New Faculty in English

Shaun Slattery is finishing his Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic, specializing in workplace writing, writing technologies, and composition and rhetoric. His dissertation deals with the practices and techne of technical writing with particular reference to the effect of the writers' technologies--from complex computer software to commonplace items like Post-it notes--on the way texts are constructed. He plans to defend the dissertation in December, but a part of his work on this project has already been published in his article titled "Technical Writing as Textual Coordination" in the most recent issue of Technical Communication. This quarter Shaun's teaching ENG 301, Writing in the Professions.

James Beasley is finishing his Ph.D. at Purdue with a dissertation on concepts of writing and its role in general education in the debates about the curriculum at the University of Chicago in the 1950's. James also has solid experience teaching first year writing courses at Valparaiso, where he served as assistant director of the first year writing program. He has a chapter called "Essayism and Post-Disciplinary Space at the Liberal Arts College" in Teaching Essayism, a collection that's forthcoming this December, and he'll be presenting some of his dissertation work at the 4C's conference in Chicago this spring. This quarter he's teaching sections of first year writing.

Beth Ann Bryant-Richards has an MA in Writing from DePaul and notable experience teaching DePaul students, first as a graduate assistant in our writing centers and then as part-time faculty teaching first year writing and ENG 202 Professional Writing for Business, the required course in writing in Commerce. She has also taught in the School for New Learning and at Harper College, and she's worked as a freelance writer and an editor in science. This quarter, Beth Ann's teaching sections of first year writing and ENG 202.

Jon Mann has a BA and Ma in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), and he's ABD in English from Purdue. He taught a variety of writing and literature courses at IUP, Purdue, and Penn State as a graduate student and lecturer. Over the last 17 years, he's had extensive experience as a technical writer, editor, and writing trainer for engineers and other technical specialists, most of it at an environmental consulting firm here in Chicago called Tetra Tech. In addition, he has taught a number of courses at Loyola and Oakton Community College over the last year. This quarter, he's teaching sections of first year writing.