Donald Bushman

Title: Assistant Professor, and Director of Composition
Office: Morton Hall 154
Phone: (910) 962-3655
e-mail: bushmand@uncwil.edu

Teaching and Research Interests

I teach a variety of writing courses, ranging from first-year composition to upper-level courses in style and argument to graduate courses in composition and literacy theory. As a writing teacher, my aim is to help students become better at producing all kinds of written texts and at analyzing how texts (written and otherwise) work--how they influence their thinking and shape their actions.

Core Faculty for the

Donald Bushman teaches courses on theories and pedagogies of composition. His published work, which addresses issues in rhetorical theory, writing center theory, and writing across the curriculum, has appeared in Rhetoric Review, WPA, The Writing Lab Newsletter, and elsewhere. The aim of his research is a clearer understanding of composing and pedagogy through the application of theory. He currently serves as the Director of Composition and is in charge of training Graduate Teaching Assistants.

Selected Publications

"Expressivisms as 'Vernacular Theories' of Composing." Composition Reconsidered: Writing the Wrongs. Eds. Ray Wallace, et al. Greenwood, 2000. 25-35.

"The WPA as Pragmatist: Recasting 'Service' as 'Human Science.'" WPA:
Writing Program Administration 23.1-2 (Fall/Winter 1999): 29-43.

"Reader-Response Criticism." (With John Clifford) in Theorizing Composition: A Critical Sourcebook of Theory and Scholarship. Ed. Mary Lynch Kennedy. Westport, CT: Greenwood, l999. 258-60.

"'A Conversation of Gestures': George Herbert Mead's Pragmatic Theory of Language." Rhetoric Review 16.2 (Spring 1998): 253-67.

"Theorizing a 'Social-Expressivist' Writing Center." Writing Lab Newsletter 22.7 (March 1998): 6-11.

"From Agitation to Composure: When is Writing Finished?" Arizona English Bulletin 40.1 (Fall 1997): 26-32.

"Expressive Writing," "Invention," and "Power." Keywords in Composition Studies. Eds. Paul Heilker and Peter Vandenberg. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1996. 93-96, 132-35, 183-86.

"Rhetorical Contexts of Grammar: Some Views from Writing-Emphasis Course Instructors." (with Elizabeth Ervin) in The Place of Grammar in Writing Instruction: Past. Present and Future. Eds. Susan Hunter and Ray Wallace. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1995. 136-58.

"deduction," "example," "induction," and "periodic style." in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition. Gen. Ed. Theresa Eons. New York: Garland, 1995.

"Past Accomplishments and Current Trends in Writing Center Research: A Bibliographic Essay." The Writing Center: New Directions. Eds. Ray Wallace and Jeanne Simpson. New York: Garland, 1991. 27-38.

Reviews:

Rev. of Narration as Knowldge: Tales of the Teaching Life, ed. Joseph Trimmer, North Carolina English Teacher, forthcoming.

Rev. of The Interdisciplinary Teacher's Handbook: Integrated Teaching Across the Curriculum, by Stephen Tchudi and Stephen Lafer, North Carolina English Teacher, 55.3 (Spring 1998): 24-25.

Rev. of A Portfolio Primer, by Geof Hewitt, North Carolina English Teacher, 53.1 (Fall 1995): 33-34.

Selected Presentations and Conference Participation:

Conference on College Composition and Communication, Denver, March 2001.

Council of Writing Program Administrators Annual Summer Conference, Tucson, July 2000.

"Juggling Competing Interests: The WPA's Role at a 'Comprehensive' University." Council of Writing Program Administrators Annual Summer Conference, Tucson, July 1998.

"The Chicago Pragmatists and the Promise of an Ethical Rhetoric." Biennial Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America, Pittsburgh, June 1998.

"The 'Enriching Experiences' of the Composition Classroom" Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, Apr. 1998.

"A 'Conversation of Gestures' in the Classroom." South Atlantic Modern Language Association Conference, Atlanta, Nov. 1997.

"The Physicality of Writing: George Herbert Mead's Theory of Language." Biennial Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America, Tucson, May 1996.

"An Historical Perspective on Audience Engagement with Popular Media." Conference on College Composition and Communication, Washington, DC, Mar. 1995.

"Returning Responsibility to Collaboration." Conference on College Composition and Communication, Nashville, Apr. 1994.

Selected Courses:

ENG 201

Credits and contact information