Degrees Held
B.A., 1990, University of Louisville
M.A., 1996, University of Louisville
Ph.D., 2000, University of Louisville
Academic Summary
Susan Popham enjoys teaching all manner of writing courses, both undergraduate and graduate courses, but especially Persuasive Writing, Scientific and Technical Writing, and Advanced Composition. Much of her previous teaching experience included the use of computer technologies in writing classes. She also enjoys teaching Composition Theory, and tries to incorporate some theory in her undergraduate level writing courses. Her teaching theories center around the ideas of democratic and liberatory pedagogies, while also incorporating practical solutions for real-life writing. Her research interests include the rhetoric of science, the rhetoric of medicine, feminist influences in workplace writing, and theories of writing program administration. Her most recent research project is a book based on her dissertation, a compilation of case studies of business writing in medical practices, examining how medical writers solved business conflicts in their communications.
Courses Taught
3601 Technical and Professional Writing
3604 Persuasive Writing
7003 Theory & Practice in Teaching Composition
7803 Theories of Composition: Modern Perspectives
7805 Foundations of Technical Writing
7808 Workshop in Scientific & Technical Writing
7817 Composition Theorists
Major Publications
- "Breaking Hierarchies: Using Reflective Practice to Re-Construct the Role of the Writing Program Administrator." Co-author with Brian Huot, Michael Neal, and Ellen Schendel. In The Writing Program Administrator as Theorist. Eds. Shirley Rose and Irwin Weiser. Boynton/Cook, 2002.
- Transforming the Disciplines: A Woman's Studies Primer. Co-edited with Elizabeth MacNabb, Mary Jane Cherry, and Rene Prys. Haworth Press, 2001.
