or a bad thing, but it's there.

wm: Medicine doesn't have an academic orientation, any more than any
profession.  They just have a better organization with better PR.  STC is
not a visible organization to the public; the AMA is.

more wm comments:

I went through a PhD program in Tech Writing.  My sister is an English Lit
prof and wondered (in amazement) what kind of new research could be written
for a PhD. I once was interested in an English degree, so I am quite aware
of the "research" in English lit. What did James Joyce mean?  What can I
interpret this to mean?

I have no problems with Lit degrees, as such; my problem is with people's
reactions to Tech Writing degrees.  Universities have three major purposes
(outside of making money): 1. teaching students, 2. training teachers, and
3. research.

Tech writing programs are doing all three.  Similar to Physics programs,
Engineering programs, etc.  The department often ends up in English because
the professors teaching it have English degrees.  Some programs have tech
writing in other departments, but typically its English.

At Iowa State University, there were 28 full-time tech writing professors
and the department was growing.  Research was being done in tech writing by
grad students and professors.  There was some animosity between the old
guard (English lit) and the young turks (tech writing).  It was still
required to take an English lit course to get a masters in tech writing (I
wish I had heard the arguments to put this req. through).

Tech writing conventions are somewhat like teacher's conventions: long on
how to and short on research.  That doesn't mean research isn't going on; it
just means that practitioners are doing the research.  If you want to see
research, you have to go to academic conferences.  CCCC or Computers and
Writing or whatever.  Even then, you only get glimmers of research.  Tech
writing research isn't published much.  This is a journal thing.  Its
getting better, but not quite there yet.

The field of tech writing is very old.  The profession of tech writing
(profession = perceived worth and organization in the public eye) is very
new. I don't care where tech writing lands in the university structure; as
its worth grows, so will its stature.

walden miller



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you 
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of 
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

  Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
  5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
  Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.