Opportunities for Graduate Research
Graduate students are encouraged to pursue both independent research and work with other graduate students and faculty for both conferences presentations and publication. Students work in this area is supported by the John C. Hodges Better English Fund, which provides students with annual funding to attend regional, national, and international conferences either to present work or to interview. Both the department and the university also support graduate student travel for purposes of research.
Within the English Department, graduate students can apply for fellowships as well as one of several editorial, administrative, and research assistantships. Notably, the department is host to several nationally recognized journals, including The Journal of Second Language Writing, edited by Ilona Leki, and advanced graduate students regularly work with faculty as editorial assistants. Both the First-Year Writing Program, directed by Mary Jo Reiff, and the Writing Center, directed by Kirsten Benson, invite graduate students to work as administrative assistants, positions that offer valuable experience in writing program administration. Faculty participation in national organizations and major research projects also affords graduate students opportunities to work as research assistants in areas of professional interest.
Professional Publications and Organizations
Journal of Second Language Writing, Editor, Ilona Leki (co-editor Tony Silva, Purdue University): An international journal publishing theoretically grounded reports of research on all aspects of writing in second languages.
American Society for the History of Rhetoric, President 2005 Janet M. Atwill; Graduate Student Assistant to President-Elect/ President 2004-2005, Chris Minnix
Canon 5: Graduate Student Special Interest Group (SIG), Conference on College Composition and Communication. Cofounder (2004) and Faculty Mentor (2005-present), Jenn Fishman.
Collaboration and Research
Writing Across the Disciplines: Faculty researcher, Kirsten Benson. Research on practices in writing-intensive courses.
The Embodied Literacies Project: Co-Principal Investigators, Jenn Fishman (2005-present), Stacey Pigg ((2005-2006), and Mary Jo Reiff (2006-present). Co-researchers include Miya Abbott, Devon Asdell, Bill Doyle, Casie Fedukovich, Nina Nell Haeckel, Jerod Hollyfield, Hiie Saumaa, and Amanda Watkins. Begun as a study of first-year writing, this ongoing project investigates the relationships between college students' development as academic writers and their opportunities to embody different discourses both orally and online.
Graduate Students may participate in writing outreach through participation in the Stokely Conference on Writing for K-12 Teachers.
Writing and Technology: The Innovative Technology Center awards grants to graduate students doing classroom-based research on writing and technology. Recent recipients include Kasey Baker (Spring 2005), Stacey Pigg (Spring 2006) and Casie Fedukovich (Spring 2007).
Accessing Academic Discourse: The Influence of First-Year Composition Students' Prior Genre Knowledge. Faculty Researcher, Mary Jo Reiff, with graduate student Bill Doyle. Research project (utilizing surveys and interviews) on students' prior genre knowledge and its applicability to learning academic discourse.
Research in Second Language Writing in English from 1985-2005: Faculty Researcher Ilona Leki with Alister Cumming (University of Toronto) and Tony Silva (Purdue University). A critical review of the research published on L2 writing for the years indicated, covering studies of students, texts, teaching methodologies in North America and abroad.
Genre knowledge among incoming international and immigrant students: Faculty researcher, Ilona Leki, with graduate student Hiie Saumaa: A survey, interview- and text-based study of L2 students' genre knowledge.
Composing Kenyon. Principal Investigator, Jenn Fishman. Beginning in the fall of 2007, this longitudinal project will examine the sociability of writing at Kenyon College, a small liberal arts college in northeastern Ohio.
Project SET (Sharing Education Technology): a grant awarded to graduate students and faculty for developing web-based instructional modules designed to help instructors in any field integrate technology into their teaching practice. Recent recipients include Stacey Pigg and Erin Hetzel (2006).
Summer SARIF: A grant that provides a stipend and summer tuition to graduate student researchers working in collaboration with a University of Tennessee faculty member. Recent recipients include Stacey Pigg and Jenn Fishman (2005).
GTA@ITC: A grant for Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) interested in developing and incorporating innovative technology practices into courses they are teaching. Recent recipients include Kasey Baker (Spring 2005), Stacey Pigg (Spring 2006) and Casie Fedukovich (Spring 2007).
Hodges Research Assistantships: Recent recipients include Chris Minnix (2004-2005), Stacey Pigg (Spring 2006), Bill Doyle and Hiie Saumaa (2006-2007).