Andrew Winslow

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3219 W Camino Del Saguaro

Tucson, AZ 85745

520-743-8574

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Education

PhDRhetoric Composition & the Teaching of English 2008

(Expected) The University of Arizona Tucson, AZ

MARhetoric Composition & the Teaching of English 2004

(Completed)The University of Arizona

BAPsychology 2001

(Completed)The University of Arizona Tucson, AZ

Dissertation

Defense Date: April 23, 2008.

Title: Hyperreality and Rhetoric: Studies in the Culture of Distraction

The conditions of hyperreality have increasingly reduced epistemologies to abstractions of themselves, creating in their place a system of general mythology existing in our culture as consumer distractions. Here, I study the function of rhetoric to motivate the passions through the use of semiotic mythology from the tradition of Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, and Kenneth Burke. Corporations, causes, and even politics are increasingly cut back in mass media until they are little more than slogans or icons. These conditions of hyperreality have created a new kind of modern narcissism, where classical self-love has been replaced by a lack of social empathy and responsibility, mass consumerism, and an indulgence in convenience. In this dissertation, I examine the relationship between hyperreality and rhetoric as a culture of distraction using the lens of semiotic mythologies, or stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, to outline the process from demarcation to discrimination and finally, abstraction.

Committee: Dr. Theresa Enos (Chair), Dr. Ken McAllister, Dr. Linda Waugh.

Teaching

2002 – Present Graduate Associate in Teaching

22 SectionsThe University of Arizona Composition Program

ENGL 101: First Semester Composition (6 sections)

  • ENGL 101 is the first semester course in academic writing at the University of Arizona. The course contains emphases on textual analysis, contextual analysis, and cultural analysis.
  • Students learn recursive processes of revision and introductions to academic conventions. When I teach this course I’ve emphasized poetry, short stories, and films in one version, while using comic strips, comic books, and music in another.
  • I’ve found that the comic series, in conjunction with Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics was particularly effective in relating the concepts of text in specific contexts in relation to meaning, and that comic books were particularly good for the cultural analysis units since idealized forms break down easily into cultural values.
  • In the most recent series, I’ve incorporated a series of peer reviewing and self-evaluation into the course, experimenting with the usefulness of directed examination.

ENGL 102: Second Semester Composition (10 sections)

  • Like ENGL 101, ENGL 102 is part of the first-year writing sequence. As the second semester course in academic writing, the emphasis is on rhetorical analysis, academic research papers, and revision portfolios. This includes, but is not limited to, studying the history of rhetoric, rhetorical strategies, logic and fallacies, academic library research, and reflection towards revision.
  • Students learn how to adapt to different academic writing situations and further develop their recursive writing processes. A later pop culture approach involved watching films and remakes in order to stress the idea of text as revision, culminating in the submission of a revision portfolio.
  • As the class I’ve taught most often, it’s had the most variation. I taught the first four sections of this course a mixture of classical rhetoric and social psychology in order to emphasize the library research, academic conventions, and disciplinary features of the course.
  • The most engaging version of the course involved performing mock United States Supreme Court Cases three times during the regular semester. The difficulty of language, nuance, and intensity of argumentation often provided the strongest sense of accomplishment.

ENGL 306: Advanced Composition (3 sections)

  • Advanced Composition is an Upper-Division writing course designed for Juniors and Seniors. Students build upon classical rhetorical strategies and theories by studying their application in modern rhetorical debates, namely on current controversial issues. Past examples have included United States Supreme Court decisions, the Ms. America scholarship program, the evolution of journalism and the development of the paparazzi, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
  • In addition, students read and engage in current rhetorical theory to contextualize the principles in current political trends. Using dialectical rhetoric, I asked students to pursue discursive texts relevant to their individual fields of study towards increasingly professional audiences in those fields, culminating in a final project within the students’ major.
  • In later versions of the course, students engaged rhetorical analysis of US Supreme Court cases with an emphasis on studying the process of discourse with attention to controversial issues with nearly equal validity.
  • As opposed to the ENGL 102 version, students are asked to both take a definitive stance and create an analysis of the dialectical relationships involved in order to develop a theory of civil discourse.

ENGL 308: Technical Writing: (3 sections)

  • Technical writing emphasizes developing professional writing for the communication of technical information in a diverse array of career fields.
  • Students worked on independent quantitative, qualitative, and academic research projects and were expected to produce documents conveying the purpose, utility, and findings inherent to their work.
  • In addition, I encouraged students to give oral reports of their work to practice oral technical communication and presentation formats for their peers. Assignments ranged from the creation of simple task instructions to a research project within a disciplinary interest, which was then presented and critiqued in class.
  • Often, these assignments were grouped together in collaboration and competition between students; for example, the most recent class created celebrity-themed sandwiches as part of a role-play exercise. In groups, the teams developed the theme, the ingredient lists, nutritional values, estimated cost of production, and sales pitches while drafting proposals, progress reports, and the final instructions.
  • The nature of this project also fueled an on-going discussion of workplace ethics that students brought up and engaged often, creating a fluid dynamic between the demands of the classroom and their own academic interests.

Publications

“Cultural Analysis.” A Student’s Guide to First-Year Composition. 26th ed. Meg Smith, Jennifer deWinter, and Jim Bowman, Eds. Plymouth, MI: Hayden/McNeil. 2006

Conference Presentations

“Why Johnny Still Can’t Read or Write - (Personally, I Blame Keanu Reeves’ Movies).” Why Johnny Still Can’t Read Panel. Language on the Borders Conference. University of Arizona, Tucson. 05 March 2005.

“Redefining National Identity Through Icons: Marvel Comics and the Creation of The Ultimates as a response to 09/11.” . Language on the Borders Conference. University of Arizona, Tucson. 05 March 2005.

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Professional Affiliations

Modern Language Association

National Council of Teachers of English

Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association

Rhetoric Society of America

Service

Community:

2003 Volunteer at the Pima Community College Adult Education program.

Assisted in preparing lesson plans and activities for a General Education Degree (GED) course, tutored individual students, and led group discussions and review of materials.

2004 Judge: Annual Jan Lipartito Historical Remembrance Essay Contest

Selected as a Judge to evaluate student writing for the upcoming edition of the Student’s Guide to First Year Composition for the University of Arizona.

University of Arizona:

2001-PresentMember: English Graduate Union (EGU)

Attended regular meetings, rallies, and social events. Served on a subcommittee to establish contact with similar graduate programs at the University of Arizona.

2006-2007Chairman of the Constitution Ratification Committee

Compiled duties, responsibilities, contact information, and history of the various representatives throughout the EGU, then drafted and revised the first EGU constitution. Sponsored it’s ratification in the Fall of 2007.

2007-PresentEGU Representative for Rhetoric, Composition & the Teaching of English

Attended bi-monthly RCTE faculty meetings as the EGU representative; offered feedback and criticism during Dissertation process review. Drafted and administered a Graduate Student survey for new pilot courses in the program; presented compiled results to the faculty.

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