VITA
DENNIS EARL MINOR
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Date of Birth: August 4, 1940
Place of Birth: Hannibal, Missouri
University Address
College of Liberal Arts
Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, LA 71272
Phone: (318) 257-2660
E-Mail: dminor@latech.edu
Home Address
1102 Glenwood
Ruston, LA 71270
Phone: (318) 255-6045
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
-
Ph.D. Texas A&M University, December l973. English major with
journalism minor. Dissertation: The Evolution of Puritanism into
the
Mass Culture of Early Nineteenth-Century America.
-
M.A. Texas A&M University, August l968. English major.
Thesis:
Epic Qualities of the Early American Frontier Novel: Cooper's
Leatherstocking
Tales.
-
B.A. Texas A&M University, May 1966. English major with
history
minor.
-
A.A. Blinn College, May 1960. Speech major.
-
Diploma, A&M Consolidated High School, College Station, TX, May
l958.
Honor Societies
-
Phi Theta Kappa
-
Sigma Tau Delta
Record of Employment
-
1998- Present Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Louisiana Tech
University
-
1989-1997 Professor, Department of English, Louisiana Tech University
-
1984-1989 Associate Professor, Department of English, Louisiana Tech
University.
-
1974-1984 Assistant Professor, Department of English, Louisiana Tech
University.
Professional Memberships
-
South Central Modern Language Association
-
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
-
George K. Anding Professor of English.
-
Louisiana Tech University Foundation Professorship Award for 1994-95.
-
Faculty Senate Chair Award for 1989-90.
-
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Summer Seminar,
Michigan
State University, summer 1978. Seminar Topic: The
Functions
of Discourse in Science and Literature. Seminar Director:
Dr.
E. Fred Carlisle, Department of English, Michigan State University.
TEACHING
Courses Taught
Graduate
-
Early American Literature
-
19th Century American Popular Literature
-
Research and Bibliography
-
English Teachers Workshop
-
Science Fiction
Undergraduate
-
Survey of American Literature
-
Survey of British Literature
-
20th Century American Novel
-
Science Fiction
-
Freshman Rhetoric and Composition
-
Technical Writing
-
English as a Second Language (summer)
-
Specification, Bid, and Proposal Writing
-
The Scientific Method
-
Writing for Publication
-
Advanced Technical Writing
-
Technical Writing Graphics
-
Technical Presentations
-
Developmental English
Contributions to the Curriculum
-
Developed an Internet-based English 303 course, the first course to be
offered entirely over the Internet by Louisiana Tech University.
This course has been offered the Fall Quarter, 1996, the Spring
Quarter,
1997, the Spring Quarter, 1998, the Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters
1998-99
and the Fall, Winter, Spring Quarters of 1999-2000, and the Summer,
Fall,
and Winter Quarters, 2000-01.
-
Helped to create the Technical Writing major (later Emphasis) at
Louisiana
Tech University;
-
Developed a course in Science Fiction, first offered as English 475 and
575, the variable content course, to both graduate and undergraduate
students;
this course has been placed in the University Bulletin as
English
480.
Grants
-
Guest Scholar in a Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Summer
Institute
for Teachers held at Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe,
Louisiana,
during the summer of 1995. This Institute, directed by Dr.
Jeffery
Galle of the Northeast English Department, focused on Utopian and
Dystopian
Versions of the Search for Home: The Importance of Place in
American
Literature.
-
Received a $58,000.00 grant to direct a Louisiana Endowment for the
Humanities
for a Summer Institute for Teachers. The subject of this Institute was
Science, Human Values, and Narrative Technique in Science Fiction.
This Institute was held at Louisiana Tech University July 8-- August 2,
1991.
Publications and Presentations Concerning Teaching
Publications
-
"Getting a Handle on Graphics" in Teaching Technical Writing:
Graphics. Ed. Dixie E. Hickman. Association of Teachers
of Technical Writing, l985, pp. 10-16. This article received a
favorable
review by Charles Kostelnick in the Journal of Technical Writing
and
Communication, Vol. 17, No. 4, p. 432. This article was used
by Kenneth Houp and Thomas Pearsall in the 7th Edition of Reporting
Technical Information (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992), one of
the most popular technical writing textbooks, as the organizing medium
for their chapter on graphics, as explained on page 674 of that text in
the notes for "Chapter 12: Graphical Elements of Reports":
"The order of our material in this chapter is based on the order
suggested
in Dennis E. Minor, `Getting a Handle on Graphics,' Teaching
Technical
Writing: Graphics . . . ."
