Rebecca S. Nowacek
9884 W. Argonne Drive
Wauwatosa WI 53222
414-873-4114 (h) 414-704-7898 (c)
EDUCATION
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Rhetoric and Composition, 2001
“Writing Instruction in the Interdisciplinary Classroom: Histories, Challenges, Possibilities.”
Deborah Brandt, Director.
M.A. University of Wisconsin, Madison, British and American Literature, 1994
B.A. Villanova University, English / Honors, summa cum laude, 1993
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Writing in the disciplinesWriting and religious identity
Writing across the curriculumRhetoric and democratic citizenship
Writing in interdisciplinary contextsLiteracy studies
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Assistant Professor, Marquette University (2001-present)
Undergraduate courses taught include first-year English, advanced composition, writing for the professions, rhetorical theory, literacy studies, and a multidisciplinary capstone course focused on citizenship. Graduate courses taught include an introduction to rhetorical theory for new TAs.
Assistant Director, L&S Program in Writing Across the Curriculum, University of Wisconsin, Madison (1998-2000)
Duties included helping to plan and conduct a two-day orientation for new teaching assistants teaching writing intensive courses; consulting with individual faculty members about assignment design, responding to papers, addressing sentence-level concerns in writing, etc.; teaching a 1-credit course for TAs about teaching with writing in the disciplines; soliciting and editing articles for a campus-wide newsletter on writing; soliciting and editing new materials for a faculty handbook on teaching with writing; and helping to build a website of local WAC resources.
Teaching Assistant, University of Wisconsin, Madison (1994-1997)
Undergraduate courses taught include first-year English, basic writing, intermediate composition, and Introduction to British and American Literature I and II. Writing Center responsibilities included providing individual instruction and teaching short courses on topics such as breaking through writer’s block, delivering conference papers, improving grammar, and using APA-style documentation. FYE duties included serving as the Director of the English 100 Tutorial Program, providing support for at-risk students through individual appointments and through optional workshops on relevant topics.
PUBLICATIONS:
Articles and Chapters
“Why is Being Interdisciplinary So Very Hard To Do? Thoughts on the Perils and Promise of Interdisciplinary Pedagogy.” College Composition and Communication. In press.
“Toward a Theory of Interdisciplinary Connections: A Classroom Study of Talk and Text,” Research in the Teaching of English. In press.
“A Discourse-Based Theory of Interdisciplinary Connections.” JGE: The Journal of General Education. 54.3 (2005): 171-195.
“Negotiating Individual Religious Identity and Institutional Religious Culture” in Elizabeth Vander Lei and bonnie l. kyburz (eds.), Negotiating Religious Faith in the Composition Classroom. Boynton / Cook (2005):155-166.
“Making Space for Collaboration: Physical Context and Role Taking in Two Singing and Songwriting Groups” in Beverly J. Moss, Nels P. Highberg, & Melissa Nicolas (eds.), Writing Groups Inside and Outside the Classroom. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (2004): 169-186. Co-authored with Kenna Del Sol.
“Can Writing Be Taught? Being ‘Explicit’ in the Teaching and Learning of Writing Across the Curriculum” in Maureen Daly Goggin (ed.), Inventing a Discipline: Rhetoric Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Young. Urbana: NCTE Press (2000): 334-372. Co-authored with Stuart Greene.
“The Voice of Sociology: Obstacles to Teaching and Learning the Sociological Imagination.” Teaching Sociology,Vol. 23 (1995): 353-363. Co-authored with Rick Eckstein and Kevin Delaney.
Book Reviews and Reports
“Between Talk and Teaching,” (book review) The Writing Center Journal, Vol 20, No. 1, (Fall / Winter, 1999), 73-77.
“A Report on Assessing the English Major” Submitted to the Department of English and the College of Arts and Sciences, Marquette University, January 2006.
Accepted Articles and Book Chapters
“To Mentor and Be Mentored: Feminist Leadership and the Graduate Student WPA” in Krista Ratcliffe and Rebecca Rickley (eds.), Feminism and Administration in Rhetoric and Composition Studies. Accepted for collection; manuscript under review at Hampton Press. Co-authored with Julie Christoph, Mary Lou Odom, and Bonnie Smith.
In Progress or Under Review
Why Is Being Interdisciplinary So Very Hard To Do? Disciplinary Learning, General Education and
the Multidisciplinary Classroom. [Book manuscript in the late stages of preparation.]
“The Spiritual Exercises and the Signature Pedagogy of Jesuit Education: The Role of Rhetoric in Ignatian Reflection” [Chapter proposed for a collection on the Rhetorical Tradition and Contemporary Jesuit Education; my work has been funded by a Manresa Writing / Research grant.]
