ENGL 5378: Internship

The internship course in Technical Communication is ENGL 5378 (3 credits). Internships for course credit must be approved by the TCR DGS. They allow students to apply technical communication skills in the real, professional world.

Kostelich, Callie F.

Dr. Callie F. Kostelich is an assistant professor in the Technical Communication and Rhetoric program at Texas Tech, where she also serves as the Writing Program Administrator for First-Year Writing. She teaches courses in composition theory and methods, and her research interests include first-year writing, writing program administration, rural literacies, and feminist rhetorics. Her work has appeared in such publications as Food Justice Activism and Pedagogies: Literacies and Rhetorics for Transforming Food Systems in Local and Transnational Contexts, Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Women Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition, Open Words: Access and English Studies, and Veg(etari)an Arguments in Culture, History, and Practice: The V Word. Callie continues to work on her monograph, Sponsoring Agricultural Literacy, which analyzes agricultural literacies and embedded ideologies sponsored by such entities as the National FFA Organization, local grassroots organizations, and social media influencers.

Callie is currently a member of the 2024-2025 Ethics in Teaching and Learning cohort with the TLPDC at Texas Tech. She was a finalist for the 2021 CCCC Excellence in Teaching Award, Emergent Category and a finalist for the 2021 Texas Tech Diamond Award. Moreover, Callie was a 2019 and 2022 Humanities Center Alumni Fellow, and she received the 2019 Lawrence Schovanec Teaching Development Scholarship and the 2020 Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, English at Texas Tech.

Ph.D. TCU 

Faris, Michael J.

Dr. Michael J. Faris’s research interests include digital rhetoric and literacy practices, feminist and queer rhetorics, composition and technical communication pedagogy, and writing program administration.

Dr. Faris is also the Co-Editor for Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy.

Ph.D. Penn State University, 2012

Tham, Jason

Dr. Jason Tham’s research interests include design thinking, user experience (UX) & usability studies, collaboration, emerging technologies, and technical communication pedagogy. He is an inaugural Outreach & Engagement Faculty Fellow in Engaged Scholarship (2023–2024), sponsored by the TTU Provost’s office, and a McNair Scholars + TrUE faculty mentor, supported by TTU Campus Access & Engagement. He serves as Assistant Chair of the English department and works on projects contributing to student recruitment, technology development, and alumni relations. Dr. Tham is most energized by people and ideas that promote equity and inquisivity. 

His current projects include a collaborative writing guide for workplace professionals, a study of collaborative writing in virtual reality environments, a survey of UX of artificial intelligence applications, and a constructive critique of design thinking methodology. He is the incoming editor of Computers and Composition (starting January 2025).

Pronouns: he/they

Ph.D., University of Minnesota (2019)
Website: www.jasontham.com

Sauer, Geoffrey

Dr. Geoffrey Sauer’s scholarly research focuses on the history of publishing, both from theoretical perspectives (using both cultural and rhetorical theory) and pragmatics (typography, offset printing, online document management, databases, new media, and generative A.I./machine learning).

The Humanities Building, the home of the TCR programs, faculty, and grad student offices.

I am currently writing a book tentatively titled Usable Genres (you can read the proposal here). I am also researching learning management systems as a form of material rhetoric, and investigating problems with contemporary theories of dialectical negotiation when applied to cloud and virtualized hosting platforms. 

Pronouns:he/him
PhD:Carnegie Mellon University
Email:[email protected]
TTU Web:https://www.depts.ttu.edu/english/about/people/_faculty/profiles/sauer_geoff.php
Office HoursWednesday, 1-1:45pm
Thursday, 10-11am
and by appointment
Personal Website:https://geoff.sauer.studio/

   

ENGL 5388: User Experience [UX] Research

Fall 2024

Instructor: Dr. Jason Tham

Day: Tuesday

Time: 6:00-8:50pm [Central]

CRN: 37088 [onsite] | 35503 [online]

Modality: Hybrid

Course Description

This course introduces students to foundational principles and theories of user experience (UX) design and prepares them to perform basic usability testing of user-facing documents. Students will explore and practice user research and usability testing, human-centered design, and digital prototyping. Upon completion of this course, students should feel confident about:

  1. Constructing rigorous and validating UX and usability test plans 
  2. Practicing a variety of approaches to researching user experiences and goals  
  3. Analyzing user and usability data in appropriate ways 

Advising

Eligible Students: PhD, MATC

Degree Plan Category: Required Methods – Option (PhD), Theory and Research Requirement option (MATC, 9 hours required total),

Notes: 

PhD students– If you are interested in UX or are planning to do UX-related research in your dissertation project prioritize completing this requirement.

MATC students– An excellent Theory and Research Requirement option (9 hours required total) or Tailoring Your Degree Plan option (9 hours required total) for students interested in UX research or are thinking about doing PhD work in TCR with a focus on UX.

ENGL 5376: Online Publishing

Fall 2024

Instructor: Dr. Geoffrey Sauer

Day: Wednesday

Time: 6:00-8:50pm [Central]

CRN: 47688 [onsite] | 47689 [online]

Modality: Online

Course Description

This graduate-level seminar will overview the practical and theoretical aspects of designing effective online communication, publishing content such as websites and mobile apps. Our work will focus on process and planning, content development, site structure, navigation, visual design, interface design, usability, and accessibility. The course will cover practical skills with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and content management systems. Assignments will focus on analyzing and developing online content using various tools and development methods. The course will also address theoretical issues in the history of publishing, contemporary online publication, database-driven content management, intellectual property, and technology. 

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:   

  • Describe tasks that comprise the process of developing websites.   
  • Apply principles of site structure and design to developing websites.   
  • Identify approaches and testing methods for website user experience.   
  • Explain how issues of content management affect the development of online publications.

Advising

Eligible Students: PhD, MATC, CERT (G&P)

Degree Plan Category: Specialization Courses (PhD), Application Requirement option (MATC, 12 hours required total), Advanced Practice Elective (G&P, 1 required total)

Notes: An excellent elective course option provided it does not conflict with outstanding required courses offered this semester (or that have been previously completed).

Geoff Sauer is an American professor and new media theorist who researches technologies including open source software and collaborative multimedia development in the context of the history of publishing.

Copyright © 2022-26 by
Geoffrey Sauer. All rights reserved.

 

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