-
"A Structure for the Problem Solving Paper." The Technical
Writing
Teacher. 10, No. 1 (Fall 1982), 8-11.
-
"Teaching the Technical Writing Proposal." The Technical
Writing
Teacher. 7, No. 1 (Fall 1979), 24-27.
-
"A Concept of Language for Technical Writing Students."
Journal
of Technical Writing and Communication. 8, No. 1 (1978),
43-51.
-
"Library Resource Materials for Technical Writing" (with Lowell F.
Lynde).
The Technical Writing Teacher. 3, No. 3 (Spring
1976), 135-143.
-
"An Integrated Technical Writing Course." The Technical
Writing
Teacher. 3, No. 1 (Fall 1975), 21-24.
Presentations
-
"Web-based Technical Writing: A Short Retrospective, 1996-2002." Read
in
the Technical Writing section at the November 2002 meeting of the South
Central Modern Language Association in Austin, Texas.
-
"Cyber Chicken Soup for the Distance Educator's Soul." Presented at the
Teaching in Higher Education Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 2002;
co-presenter
with Allison Smith and Tammy Powell.
-
"Personalizing the Web Course." Presented at the Teaching in Higher
Education
Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 2001.
-
"Language and the Digital Future or, From Real Clocks to Atomic
Clocks."
Presented at the Teaching in Higher Education Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge,
April 2000.
-
"Inexpensive Internet Resources." Presented at the Teaching in Higher
Education
Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 1999.
-
"Considerations in Teaching a Course Via Internet." Presented at the Teaching
in Higher Education Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 1998.
-
"A Neurological Language Model of Expression/Comprehension and Its
Application
to the Teaching of Writing." Read in the General Linguistics
section
at the October 1983 meeting of the South Central Modern Language
Association
at Fort Worth, Texas.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Grants
-
Worked with Dr. Terry McConathy during the fall of 1996 on an LEQSF
grant
to obtain an Internet computer lab and Internet access for English and
Foreign Language faculty.
-
Wrote a grant application to the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
to bring the Louisiana novelist Ernest J. Gaines to Louisiana Tech
University
for a reading of his fiction. The grant was funded and Mr. Gaines
read on campus during the spring of l986.
Professional Activities
-
Arranged to have Allen Coulter, a well known television director at
Home
Box Office, to come to Louisiana Tech University as part of the College
of Liberal Arts Academic Excellence activities. Mr. Coulter made
a presentation to the public on Thursday, April 13, 2000, which
included
a clip from the "X-Files." Mr. Coulter also spoke at the Student
Recognition Awards luncheon that same day.
-
Arranged to have Frank Kelly Freas, world-renowned science fiction and
fantasy artist, to come to Louisiana Tech University as part of the
College
of Liberal Arts Academic Excellence activities. Mr. Freas gave a
public address on April 12, 1999, showing a large collection of slides
of his art work He also spoke at the Student Recognition Awards
luncheon
and spoke to groups of faculty and students April 14.
-
Arranged to have Michael McKean, well known television and motion
picture
actor, to come to Louisiana Tech University during Academic Excellence
Week in the spring of 1998. Mr. McKean, who played "Lenny" on the
television
program "Laverne and Shirley," made a public presentation and talked to
several theater classes. Mr. McKean's parents and grandmother attended
Tech.
-
Member of the Electronic Learning Committee at Louisiana Tech,
1998-present.
-
Member of the Louisiana Tech University Instructional Innovation
Committee,
1995--present.
-
Chair of the Educational Program Committee of the Louisiana Tech
University
Strategic Planning Committee, 1995-1998.
-
Fiction reading for the 7th and 8th grade gifted and talented students
at Ruston Junior High School. Invited to read science fiction
short
story, "Rubber Wrenches," by Linda Dick. October 31, 1994.
-
Member of the SACS Steering Committee and Editor of the SACS Self-
Study
Report for Louisiana Tech University; member and Editor of the
University
Institutional Effectiveness Committee, one of the Principal Committees
for the SACS Report.