Citizenship Across the Curriculum. [Book manuscript in the early stages of preparation. Co-authored with Jeff Bernstein (political science, Eastern Michigan University), Michael Burke (mathematics, College of San Mateo), Matt Fisher (chemistry, St. Vincent College), David Geelen (science education, University of Queensland), Michael Smith (history / environmental studies, Ithaca College), and Howard Tinberg (English, Bristol Community College.]
PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
Invited Presentations and Workshops
Transylvania University, August 2003. [Two-day WAC workshop]
Lakeland College, August 2000. [One-day WAC workshop]
University of North Carolina Asheville, February 2000. [Lecture on interdisciplinarity; WAC workshop]
Selected Conference Presentations
“Integrating Theory and Practice: Teaching Democracy Across Two Contexts” International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” November 2006. (With Jeff Bernstein, a political scientist at Eastern Michigan University.)
“The Capstone Course as Point of Integration” International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” November 2006. (With Lorraine Fleming, a civil engineer at Howard University, and Renee Michael, a psychologist at Rockhurst College.)
“Putting It Together: Fostering Integrative Capacities in Students” CASTL Colloquium, April 2006. (With Joanne Stewart, a chemist at Hope College and Matt Fisher, a chemist at St. Vincent College.)
“The Interdisciplinary Future of Writing Instruction: Perils and Promise.” Thomas R.Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition. October, 2004
“Religious Identity and Institutional Religious Culture.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March, 2004.
“Negotiating Interdisciplinary Connections: What Really Happens in the Classroom?” Association for Integrative Studies, October, 2003.
“Writing Religious Identity at a Catholic University.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, March, 2003.
“Ethnographic Studies of Interdisciplinary Classrooms: Their Contributions to Our Understanding of Interdisciplinarity.” Conference of the Association for Integrative Studies, October 1999.
“Talking as Tutor, Talking as Teacher: How Students and Instructors Negotiate Writing Conferences Inside the Writing Center and Out.” National Writing Centers Conference, April 1999.
“Constructing the ‘Interdisciplinary’ Classroom Through Talk and Writing.” The Rhetoric and Composition Colloquium at the University of Wisconsin Madison, February, 1999.
“Breaking Through Writer's Block: A Bakhtinian Perspective” in “Sociocognitive Perspectives on Writer's Block.” American Educational Research Association, April 1997.
“The Rhetorics of Rigor: Understanding the Boundary Work of Composition Journals” in “The Roles of Professional Journals in the Development of Composition as a Discipline.” 1996 Thomas R. Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition. October, 1996.
HONORS, AWARDS, GRANTS
2006 Faculty Excellence in Advising Award, Nominee
2005 CASTL Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
2005 Manresa Writing / Research Award, Recipient
2003 Faculty STAR Award, Residence Hall Honor Society
2002 Marquette University Manresa Program Course Development Grant, Recipient
2002 Marquette University, Summer Faculty Fellowship and Research Funds, Recipient
1999 U of Wisconsin Department of English Mary Adams Dissertation Fellowship, Recipient
1999 UW College of Letters & Science Teaching Fellow, Recipient
1999 Department of English Distinguished Teaching Award, Recipient
1998 National Council of Teachers of English, Grant-in-aid, Recipient
1998 Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Finalist
1993 Phi Beta Kappa, Inductee
UNIVERSITY AND DEPARTMENT SERVICE
Center for Teaching and Learning, Advisory Committee (2005-present)
Phi Beta Kappa, Members in Course Committee (2003-present)
Department of English Undergraduate Studies Committee (2005-2006)
Department of English Executive Committee (2004-5)
First Year English Committee (2003-4, 2006-present)
Advisor, English Department (2002-present)
English Department Committee on Departmental Writing Contests (2002-3, 2005-present)
English Department Committee on Admissions Essay (2002-3, 2003-4)
English Department, Writing Intensive English major subcommittee (2002-present)
Prepared and led workshops on developing teaching portfolios and teaching philosophy statements for
Preparing Future Faculty (March 2004, Feb 2005, Nov 2006)
Developed and delivered a presentation for prospective students and their parents on writing admissions
essays (2002, 2003)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Chair, Special Interest Group on Interdisciplinary Courses and Learning Communities, Conference on College Composition and Communication
Peer Reviewer, Research in the Teaching of English
Peer Reviewer, Written Communication
MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
National Council of Teachers of English
Association for Integrative Studies
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
REFERENCES
Deborah Brandt, Professor
University of Wisconsin Madison
Paula Gillespie, Associate Professor
Director, Ott Memorial Writing Center
Marquette University
Bradley Hughes, Director
Writing Center, Writing Fellows, and L & S Program in Writing Across the Curriculum
University of Wisconsin Madison
Pat Hutchings, Vice President
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Krista Ratcliffe, Associate Professor
Marquette University