K. Kaiser Lee
Courses Taught
Titles, descriptions, and levels
Undergraduate advanced writing / professional writing courses
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL
Fall 2023 – present
Technical Writing: This course introduces students to best practices in workplace writing and workplace genres (memos, letters, email, reports) and includes the production of employment documents, a collaborative research project on generative AI’s impact on the workplace, and an instructions project during which students produce both paper-based and video instructions.
Saint Xavier University
Chicago, IL
Fall 2015 – Spring 2023
Advanced Writing: Developed syllabus and curriculum to help students synthesize and report information, compose visual arguments, and conduct sustained research projects by assigning a variety of smaller projects to scaffold the end-of-semester researched essay.
Introduction to Creative Writing: My approach to this topic was to create a hands-on, portfolio-based course that aimed to create an encouraging environment that got students to engage in creative writing in a variety of genres.
Professional Writing and Communication: Genre-focused, rhetorically grounded approach to the subject. Projects include employment documents; recommendation report; corporate communications analysis and practice; and instructions. Students participate in peer review of drafts throughout the semester.
Rhetoric, Writing, and Society: In this course I led students in an exploration of how social media plays a role in contemporary politics and society, and how rhetoric can function in the “post-truth” era.
Special Topics in Writing: Digital Storytelling: Students in this project-based course crafted multimedia compositions using an assortment of elements (text, images, video, audio and more), learning to tell fiction and/or non-fiction stories of their choosing in compelling, interactive, ways. A series of small assignments (photo essays, soundscapes, one-minute videos) exposed students to a variety of multimedia that they in turn selected from to create a multimedia, multimodal “storyscape.”
Study of Rhetoric: This class was required of all English majors; developed syllabus and curriculum to encourage discussion and collaborative learning around the questions “what is rhetoric / how is rhetoric defined?” In addition to writings by rhetoricians and philosophers, contemporary examples are studied.
Writing in Digital Environments: Developed syllabus and curriculum to create a hands-on, project-based course. Earlier iterations of this course included website usability testing and composing personal and professional websites. In later semesters, students were introduced to a variety of digital composition forms (podcasts, visual essays, infographics, etc.), which they then used to compose a multimodal informational campaign at the end of the semester.
Writing: The Editing Process: Emphasis in this course was on the work of an editor, including queries, the editor-writer relationship, levels of copyediting, and electronic editing. Course began with a comprehensive review of grammar, mechanics, and style. Students gained experience as editors working with writers in a series of collaborative assignments. We discussed how editors can encourage inclusive language and language diversity.
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH
Fall 2011 – Spring 2015
Professional and Technical Communication: Genre-focused, rhetorically grounded approach to the subject. Projects included employment documents; recommendation report; corporate communications analysis and practice; and instructions. Students participated in peer review of drafts throughout the semester.
Professional and Technical Editing: Emphasis in this course was on the work of an editor, including queries, the editor-writer relationship, levels of copyediting, and electronic editing. Course included comprehensive review of grammar, mechanics, and style based on Chicago and Microsoft style guides. I developed an open-source software documentation editing project to provide students more in-depth experience with technical documents.
Professional Writing Internship: Interns were asked to provide regular updates via email, to encourage reflection throughout the semester, and so I could provide support to students as needed. At the end of the semester, students were asked to compose an essay reviewing their workplace experiences, a résumé, and portfolio.
Professional Writing Senior Seminar: I developed a syllabus and curriculum to include preparation for the workplace along with a semester-long project, which requires students to locate a client such as a non-profit agency or small business. I worked with the area chapter of the Society for Technical Communication to bring working professional writers to speak to the class.
Writing for Online Environments: Developed syllabus and curriculum to include the study, analysis, and use of social media along with multimedia composition. Projects included a podcast, a video, and regular use of social media with an emphasis on its use in business communication, basic web design, website usability study, and online portfolio. Students also wrote project proposals, regular progress reports, and reflections on their work for each multimedia assignment.
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
Department of English
2006 - 2011
Business Writing: Introduced students to the rhetorical principles and writing practices necessary for producing effective business letters, memos, reports, and collaborative projects in professional contexts. The main assignments were employment documents and white paper reports, with the semester culminating in a collaborative service learning project.
Introduction to Research Methods for Professional Writing Majors: Taught ideas methods for conducting research work in workplace writings. Activities included collecting print and online information and analyzing these sources; interviewing, surveying, and conducting observations; and evaluating, summarizing, analyzing, and reporting research. Major assignments included an academic paper, research project proposal, multimedia instructional project with usability testing, and leading class discussion.
Multimedia Writing: Course emphasized principles and practices of multimedia design, communication, and publishing with discussion, analysis, and hands-on activities. Collaboration was encouraged with peer review sessions and collaborative projects. Projects included an exploration of personal branding, design software tutorial, a documentary video, and a digital portfolio.
Technical Writing: Adapted the syllabus and curriculum to introduce the subject from both academic and professional points of view. Students were introduced to the basics of successful business writing, genres, and rhetorical concepts like audience awareness. Class discussions covered current issues in the field of professional and technical writing, both as an academic discipline and as a profession, and we explored the basic methods of research in professional and technical writing.