-
Editor of the Proceedings of the 1993 Philological Association
of
Louisiana, published 30 of the papers from the 1993 PAL meeting.
-
Program Chairman of the March 1993 meeting of the Philological
Association
of Louisiana, which met at Louisiana Tech University, with
approximately
90 teachers attending and over 80 papers being presented.
Organized
the meeting; selected the papers; arranged the program; chaired some of
the sessions.
-
Editor of the Proceedings of the 1992 Philological Association
of
Louisiana, published 30 of the papers from the 1992 PAL meeting.
-
Program Chairman for the 1992 meeting of the Philological Association
of
Louisiana. This organization met during March of 1992 at
Louisiana
Tech University, with approximately 90 teachers attending and over 80
papers
being presented. Organized the meeting; selected the papers;
arranged
the program; chaired some of the sessions.
-
College of Arts and Sciences representative on the University
Assessment
Oversight Committee, 1988--present.
-
College of Arts and Sciences representative on the Career Planning and
Placement Center Advisory Committee 1988--present.
-
Faculty Senate Chairman for l987-88 school year.
-
Past President of the Louisiana Tech Chapter of the United Federation
of
College Teachers.
-
Member of the University Strategic Planning Committee, 1987-88.
-
Member of the English Department Tenure and Promotions Committee,
1983-92
-
Served on Departmental and University committees for the 1980 Southern
Association Self-Study.
RESEARCH
Technical Writing: Publications
-
"Need a Vacation from Headings? Try the Scientific Method."
The Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication
Newsletter.
Spring 1993, p. 3.
-
"Newspeak, 1984, and Technical Writing." Journal of Technical
Writing and Communication. 15, No. 4, 1985, pp. 365-372.
-
Review of The Case Method in Technical Communication: Theory
and
Models. Journal of Technical Writing and
Communication.
15, No. 1 (1985), 75-77.
-
"Albert Einstein on Writing." Journal of Technical Writing
and
Communication. 14, No. 1 (1984), 13-18.
-
"Chair's Comments: Ethos in Technical Discourse."
Technical
Communication: Perspectives for the Eighties. (Proceedings of
the Technical Communication Sessions at the 32nd annual meeting of the
Conference on College Composition and Communication held in Dallas,
Texas.)
Compiled by J.C. Mathes and Thomas E. Pinelli. NASA Scientific
and
Technical Information Branch, 1981, pp. 439-440.
-
"Visual Aids in Technical Writing." English in Texas.
11, No. 4 (Summer 1980), 86-88.
-
"Coherent Deformation in Scientific and Technical Writing." Journal
of Technical Writing and Communication. 10, No. 3 (1980),
201-212.
Technical Writing: Presentations
-
"Some Considerations in Teaching a Technical Writing Course over
Internet."
Presented at the November 1998 annual meeting of the South Central
Modern
Language Association meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.
-
"Newspeak, 1984, and Technical Writing." Read at the October 1984
meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association in Biloxi,
Mississippi.
-
"Albert Einstein on Writing." Read at the April 1982 meeting of
the
College English Association in Houston, Texas.
-
"A Concept of Language for Technical Writing Students." Read at
the
March 1977 meeting of the Conference on College Composition and
Communication.
Language and Composition: Publications
-
"Some Values of Language Study." English in Texas.
18,
No. 4 (Summer 1987), 15-19.
Language and Composition: Presentations
-
"Some Values of Language Study: Musen, Dumuzi, and the Sumerian
Postposition."
Read at the March 1983 meeting of the Conference of College Teachers of
English at Waco, Texas.
-
"Coherent Deformation in Scientific and Technical Writing." Read
in the General Linguistics section at the 1979 meeting of the South
Central
Modern Language Association.
Literature: Publications
-
Looking Backward at Progress and Poverty: Edward
Bellamy
and Henry George Look at the Future. Quarterly Journal of Ideology.
25, No. 1 &2 (2002). Online Journal at http://www.lsus.edu/la/journals/ideology/index.htm
-
"Shaved Monkeys, Sleepy Students, and Dangerous Kegs: Revolutionary War
Humor and Satire." George Washington in and as Culture. Ed.
Kevin
L. Cope. New York: AMS Press, 2001, pp. 99-106.
-
"Flawed Idealism in Frontier Kentucky: James Lane Allen's The
Choir Invisible." The Markham Review. 15 (Fall-Winter
1985-86), 3-6.
