Debunking "You Want Fries with That?": Designing Courses to Bridge the Gap between Degree and Career

Authors

  • Monica Luebke University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith
  • Althea E. Rhodes University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith

Keywords:

rhetoric, internships, experiential learning, capstone, writing

Abstract

Because we believe it is better to show our students than to tell them that they learn more from active experience, we have designed selected courses within our rhetoric and writing program to offer them guidance and to help them conceive of their major in the form of different careers, both academic and nonacademic, before they hit the job market, careers that exist in the local economy and that make use of their rhetorical and literary skills. These courses include our capstone course, the senior seminar, and two internship courses. In what follows, we present the design and benefits of these courses which work to help students find careers that our rhetoric majors and minors may not envision otherwise. These courses help them bridge the gap between being a student and a professional.

Author Biographies

Monica Luebke, University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith

Dr. Luebke completed her MA in English at Stephen F. Austin State University and her PhD in Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Louisville, where she specialized in rhetorical history and theory, composition theory and pedagogy, writing-across-the-curriculum, and writing program administration. Rhetoric and the teaching of writing have always been at the center of Dr. Luebke’s academic and career interests. Before beginning graduate work, she spent thirteen years at the secondary level, teaching English/Language Arts and public speaking. During this time, she developed a particular interest in interdisciplinary work, organizing and overseeing a number of campus-wide instructional projects, as well as directing students participating in a variety of academic competitions sanctioned by the University Interscholastic League. Her interest in interdisciplinary perspectives is reflected in her dissertation, Constructions of the Sophists: “Paths Taken†and “Paths Not Taken,†a study involving the classical rhetorical texts of the Sophists and the discourse of four disciplines. While doing her graduate studies at the University of Louisville, Dr. Luebke taught a variety of writing courses. In addition, she worked as Assistant Coordinator of the WR Program, the university’s writing-across-the-curriculum program, and as Assistant Director of the Composition Program. In these capacities, she trained faculty in the disciplines to incorporate writing into their coursework, published original articles in the WR Program’s newsletter, provided mentoring for graduate teaching assistants and adjunct faculty, and participated in large-scale portfolio assessment for student placement. Currently, Dr. Luebke serves as the Director of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, where she teaches both Freshman English and upper division courses in the Rhetoric Program. Her writing pedagogy is process-oriented and student-centered and is always aimed at enacting change. She teaches students in her technical writing courses that effective writing solves problems and makes everyday life a little easier. She also teaches students in her persuasive writing courses to become problem-solvers and to write in response to rhetorical situations outside the classroom, encouraging them to use their writing to become agents of social change. Dr. Luebke has presented her research at regional, national, and international conferences such as the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the College English Association Conference, the Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, Computers and Writing, and the International Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Conference. Her scholarship includes an interview with writing-across the curriculum scholar David Russell, which is in production with the Rhetoric and Composition Sound Archives, and a manuscript on program development, which has been accepted for publication with CEA Forum.

Althea E. Rhodes, University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith

Dr. Rhodes is an assistant professor of rhetoric at University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith. She has published a number of essays and given papers all over the country on teaching.

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