Graduate-level courses
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL
Fall 2023 – present
Traditions in Written Rhetoric / Rhetoric of Prose Composition: I was charged with combining these two classes (they were cross-listed for the semester), essentially creating a wide-ranging course introducing rhetoric and composition studies to graduate students. This somewhat daunting teaching act was accomplishing by dividing the semester in half – the first half introduced Western rhetoric, the second half focusing on composition studies. The overarching goal was to identify connections between composition studies and rhetorical studies.
Document
Design and Production: I developed a syllabus and curriculum to
introduce theories of design and visual rhetoric. After introduction
to design theory the course transitioned to a studio format that
included weekly in-class design projects followed by whole class
review and commentary. Course work also included reader responses;
leading a class discussion; composing a rhetorical analysis of a
document; document design/redesign project. Weekly design work was
evaluated in an end-of-semester portfolio. While providing some basic
instruction and guidance on how to use Adobe Creative Suite software,
students were encouraged to teach themselves and each other how to
use these programs. Professional
and Technical Editing: Emphasis
in this course was on the
work of an editor, including queries, the editor-writer relationship,
levels of copyediting, and electronic editing. Course included
comprehensive review of grammar,
mechanics, and style based on Chicago and Microsoft style guides. I
designed an open-source
software documentation editing project to provide students more
in-depth experience with technical documents. Professional
Writing Internship: Interns
were asked to provide regular updates via email, to encourage
reflection throughout the semester, and so I could provide
support to students as needed. At the end of the semester, students
were asked to compose an
essay reviewing their workplace experiences, a résumé, and
portfolio.
Publication
Issues and Management: I developed syllabus and curriculum to
include research, discussion, writing, and hands-on work. Topics
include the history and future of the book, copyright, libel,
Creative Commons, and digital publication. Special
Topics in Professional Communication – Science
Communication: I designed the syllabus and curriculum to examine
the topic in broad categories: representations of science in popular
culture; how scientists communicate with each other; how scientists
communicate with the public; how media communicates scientific
findings; and how organizations document and investigate emergencies
and disasters. Technical
Communication: Developed
syllabus and curriculum to introduce the subject from both academic
and professional points of view. Students
are introduced to the
basics of successful business writing, genres, and rhetorical
concepts like audience awareness. We discuss current issues in the
field of professional and technical writing, both as an academic
discipline and as a profession and explore the basic methods of
research in professional and technical writing.
Rhetoric
and Composition I:
This
course draws
on
rhetorical approaches to writing, and asks students to
create
traditional written texts as well as multimodal digital texts for
different
audiences
and purposes. Students must write reflections for each major
assignment in which they must contemplate
their
writing
practices, including how they produced their writing, how it meets
audience expectations, and how it meets genre conventions.
Rhetoric
and Composition II:
This
course
examines
ways in which information is produced and disseminated and
introduces
students to a variety of methods of conducting research, interpreting
data, and assembling information for making compelling arguments to
specific audiences.
Rhetoric
and Writing: First-year writing course required of all students
that emphasizes a rhetorical approach to composition.
Rhetoric
and Writing Laboratory:
I designed this course as a response to the institution ending
required college exams due in part to the pandemic. Many students
entering the university were perceived to have issues with their
writing skills as a result of the disruption in their education. This
one-credit hour course was required of every student enrolling in the
required three-credit hour first-year composition course. The course
was taught by instructors teaching in the fyc program; each section
of this lab was also staffed with an undergraduate student “Learning
Assistant” supported by the campus tutoring center. Lab activities
consisted of writing exercises intended to support the lessons
ongoing in the fyc course, including additional drafting and review
of student essays for that course.
Writing
2: Second semester, first-year writing course emphasizing methods
of inquiry. I asked students to find an issue affecting the community
and make that the focus of their research efforts. Developed
assignments based on David A. Jolliffe’s Inquiry and Genre:
Writing to Learn in College. These include an annotated
bibliography; literature review; collecting and analyzing primary
data; and a genre-based, researched argument.
Introductory
First-Year Composition: A four-credit hour course that emphasized
rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking, reading, writing, and
technology. All major assignments were multimedia work that included
a written component asking students to explain their rhetorical
strategies so students were writing and analyzing in addition
multimedia. Projects included music videos, podcasts, visual essays,
and website design and analysis.
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH2011 - 2015
First-year
composition courses
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, ILFall 2023 – present
Saint Xavier University
Chicago, IL2015-2023
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, OH2011-2015
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN2006-2011
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL2004 - 2006
First-Year
Composition and Rhetoric:
Presented writing
as a recursive and often collaborative process of invention,
drafting, and revising. Emphasized writing
as both a personal and social act. Course included regular
instructor-student conferences. Students conducted peer
review sessions on each project.
First-Year
Writing Research: Focused
on critical writing and reading as
well as engaging in all phases of the composing process, with an
emphasis on research practices. Course
included regular instructor-student conferences. Students conducted
peer review
sessions on each project.
Individualized
Instruction in Writing: Working
together in small tutorial sessions, students received individualized
instruction and response to written
work with the goal of assisting their overall development as writers.
Special
Topics in Composition: Writing About Fashion and Style:
First-year writing course focused on teaching research and analytical
reading skills. I developed this course with lessons
and assignments arranged around historical and scholarly writing on
the topic, along with clothing and fashion in popular culture.