-
"David Ross Locke." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume
II:
American Humorists, 1800-1950, Part I. Ed. Stanley
Trachtenberg.
Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1982, pp. 270-275.
-
"The New and Regenerated Adams of E.P. Roe." The Markham
Review.
6 (Winter 1977), 21-26.
-
"The Many Roles of Nasby." The Markham Review. 4,
No.
1 (October 1973), 16-20.
Literature: Presentations
-
"Looking Backward at Progress and Poverty: Edward Bellamy and
Henry
George Look at the Future." Presented at the America at the
3rd
Century and Millennium International Conference at LSu in
Shreveport,
October 5, 2000.
-
"Shaved Monkeys, Sleepy Students, and Dangerous Kegs: Revolutionary War
Humor and Satire." Presented at the Life, Times, and Legacy of
George
Washington International Conference at LSU in Shreveport, September
19, 1998. To be published in a collection of conference papers by
AMS Press in 2000.
-
"The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters: Frankenstein, Forbidden
Planet,
and Alien." Read at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture
Association
in Orlando, Florida, April 1998.
-
"Old World, New Science, and Popery: Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Gods
of Mars." Read in the Science Fiction Section at the October 1988
meeting
of the South Central Modern Language Association at Arlington, Texas.
-
"Flawed Idealism in Frontier Kentucky: James Lane Allen's The
Choir Invisible." Read at the January 1985 meeting of the
Mississippi
Philological Association in Oxford, Mississippi.
-
"Topsy and Pearl." Read at the March 1979 meeting of the
Conference
of College Teachers of English of Texas, Fort Worth, Texas.
-
"Dual Narration in Heart of Darkness." Read at the March
1978
meeting of the Conference of College Teachers of English of Texas,
Dallas,
Texas.
-
"The New and Regenerated Adams of E.P. Roe." Read in the American
Literature I section of the 1976 meeting of the South Central Modern
Language
Association.
-
"Nature's Transcendent Dower: Flowers and Stars in the Poetry of
William Wordsworth." Read at the March 1974 meeting of the
Conference
of College Teachers of English of Texas.
Creative Writing: Publications
-
"Percheron" (short story). On the Way Home (short story
collection).
Greenville, MS: Ruby Shoes Press, 1996, pp. 65-92.
-
"The Search for P.B. Doghammer" (novella of 99 typescript pages). Tomorrow:
Speculative Fiction, December 1993, pp. 58-80.
-
"Rubber Wrenches" (short story). First prize winner (from 30+
entries)
in the Science Fiction and Fantasy competition at the 1992 Deep South
Writers
Conference; published in a collection of winning entries from the 1992
Deep South Writers Conference, The Chapbook, edited by John
Fiero,
pp. 61-69.
-
"The Light and the Dark." One of the top ten entries (from nearly
600 entries) in the Faux Faulkner Contest, sponsored by American Way
magazine, the University of Mississippi's Department of English and
Center
for the Study of Southern Culture, and Yoknapatawpha Press and its Faulkner
Newletter. Published in American Way, August 1,
1992,
p. 99.
-
"Muffling Bobby Joe" (short story). Caesura.
(Spring,
1988), 58-76.
-
Finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future International
Science
Fiction Writing Contest for 1987-88; entry, "Old Times There,"
published
in
L.Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume IV,
edited
by Algis Budrys; Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, Inc., 1988, pp.
397-417.
British edition published by New Era Publications UK Ltd.
-
"A Time to Dig Down" (short story). Publication of the
Mississippi
Philological Association, 1986, pp. 147-156.
-
"Vox Digiti" (poem). Sidelong Glances, Fall 1983.
-
"Everymen of the Fifties" (essay). The Shreveport Times
Sunday
Magazine, December 25, 1977, p. 5-f.
-
"Golden Raindrops" (poem). The Poet, Autumn 1977, p. 217.
-
"Blue Beak" (poem). The Dekalb Literary Arts Journal, 9,
No.
2 (Winter 1976), 61.
Creative Writing: Selected Presentations
-
"Entebbe" (short fiction). Presented at the Mississippi Philological
Association
meeting at Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, Mississippi,
January
26, 2001.
