Introductory composition courses for college freshmen and sophomores, many of whom have very little formal writing experience. Emphasize the composition of rhetorical essays while introducing scholarly research and citation practices. Include instruction in MLA and APA format, enthymemes, Stasis theory, Aristotelian modes of discourse, the Ciceronian canon, Rogerian & Toulminian argumentation, multimedia delivery, and multimodal performance.
English 221 (Advanced Composition)—1 Section
This workshop class allowed students to interact closely in peer groups, contributing to class discussions and organically navigating compositional practices to produce a substantial body of written work geared towards scientific research and academic exposition.
Technical and Professional Communication Courses
English 116 / 3050 / 3213 (Introduction to Technical Communication)— 40+ sections
Allowed professionally-minded students to explore the forms and conventions of reports, memos, presentations, and job-seeking documents (cover letters and resumes) while also introducing students to a reader-centered approach, ethical concerns in technical writing, and career prospects for technical writers.
English 3060 / 3249 (Oral Reports)—8 Sections
This course is an extension of WSU’s ENG 3050, and shifts the focus away from written work (memos, letters, resumes, etc) and on to oral presentations delivered with visual aids, specifically electronic slide decks like PowerPoint and Prezi.
English 407a (Business Writing)—6 Sections
Introductory business writing including job documents, reports, memos, and letters. Emphasis on clear communication, genre awareness, and ethical communication.
English 3416 (Writing and New Media)— 6 Sections
Upper-level English course interrogating writing as a practice and media as a concept through playful experimentation and rigorous scholarship. Students are tasked with understanding what makes new media new in relation to old, and how writing practices differ and remain the same throughout the history of media, from prehistoric cave paintings to twitter threads.
English 7840 (Graduate Technical Communication)—1 Section as TA
An advanced technical communication course helps students interested in technical communication to survey contemporary writing in the discipline via journal reviews and in-class discussion of both foundational and thematically focused texts on the topic – key texts included Beverly Sauer’s The Rhetoric of Risk and J. Blake Scott, Bernadette Longo, and Katherine V. Wells compilation Critical Power Tools.
Creative Writing Courses
English 3800 (Introduction to Creative Writing)—1 Section
English 3800 covers four creative genres: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and drama. It is a gateway course, required for WSU’s creative writing track. Intended to help students develop an appreciation for, and refine their skills in, creative composition. I am the only graduate student to have taught this course.
PUBLICATIONS
"Nolo." ARTIFEX Magazine, Spring 2020
“Say August,” THAT Literary Review, Spring 2019
“The Air is Fresh and Sweet,” GNU Journal, Spring 2018
“Trees of Heaven” Hero Magazine, Issue 14, October 2016. Pps 108-109
“One Thousand Shekels, Fifteen Agurot” The November 3rd Club, February 2010. http://www.wetdryvac.net/November3rdClub/2010/02-2010/fiction/malesh.html
“The Purse” The Superstition Review, Issue 4, December 2009 https://superstitionreview.asu.edu/issue4/fiction/vytatuasmalesh
“Hands” Danse Macabre Magazine, Volume 40, November 2009. www.dansemacbre.com
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Multimedia in the Magic City: Addressing student barriers in multimedia/multimodal projects at an urban R1 university. - Accepted, later turned away owing to COVID-19 accommodation restrictions.
“Socio-Cultural Perspectives on the Professional Communication Curriculum”—Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication 2018, Minneapolis, MN
“Restaurant Rhetoric: Taking (Visual)Rhetoric out for Lunch”—Conference on College Composition and Communication 2018, Kansas City, MO
“Restaurant Rhetoric: Taking (Visual)Rhetoric out for Lunch”—Rhetoric Society of America 2018, Minneapolis, MN
“After Homecoming,” short story panel participant—Michigan College English Association Conference 2017, Ypsilanti, MI
“Tech Comm @ Tech Town”—Association of Teachers of Technical Writing Conference 2017, Portland, OR
“Tech Comm @ Tech Town” (Accepted – conference cancelled due to inclement weather)—Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication 2016, Savannah, GA
“I am Because of You: The Politics of Ubuntu and Apology in Post-Apartheid South Africa”—Cultural Rhetorics 2016, Lansing, MI
“Digital Spaces, Video Faces: Ethos and Discourse in the Online Classroom”—Conference on College Composition and Communication 2016, Houston, TX
“Dressed to Distress: Introducing Identity Conflict to Professional Writing Classrooms through Fashion and Style”—Michigan College English Association Conference 2015, Grand Rapids, MI
“How to Be Writing or Multimodal Multigenre Explorations of What it Means to Write”—Conference of Writing Program Adminstrators 2015, Boise, ID
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
Thomas C. Rumble Endowed Dissertation Fellowship (2017)
Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Wayne State University (2014-2016)
Stephen H. Tudor Memorial Scholarship in Creative Writing (2014)
Christopher Leland Endowed Scholarship in Creative Writing (2013, 2014)
Tompkins Award (Runner-Up, 2006 & 2014)
Loughead-Eldredge Endowed Scholarship in Creative Writing (2005, 2006)
Yelda Endowed Scholarship for English (2005, 2006)
DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE
Founder, FIU English Teaching Circle
Created professional collaboration and socialization opportunity for FIU instructors looking to compare best practices and support one another. Open to professors, instructors, and teaching assistants.
Enthusiastic participation since 2019 - 4 sessions per semester.
Member, FIU Professional Development Committee
Contributed to professional development opportunities and workshops, training, and social development.
Member, Hiring Committee
Served on FIU’s 2019 search committee to hire two full-time NTT instructors in writing.
Member, Florida International University Technical and Professional Communication Committee.
Revising, planning, and integrating continuous improvement into FIU’s writing curriculum for business, IT, science, and engineering students.
Member, Wayne State University Technical Communication Composition Committee
Overhauling, developing, and streamlining assignments and curriculum for Wayne State University’s Tech Com program.
Member, Wayne State University Awards Committee
Evaluating student fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction for determination of scholarships and awards.
Member, Mentoring Committee
Welcomed and collaborated with new graduate students in order to help them better transition from student to instructor through meetings, discussion, and observation.
COURSES QUALIFIED TO TEACH
Rhetoric and Composition
Remedial Composition, First-Year Composition, Advanced Composition, History of Rhetoric, Material Rhetoric, Visual Rhetoric, Oratory
Technical and Professional Communication
Introductory Technical Communication, Reports and Public Speaking, Report Writing, Professional Narrative, Editing