William Studer

He/him

Education: Bachelor of Arts in English (December 2006)

Mentor: David Smit, Ph.D.

McNair Project: The Future of Technical Writing (2005)

In “The Future Of Technical Writing,” I explore the possibilities of how the field of technical/professional writing will be taught to potential technical/professional writers in the years to come. In making my case for what I believe to be the most likely path, I will synthesize pieces of evidence from several sources regarding the field of professional/technical writing, its recent history and evolution, its expanding roles and “identity crisis,” its current status as an academically taught discipline within collegiate English departments, and the relationship between academia and industry. My conclusion is that technical/professional writing will cease to be taught as an English discipline, due in particular to the increase in a need for “visual” expertise amongst professional/technical communicators, as well as the dissatisfaction amongst professional communicators with English departments.

McNair Project: American Attitudes, the Corn-Heavy Diet, and the National Eating Disorder (2006)

Mentor: Gerad Middendorf, Ph.D.

In this research project, I cover the negative effects of abundant industrial corn—the quintessential product of the American industrial food chain—on the American diet, before going back to look at the key factors behind the problem: the history of corn and its aptitude to become the quintessential industrial food product, and the various aspects of both American agriculture and the U. S. food industry that have led to the general alienation of the consumer from the industrial food process and the national “expanding waistline.”