re: Promotions

[User JWERCHAN <jwerchan@osulima2.lima.ohio-state.edu>]

hi jeri in rhode island,

good to see another WC beginner.  i'm in sort of an opposite situation:  
I see ambivalence among local englishers, but I'm tight with history, 
science, etc.  Of course, our total faculty is very small, maybe 50 to 70 
fulltimers.  I tried selling the idea of Writing Across the Curriculum to 
them, and they liked it.  Some might still be slightly under impression 
we'll get their students to fix ALL their usage errors overnight.  I had 
a zoology colleague actually say he resented the implication that english 
department was somehow the propriator/guardian of the language and could 
presume to teach  writing without ever seeing and studying 
scientific writing genres.  e.g. a poet told him she was suited to teach 
his students to write because her sensitivity to nuance was so finely 
honed.  He laughed.

check out the u. of toledo's writing-across-the-curriculum-center web 
page; they're aces at the WAC business.


still, i'm wondering how to get inside students' heads.  spooky territory.

good luck,

james werchan
osulima