After the Great War

Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2012

Patricia Sullivan Purdue University West Lafayette

Abstract

Using tracings from a 1924 technical writing class, this article follows some normally unmarked processes of teaching and learning in order to highlight the humanities–utility binary from the perspective of the shadows of instructional practice. First, the article situates the humanities–utility debate as it is being addressed in postwar America, and second, it offers evidence of how far-reaching the resolution might have been, evidence taken from the margins of a copy of Watt’s (1917) The Composition of Technical Papers. Both the professional discussions and this textbook’s philosophy are reflected in jottings made by a technical writing student. This article suggests that tracing these issues through this underside of pedagogical history offers a type of evidence that is difficult to recover but worth seeking.

Journal: Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published: 2012-04-01
DOI: 10.1177/1050651911430626
Open Access: Closed
Topics: technical communication multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

Baake et al. (2017)

Writing the Trenches

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Sullivan et al. (2013)

Time Talk: On Small Changes That Enact Infrastructural Mentoring for Undergradu…

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

Cites in this index (3)

Sullivan (2012)

Inspecting Shadows of Past Classroom Practices: A Search for Students’ Voices

College Composition and Communication
HAGGE (1995)

Early Engineering Writing Textbooks and the Anthropological Complexity of Disci…

Written Communication
SULLIVAN et al. (1993)

Remapping Curricular Geography

Journal of Business and Technical Communication

Also cites 4 works outside this index ↓

10.2307/357516

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10.1515/9780791492703

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10.2307/375964

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10.1126/science.30.776.657

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CrossRef global citation count: 3 View in citation network →