Author: College of Engineering

Sue Hill is the Digital Content Manager for the College of Engineering.

Daniel William Lawrence

Daniel William Lawrence
Daniel William Lawrence

Daniel William Lawrence received his PhD in rhetoric and technical communication from Michigan Technological University in August 2014.

His dissertation, On the Digital-Political Topography of Music, explored the historical relationship between rhetoric and music and re-opened this connection by examining the material and immaterial properties of digital music and its networks of distribution.

His research has been published in Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion, and Digital Ethos and Online Credibility: Evaluating Computer-Mediated Communication.

In the fall of 2014 he moved to Portland, OR and began working with Sunbleached Visuals, assisting with music video productions. He is now Marketing & Communications Manager of Melvin Mark Companies where he lends his experience in digital media and analytics to develop marketing collateral and strategies for the firm and its brokerage team.

Performing often along the coast, he plays the guitar in a traditional Irish festival band and mandolin in an alternative-country/mosey group, and appears in and around the city as singer-songwriters Dan Loredo, The Man from Echo Flat, and Lonely Mountain Dog.

His next album, Fallow Lands, is being produced by Christopher Hoganson (Fur Coats, Wampire) and is planned to be released by Portland-based Golden Ghost Records and its affiliate, Famined Records (Winter Park, FL), in 2016, who will fund a modest national tour.

Future research plans include the completion of his monograph, The Citizen Musician: Rhetoric and the Politics of Digital Music, and a glowersome collection of critical essays on digital literacy and urban housing with new data from his CoStar Group research, The Technological Class.

He lives with a coterie of good friends, musicians, and artists in a crumbling mansion in the north of the city and spends much of his time in the woods and mountains.

Kevin Cassell

Kevin Cassell
Kevin Cassell

I am an assistant professor in the English and Humanities department at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Technology at Alfred, more popularly known as Alfred State College. Although my primary teaching area is technical writing and communication, I also teach classes in literature and film studies. I am currently involved in creating a technical communication track in our Bachelor of Technology program as well as developing curriculum for a new major program in English, including courses in writing for emergent media. For updated information on my teaching, research and conference presentations, please visit my faculty webpage at Alfred State’s website.

Nancy Barr’s Novels Featured

Page One: Hit and Run
Page One: Hit and Run

Mystery novelist Nancy Barr, a PhD student in the RTC program and a staff member in the ME-EM Department, was recently featured on two Michigan-oriented websites. She is the author of three novels, Page One: Hit and Run, Page One: Vanished, and Page One: Whiteout, published by Arbutus Press. All three books are set in the Upper Peninsula and feature a strong female protagonist, newspaper reporter Robin Hamilton.

The Motown Writers Network featured her on their site this summer and Michigander Monday posted an interview with Nancy on September 1.

In addition to her busy career and school schedule, she is working on a new novel that is part mystery, part ghost story that shifts between two time frames: the Copper Country’s mining boom days in the early 1900s and the early 1970s, shortly after the last mine in Houghton County shut down.

RTC at WAP

The RTC graduate program will be well-represented at the Writing across the Peninsula Conference to be held on October 9 and 10, 2014 at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. The theme of this year’s conference is “Digital Landscapes and Engaging in the Hybrid Environment.” Here is a list of papers that will be presented by RTC students:

“Will U HI R Me?: Considering professionalism in digital environments”
Rebecca Miner, Michigan Technological University

“Green, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green: Color Tools for the Writing Classroom”
Joel Beatty, Michigan Technological University

“Understanding Buzzfeed.com: Exploring the Practical and Theoretical Implications of Digital News”
Thomas Adolphs, Michigan Technological University

“Content Management and Communication in the Composition Classroom”
Elsa Roberts, Michigan Technological University

RTC Graduate Students Win Awards

Three PhD students in the RTC program have been recognized for distinctive accomplishments recently:

Wincharles Coker
Wincharles Coker

Wincharles Coker’s essay, ” Media Culture and Television News: A Review of Five Recent Books and their Implications for Future Research” (published October 2013) has been selected as the Best Article of the Year for 2013 by the International Journal of Communication and Media Studies.

Gary Kaunonen
Gary Kaunonen

Gary Kaunonen was awarded a Michigan Tech Doctoral “Finishing Fellowship” for the fall semester. This competitive fellowship recognizes outstanding PhD candidates by providing financial support as the finish writing their dissertations.

Isidore Dorpenyo
Isidore Dorpenyo

Isidore Dorpinyo was chosen as the second place winner for the 2014 CPTSC/Bedford St. Martin’s Diversity Scholarship. The award carries a $500 scholarship to assist the recipient with expenses attending the annual conference at Colorado Springs this September.