The following list is alphabetical, by instructor's last name. Check the current Course Schedule.

More descriptions coming soon.

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION AND DESIGN, Dr. Alexander Fobes

A rhetorically informed introduction to technical communication and the principles of design that focuses on real-world applications. The purpose of this course is to hone your skills in writing, speaking, and multimodal composition in a variety of contexts through multidisciplinary design activities. These skills in turn will strengthen your ability to communicate with and address the practical needs of different audiences in various rhetorical situations. Taught as a writing workshop emphasizing the art and practice of effective communication and design, as well as the skills necessary for critical thinking, revision, and oral presentation, the course focuses on community partner-driven design projects with multiple stakeholders.

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION & DESIGN, Dr. Rolf Norgaard

“Technical Communication and Design” is a rhetorically informed introduction to technical writing that hones communication skills in the context of technical design activities.  We’ll be treating design as a collaborative, user-oriented, problem-based activity, and technical communication as a rhetorically informed and persuasive design art.  Taught as a writing seminar emphasizing critical thinking, revision, and oral presentation skills, the course focuses on client-driven design projects and effective communication with multiple stakeholders. 

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION & DESIGN, Nathan Pieplow, M.Ed.

This course isn’t just about words.  It’s also about images, information structures, real-world problem solving, and the user experience. It’s about maximizing the efficiency, the effectiveness, and the beauty of the communications you’ll produce in your professional career.

In this class we will focus on writing as a design skill.  As Don Norman wrote, “writing something that other people will understand and find easy to read [is] the same problem [as] designing something that people will find understandable and easy to use.”  Just as the iterative process of design moves from ideas to plans to prototypes to products — refining those products at each step with user feedback — so we will practice the iterative process of writing, producing multiple drafts and improving each one with reader feedback.

In addition to producing alphabetic text, we will also learn key skills in graphic design, document design, and data visualization.  We will write and design in several key genres of professional and technical communication, including job application cover letter, résumé, infographic, usability test report, and instruction manual. We will lay out each of our major assignments in Adobe InDesign, the industry standard software for graphic design and publishing.

We will also study the processes and genres of professional project management.  We will generate professional documentation for each stage of a project, including project charters, project plans, time logs, project closing documents, and client satisfaction surveys.

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION & DESIGN, Dr. Petger Schaberg

When I speak with business people and other professionals it is not uncommon for them to express the view that transferring college writing to workplace settings should be an essential goal of contemporary Writing & Rhetoric programs.  A quote by Jason Fried, Chief Executive of Basecamp is telling: “Our top hiring criteria—in addition to job skills—is, are you a great writer? You have to be a great writer to work here, in every single position, because the majority of our communication is written. And we like long-form writing where people actually think through an idea and present it.” 

One way of helping you become a “great writer,” such as Jason Fried envisions, is to highlight the open paradox of our course title: Technical Communication & Design. The term Technical Communication has often suggested such written modes such as technical instruction manuals, corporate memos, customer service, or science proposals.  Design, on the other hand, is commonly associated with creativity, spontaneity, product development, advertising, and group collaboration. How we expand our skills in these two seemingly opposing types of communication is the main focus of this course. One way of directing this conversation is to redefine our endeavor as a rhetorically informed introduction to technical writing that sharpens communication skills in the context of technical design activities. In that sense, we’ll be treating Design as a collaborative, user-oriented, problem-based activity, and Technical Communication as a rhetorically informed, persuasive skill. 

Taught as a writing seminar emphasizing critical thinking, revision, genre transfer, team work, creativity, oral presentation skills, and multimodal composition, the course focuses on client-sponsored design projects and effective communication with multiple stakeholders.  I welcome you on this semester-long journey to explore writing as a design art.

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION & DESIGN, Paula Wenger, MA

Technical Communication and Design is a workshop in professional communication that hones writing and speaking skills in the context of functional design. Our approach to design will be collaborative, problem-based, and user-oriented. We will treat communication itself as a design art. As a workshop, the course centers on user-driven design projects that require ongoing communication with users and an awareness of professional and social influences on the design. The course is designed for juniors and seniors in the College of Engineering, in science- and design-related degree programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, in Architecture and Planning, and in the Technology, Arts, and Media (TAM) certificate program. Business students also find the course relevant, given the focus on organizational communication and project management. The major design project will be based on the design process developed by IDEO, a premier design firm that describes itself as having used “human-centered design for decades to create products, services, experiences, and social enterprises” ranging from the original Apple mouse to career colleges reimagined for the 21st century. Working with the Gates Foundation, IDEO created the Design Kit for NGOs and other nonprofits, based on methods taught in the school they established at Stanford.

