Humanities News Archive
Karl Stolley Receives CPTSC Grant to Build Software Resource
Dr. Karl Stolley, Assistant Professor of Technical Communication, received one of two grants awarded nationally by the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC). The grant will be used to support graduate students in a project to build a Web-available instructional software resource, based on free and open source software, to support online learning in technical communication.
"Online classes in technical communication are no different from face-to-face ones, in that they require students to use software to learn course concepts and complete course projects," said Stolley. "But with online learners, instructors can't ensure equitable access to technology the way they can with campus computer labs. By focusing this grant-supported resource on free and open source software, IIT can take the lead in helping remove the economic barrier that software might represent for some students."
The focus of the new software resource will be on the rhetorical tasks and problems that technical communicators must learn to address. Stolley adds: "Our resource will be designed to enable someone to learn to use Microsoft Word just as much as it will allow them to use free and open source alternatives like OpenOffice.org or NeoOffice. We can do this by focusing on the communication task, rather than software features, and by providing students with strategies to solve their own software problems."
Stolley and a group of technical communication graduate students traveled to the October 2008 CPTSC Conference in Minneapolis to present their work. Anyone wishing to learn more about the project can read the original grant proposal here.
Congratulations 2010 IIT Humanities Graduates
Thanks to all who participated in the 2010 IIT Humanities (HUM)/Social Sciences (SOCS) academic unit commencement ceremony. Many positive comments about the ceremony were received from both graduating students and their family and friends.
(05/18/2010)
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2010 IIT Undergraduate Writing Contest Winners
Awards to student writers in each category were presented by Dean of Students Dr. Doug Geiger and faculty in the Humanities department.
(04/28/2010)
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Humanities Welcomes Assistant Professor of Technical Communication Jahna Otterbacher
Otterbacher joined the Lewis Department of Humanities in January 2010. Her current research explores the management of information overload and user behavior in information spaces where unstructured text is the main form of expression.
(03/26/2010)
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CSL Colloquium Connects Humanities and Computer Science
More than 130 humanities and computer science scholars and students came to IIT's Main Campus in November for the fourth annual Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science.
(12/21/2009)
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Stolley Receives Digital Production/Scholarship Award
Karl Stolley, assistant professor of technical communication, received the Computers and Composition Michelle Kendrick Outstanding Digital Production/Scholarship Award in June at the Computers & Writing Conference.
(08/27/2009)
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IIT Students Profiled on CNN Small Businesses
Anica Jovanova (M.S. IARC ’09) was one of three IIT students profiled in a recent article on CNNMoney.com.
(07/02/2009)
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Schmaus Elected HOPOS Vice President
Philosophy Professor Warren Schmaus has been elected vice president of The International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS).
(12/11/2008)
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