Unusual weather on Christmas Day calls for unusual activities.

Wednesday is for Faculty Mentor Orientation.

Today's bad UX writing example is brought to you by a job recommendation submission portal. Who doesn't love a double negative question?

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." - Apple opened the 2025 event with a note from Steve Jobs, setting a tone for product experience from a functional perspective.

Learning from seasoned experts in information design. jasontham.com/2025/08/02/l...

Wednesday is for serving as dean’s rep to a media and comm PhD candidate defense. Learning all the things!

Design thinking has real potential for social change, but we need to be honest about the biases baked into the methodology. Small shifts in how we approach empathy, problem definition, and testing can make a big difference. jasontham.com/2025/06/09/w...

Book manuscript submitted. Cheers to official summertime!

Sano-Franchini asks us what if we tell it like it is—AI systems (LLMs) don’t “think” or “read” but instead “process” data; they don’t “hallucinate” but produce “inaccuracy” in output.

Jennifer Sano-Franchini asks us to consider what we mean by “critical” in critical thinking, critical literacy, etc. #cwcon

Some snapshots from the keynote lunch, featuring @jasontham.bsky.social's presentation, "Whose Time is it Anyway? Writing, Labor, and the Illusion of Efficiency." More photos to come!

Some advice. #HotelLincoln #Chicago

Friday morning is for learning with IBM.

Questions from the DRC panel that could benefit from continued discussion: - what could transformative graduate collaboration & mentorship look like in the future? - what skills are transferable and applicable to both Fellows & Grad Associates’ future careers? - what do you want to see in DRC? #4C25

Naomi Silver shared about the origin story of the Sweetland Digital Rhetoric Collaborative, the digital publishing space and scholarly network that is still going strong today. #4C25

We got to hear a lil bit about Kofi Adisa’s affinity with Computer Love at the #4C25 keynote.

Many caveats to be prefaced… but I can support this sentiment: The labor of writing can be a reward in itself. #4C25 keynote

Something we all could learn from Tracy Smith who wrote her book, To Free the Captives, “by ears.” We all need to listen more, listen more closely, and listen more closely with good intentions. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706866...

Love is something that takes time to learn what it isn’t, and even longer to learn to practice it. — Tracy K. Smith at the #4C25 keynote

Sitting in a session on student recruitment, retention, & career readiness… one thing I wished we spent some time considering is relationship building. When people are connected, they’re more likely to enroll, stay, & go on to do things they enjoy. But we often overlook that relational piece. #4C25

Implications of AI for writing programs • People stretched thin #deadlines • The benefits are accruing, and outweighing the cost • It's hard to stop using it #dependency • Workplace writers are concerned about those in the next generation: how are people going to learn this job in the future? #4C25

Factors influencing the use of AI tools, according to Annette Vee in #A9: - Prior media histories (personal, pop-cultural) - Other people’s use of AI (coworkers, teachers) - Concerns about what AI is doing to them (dependency, deskilling) - Future of the profession (shifting expectations) #4C25

Conference deja vu: am I imagining things or have I seen this presentation elsewhere? I’m not invested enough to find out. #4C25

When it comes to linguistic justice, our actions speak louder than words. — Jennifer Sano-Franchini, #4C25 Chair’s address.

Not gonna lie, seeing a fellow digital rhetorician, computers-and-writing scholar, and technical communication teacher at the helm of CCCC is inspiring as hell. Way to go, Jennifer! #4C25

Meeting authors & contributors of groundbreaking work in our field was a highlight of those early conference experiences, in the 1970s! — Anne Ruggles Gere, recipient of the 2025 CCCC Exemplar Award #4C25

Congratulations to all Scholars for the Dream award this year! #4C25

At the #4C25 opening session, Kofi Adisa calls writing teachers to lead amid chaos and tiredness.

Stop by the quilt maker space tomorrow starting 10:30 am! #FeministCaucus #4C25

Here is a curated playlist from the Feminist Caucus workshop today. Enjoy! open.spotify.com/playlist/5xs...

Registration is open at 4C25 but the queue is getting long. Plan to arrive early if you have a session at 9am.

Excited to announce our keynote speakers for C&W 2025: @jsanofranchini.bsky.social & @jasontham.bsky.social. We'll share more about our keynotes soon! In the meantime, Early Bird registration is open until 3/31! www.english.uga.edu/computers-an...

To all academic friends out here, please fill out the following survey to help me study the rhetorical and generic (genre) functions of scholarly bios. forms.gle/JgrfDdrwZ4sJ... This study is approved by TTU IRB. Participation is voluntary and will not be compensated.

#Moji of the day: Inspo by Artemis, sleepy prince of day and night, guardian of surprise tackles, manager of mischiefs.

'Tis the season for writing feedback and recommendations. May your days be free and your heart be filled with kindness and the strength to give praise.

Pleased to share some thoughts on teaching UX while considering generative AI implications. Key considerations: Hype factor, professional expectations, institutional responsibilities, and ethics. uxpajournal.org/teaching-ux-...

Book manuscript is off to the press editorial assistant. Summer is officially done!

First professional development event of Fall 2024.

Academic editors say “Cs!” Thanks for organizing us, @TimothyOleksiak. I hope to see more convos like this other than the typical editors roundtable that covers only journal-specific info. Publishing (& peer reviewing) is a multi-layered activity w/ evolving challenges. #4C24

Tuesday is for leadership institute.

Wednesday is for lunch and learn, in the barn!

Brushing up on some neuropsychiatry at the leadership institute this morning. Mental health for the win!

Dear academic search committees, please be kind and fair with your international applicants and candidates during this job market season. Read Walwema and Carmichael's article if you're unsure how to support international scholars. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Over here contemplating whether to change my signature to include a new title/style bestowed to me by an earnest student.

Friday is for leadership institute.

Zoom’s AI-powered meeting summary feature is pretty good! Have y’all used it?

Tuesday is for engaged scholarship lunch and learn.

Thanks to Hallmentum for featuring our work and perspectives on collaborative writing. technicallywewrite.com/2023/11/01/c...

Already a good start to #SIGDOC23. A happy 5K run by Lake Eola, right behind the conference hotel.

Do you have students who are interested in our graduate programs in technical communication and rhetoric? We invite them to attend one of our virtual info sessions! Please share this on our behalf. Use this form to register for free: forms.office.com/r/YQxaEjrid2 Thanks!