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION & DESIGN, Dr. Nathan Pieplow

This course isn’t just about words.  It’s also about images, information structures, real-world problem solving, and the user experience. It’s about maximizing the efficiency, the effectiveness, and the beauty of the communications you’ll produce in your professional career.

In this class we will focus on writing as a design skill.  As Don Norman wrote, “writing something that other people will understand and find easy to read [is] the same problem [as] designing something that people will find understandable and easy to use.”  Just as the iterative process of design moves from ideas to plans to prototypes to products — refining those products at each step with user feedback — so we will practice the iterative process of writing, producing multiple drafts and improving each one with reader feedback.

In addition to producing alphabetic text, we will also learn key skills in graphic design, document design, and data visualization.  We will write and design in several key genres of professional and technical communication, including job application cover letter, résumé, infographic, usability test report, and instruction manual. We will lay out each of our major assignments in Adobe InDesign, the industry standard software for graphic design and publishing.

We will also study the processes and genres of professional project management.  We will generate professional documentation for each stage of a project, including project charters, project plans, time logs, project closing documents, and client satisfaction surveys.

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION & DESIGN, Dr. Rolf Norgaard

“Technical Communication and Design” is a rhetorically informed introduction to technical writing that hones communication skills in the context of technical design activities.  We’ll be treating design as a collaborative, user-oriented, problem-based activity, and technical communication as a rhetorically informed and persuasive design art.  Taught as a writing seminar emphasizing critical thinking, revision, and oral presentation skills, the course focuses on client-driven design projects and effective communication with multiple stakeholders. 

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION & DESIGN, Dr. Petger Schaberg

When I speak with business people and other professionals it is not uncommon for them to express the view that transferring college writing to workplace settings should be an essential goal of contemporary Writing & Rhetoric programs.  A quote by Jason Fried, Chief Executive of Basecamp is telling: “Our top hiring criteria—in addition to job skills—is, are you a great writer? You have to be a great writer to work here, in every single position, because the majority of our communication is written. And we like long-form writing where people actually think through an idea and present it.” 

One way of helping you become a “great writer,” such as Jason Fried envisions, is to highlight the open paradox of our course title: Technical Communication & Design. The term Technical Communication has often suggested such written modes such as technical instruction manuals, corporate memos, customer service, or science proposals.  Design, on the other hand, is commonly associated with creativity, spontaneity, product development, advertising, and group collaboration. How we expand our skills in these two seemingly opposing types of communication is the main focus of this course. One way of directing this conversation is to redefine our endeavor as a rhetorically informed introduction to technical writing that sharpens communication skills in the context of technical design activities. In that sense, we’ll be treating Design as a collaborative, user-oriented, problem-based activity, and Technical Communication as a rhetorically informed, persuasive skill. 

Taught as a writing seminar emphasizing critical thinking, revision, genre transfer, team work, creativity, oral presentation skills, and multimodal composition, the course focuses on client-sponsored design projects and effective communication with multiple stakeholders.  I welcome you on this semester-long journey to explore writing as a design art.

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION & DESIGN, Dr. Paula Wenger

Technical Communication and Design is a workshop in professional communication that hones writing and speaking skills in the context of functional design. Our approach to design will be collaborative, problem-based, and user-oriented. We will treat communication itself as a design art. As a workshop, the course centers on user-driven design projects that require ongoing communication with users and an awareness of professional and social influences on the design. The course is designed for juniors and seniors in the College of Engineering, in science- and design-related degree programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, in Architecture and Planning, and in the Technology, Arts, and Media (TAM) certificate program. Business students also find the course relevant, given the focus on organizational communication and project management. The major design project will be based on the design process developed by IDEO, a premier design firm that describes itself as having used “human-centered design for decades to create products, services, experiences, and social enterprises” ranging from the original Apple mouse to career colleges reimagined for the 21st century. Working with the Gates Foundation, IDEO created the Design Kit for NGOs and other nonprofits, based on methods taught in the school they established at Stanford.