Margaret Bennett Walters
Assistant Professor of English
Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road #2701
Kennesaw, GA 30144
Phone: 770-423-6125
E-mail: mwalter1@kennesaw.edu

Education

Ph.D., English, Arizona State University, 1996
Major area of concentration: Composition and Rhetoric
Dissertation: "Reassessing Robert Zoellner's Talk-Write Behavioral Pedagogy and Its Place in Composition History"
M.A., Literature, University of Houston-Clear Lake, 1983
B.A., Literature, University of Houston-Clear Lake, 1976, magna cum laude

Teaching Experience

Assistant Professor of English, Department of English, Kennesaw State University (Fall 1997-Present) Teach graduate writing courses in the Master of Arts in Applied Writing Program and teach undergraduate writing courses. Courses taught include the following (* asterisk denotes new course I developed and taught for the first time in our undergraduate and graduate programs):

Undergraduate Courses:

• Advanced Writing
• Careers in Writing *
• Composition I and Composition II
• Computers and Writing *
• Principles of Teaching Writing
• Professional Editing *
• Technical Writing

Graduate Courses:

• Computers and Communication
• Context, Style, and Audience [The Rhetorical Tradition]
• Corporate Communication
• Intercultural Communication in Contexts *
• Issues and Research in Professional Writing
• Public Policy Writing [Government Writing] *
• Business and Technical Editing *
• Writing for the Web *

Direct graduate-level study courses in varied topics, such as Advanced Composition Theory, Web Writing, Web Site Development, Freelance Writing, Newsletter Writing, Branding in Advertising.

Lecturer, Human Sciences and Humanities, University of Houston-Clear Lake (An upper-division university; Spring 1993-Spring 1997) Courses taught included the following:

Undergraduate Courses:

• Business Writing
• Principles of Composition
• Technical Writing

Graduate Courses:

• Composition Theory and Practice
• Directed study courses in Technical Writing and Written Communications in Business

Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of English, Arizona State University
(Fall 1987-Spring 1992; full-time doctoral student). Taught undergraduate courses in:

• First-Year Composition I and II
• Introduction to Literature
• Persuasive Writing on Public Issues
• Short Fiction
• Writing for the Professions
  

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of English, University of Houston-Main Campus (Fall 1985-Fall 1986; full-time doctoral student) Taught undergraduate courses in Composition I and II

Adjunct Faculty Positions Held (1984-1986):

• Texas A& M University-Maritime Institute, Department of General Studies, Galveston, TX (Summer 1986) Taught Technical Writing
• University of Houston-Downtown, Department of English, (Spring 1984-Fall 1986) Taught Composition II and Technical Writing
• San Jacinto Community College-South, Department of English (Summer 1984-Fall 1986) Taught Basic Writing and Technical Writing

Scholarship: Papers and Conference Presentations

"The Redemption of Self: Karen Armstrong's Rhetoric of Compassion." Inquiries into Rhetoric and Christian Tradition: A Conference. De Paul University, Chicago, Illinois, May 2005.

"A Multimedia Look at How Students Gain Access to Careers in Professional Writing." Conference of College Composition and Communication. San Francisco, March 2005.

"Behind the Scenes of Multidisciplinary and Multimedia Research in Professional Writing." Conference on Writing Research in the Making, University of California at Santa Barbara, February 2005.

"Rhetoric, Cookery, and English Majors." Conference of College Composition and Communication. San Antonio, TX, March 2003.

"How a Course Called 'Careers in Writing' Connects the Street and the Academy." Conference of College Composition and Communication. Chicago, March 2002.

"Shaping and Extending Knowledge about Careers in Writing for English Teachers and Students." 91st Annual Conference, National Council of Teachers of English. Baltimore, MD, November 2001.

"Writing Assignments that Enable Students to Become Part of a Writing Community: Moving from the Classroom to Communities Beyond." 32nd Annual College English Association Conference. Memphis, TN, April 2001.

"Using Technology to Enhance Teaching: Preparing Undergraduate Students for a Career in Writing." University System of Georgia's Eighth Annual Conference on College and University Teaching, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, February 2001.

"Computers and Writing: Blending Technology and Teaching in the Composition Classroom." Georgia-Carolinas College English Association Annual Conference. Charleston, SC, April 2000.

"Technology in the 21st Century Classroom." Georgia Conference of Teachers of English Annual Conference. Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA, February 2000.

"A Student-Centered Philosophy for Revising Writing Assignments." Reaching Through Teaching. (Fall 1999).

"Finding the Center: The Composition Classroom as Whirligig." Southern Association of the Modern Language Association Conference. Atlanta, November 1999.

"Creating a Space for the Marginalized Voice." Conference of College Composition and Communication. Atlanta, March 1999.

"Teaching with Computers." Georgia Conference of Teachers of English Annual Conference. Jekyll Island, GA, February 1999.

"Technology in a WAC-Based Composition Classroom." Student Success in First-Year Composition Classes Interactive Workshop, Georgia Southern University. Statesboro, February 1999.

"Accommodating Student Voice in Nonfiction Writing." National Conference of Teachers of English. Nashville, November 1998.

"Researching Writer's Anxiety." South Central Women's Studies Association Conference. New Orleans, March 1994.

"Robert Zoellner's Talk-Write Pedagogy." Writing Ourselves into the Story: Unheard Voices from Composition Studies. Eds. Sheryl I. Fontaine and Susan Hunter. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1993. 335-51. (Co-authored by Gary Hatch)

"Robert Zoellner's 'Talk-Write Pedagogy': An Instrumental Concept for Today." Rhetoric Review 10.2 (Spring 1992): 239-243.

"Robert Zoellner's 'Talk-Write Pedagogy': An Instrumental Concept for Today." Conference of College Composition and Communication. Boston, March 1991.

Awards

• 2004-2005 CETL Grant, Research Project: Writing Students' Perceptions of Their Career Success (co-authors Dr. Susan Hunter and Dr. Elizabeth Giddens)
• 2003 Graduate Distinguished Teaching Award, Kennesaw State University
• 2001-2002 Incentive Grant for Engaged Teaching, Scholarship, and Service Program, Kennesaw State University Faculty Development and Awards ($7,300; co-author Dr. Susan Hunter); for "Careers in Writing Network."

Academic Service

• Internship Coordinator, Undergraduate program-English and graduate MAPW program (2003-Present)
• Chair, Graduate Curriculum and Program Committee, 2004-2005; HSS Representative, 2000-2004
• Department of English: First-Year Composition Program, 2004-2005; Master of Arts in Professional Writing Committee, 2004-2005,1998-2002; Curriculum Committee 2003-2004; Writing Programs Committee, 1997-2004; Contemporary Literature and Writing Conference Committee, 2000-2002; Technology, 1997-2004
• Faculty Senate, 1999-2001; HSS Representative, Faculty Senate Executive Committee, 2000-2001
• Faculty Sponsor, Sigma Tau Delta, English Honorary Society, 1999-2001
• Career Services Board, 2000-2001

Professional Memberships

• College Composition and Communication
• National Conference of Teachers of English
• Coalition of Women Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition

Professional background     Teaching philosophy