Graduate students and faculty in the language and literature department have been working to develop a new way to enhance the learning experience in the classroom. With the help of Penny Moore as textbook design coordinator and published by Fountainhead Press out of Texas, English Composition 1113 is now taught from a book created right here at NSU.
“Vision and Voice: A College Reader/Rhetoric,” consists of topics and essays submitted by NSU’s very own English professors and instructors and gives students a diverse reflection of what is important to the faculty that teach the classes.
Professor Dr. Joseph Faulds has taught English at NSU for 17 years. Faulds said the content in “Vision and Voice” along with his desire to contribute toward student development, creates a constructive interaction between the text and those who teach the text to their students.
Dr. Teri Baker, Professor of English, has been teaching at NSU for 18 years and is known as an American Indian literature/culture specialist by her peers. Baker is a member of the Choctaw tribe as well as one of the longtime sponsors of the NSU Native American Student Association. Her background in Native American studies was one of the visions that helped drive the book.
English Assistant Professor Dr. Bridget Cowlishaw has contributed works of rhetoric that are in the book. Cowlishaw believes this is a special opportunity for students to learn what professors believe is important.
“This book provides a huge opportunity for the faculty to provide information they want students to know-all in a textbook that is written by faculty that are teaching their class. This gives the students the chance to talk to the author,” said Cowlishaw. “This text gives students the chance to see the writing process as something they can get involved in.”
The goal of the department was to create a book that is multicultural in nature and also tailored to the students.