Teaching
I joined Farmingdale State College in Fall 2005, hired as an adjunct professor
to teach one undergraduate professional communications. For the spring 2006
session, I was given two courses, then three in the fall of 2007. When I was “downsized”
in the spring of 2013, Farmingdale hired me to come on full time starting in the
fall 2013.
Awards
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching (2014).
Farmingdale Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching (2008).
Publications
"Henry Goes to High School," Teaching Shakespeare, 9 (1), Spring 2016, York University.
Degrees
PhD (in progress), English: Rhetoric & New Media), Old Dominion University.
Masters, Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology, SUNY Albany (2008).
Bachelor’s in English, SUNY Oneonta(1978).
I have been a professional technical writer for over 25 years. Back in 1970
it was 14, I was sitting on my stingray bicycle--and complete with scooped
banana seat and easy-rider chopper handlebars, resting in the shade of a huge
spiritual oak tree. Or maybe it was an elm or maple, but that is not the point.
I sat there looking up to the sky and implored the fates, "Please, God,
when I grow up let me be a professional writer.” I should have been more
specific.
Over time, I have honed my craft with moderate success in publications from
local weeklies, regional technical journals and a piece in the New York Times. I
also had the fortune to edit two technical trade paperbacks in the 90's. So, I string
together a few coherent sentences from time to time.
Now I teach professional communications writing skills at Farmingdale State
College, part of the SUNY system. This semester (fall 2014), I have four
classes. One of these is Media in Communications, a class I designed to sharpen
student's skills with Microsoft Office while addressing the importance of media
literacy. Podcasting (to be renamed Writing for the Web) covers skills required
to get an entry-level position for, well, writing for the web. Documentation procedures
is a technical writing course. The fourth class is a mystery
I hope that this blog will be a forum to share and discuss views on
technology, education and--because the next influences everything--politics.
So, let's hope that this blog will expand its scope beyond the audience of this
initial posting.
As they used to say in the movies, "to be continued..."