-
"Morphing" (short fiction). Presented at the Mississippi Philological
Association
meeting at Delta State University, Cleveland, Mississippi, January 29,
1999.
-
"The Removal" (excerpt from the novel
The
Photon Sea). Read at the March 1998 meeting of the
Philological
Association of Louisiana at Shreveport, Louisiana.
-
"The Alienation of Silea" (excerpt from the novel The Photon Sea).
Read at the January 1998 meeting of the Mississippi Philological
Association
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
-
"Roswell" (excerpt from the novel Technoir). Read in the
Science
Fiction and Fantasy Writers Section at the fall 1996 meeting of the
South
Central Modern Langauge Association in San Antonio, Texas.
-
"A Passage to Palindrome" (excerpt from the novel The Photon Sea).
Read at the January 1997 meeting of the Mississippi Philological
Association
in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
-
"The Show of Shows" (excerpt from the novel The Photon Sea).
Read at the April 1996 meeting of the Philological Association of
Louisiana
at Lafayette, Louisiana.
-
"Off-World R & R" (excerpt from the novel-in-progress, Galaxy
Park).
Read at the January 1996 Mississippi Philological Association meeting
in
Greenwood, Mississippi.
-
"The Children's Hour" (excerpt from the novel-in-progress, Hard
Times
in Grid City). Read at the January 1995 Mississippi Philological
Association
meeting in Jackson, Mississippi.
-
"Fifteen" (excerpt from novel-in-progress, Hard Times in Grid City).
Read at the March 1994 meeting of the Philological Association of
Louisiana
at Lake Charles, Louisiana.
-
"The Olliehawk" (short story). Read at the January 1994 meeting
of
the Mississippi Philological Association at Cleveland, Mississippi.
-
"The 92" (excerpt from the novel-in-progress, The Photon Sea).
Read at the November 1993 meeting of the Arkansas Philological
Association
at Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
-
"The Smell of Martian Snow" (short story). Read at the January
1993
meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Biloxi,
Mississippi.
-
"Harley and Farley, Alien Fishermen" (excerpt from the novella, The
Search for P.B. Doghammer, published in Tomorrow:
Speculative
Fiction). Read at the November 1992 meeting of the Arkansas
Philological
Association in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
-
"Doubloon" (excerpt from novel-in-progress, The Photon Sea).
Read in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers section at the October
1992 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association in
Memphis,
Tennessee.
-
"Laissez-Faire for the Alien Masses (excerpt from novel-in-progress, Galaxy
Park). Read at the January 1992 meeting of the Mississippi
Philological
Association in Columbus, Mississippi.
-
"Mother Martha, Comfort Me" (short story). Read at the January
1991
meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Starkville,
Mississippi.
-
"Rubber Wrenches" (short story). Read at the January 1989 meeting
of the Mississippi Philological Association in Jackson, Mississippi.
-
"A Good Boy" (short story). Read at the March 1986 meeting of the
Philological Association of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana.
-
"A Time to Dig Down" (short story). Read at the February 1986
meeting
of the Mississippi Philological Association at the University of
Southern
Mississippi at Gulf Park.
Other Creative Writing
-
Honorable Mention, Second Annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, San
Jose
State University, 1983; entry published in It Was a Dark and Stormy
Night, compiled by Scott Rice. Penguin Books, 1984, pp.
135-136.
-
Runner-up, "Modern Love Category," Third Annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction
Contest,
San Jose State University, l984.
Participation in Professional Organizations
-
Chair of the Technical Writing session for the 2000 meeting of the
South
Central Modern Language Association meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
-
Secretary of the Technical Writing session for the 1999 meeting of the
South Central Modern Language Association meeting in Memphis, Tennessee.
-
Organized and chaired the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Group
Special
Session held at the 1991, 1995, 1996, and 1997 South Central Modern
Language
Association meetings.
-
Chair of the 1982 and 1986 Technical Writing sessions at the South
Central
Modern Language Association meetings.
-
Secretary of the Technical Writing sessions at the 1981 and 1985
meetings
of the South Central Modern Language Association meeting.
-
Chair of the "Ethos in Technical Discourse: Theory and Practice"
session at the March 1981 meeting of the Conference on College
Composition
and Communication, Dallas, Texas.
-
Organized and chaired the first technical writing session to be held at
the annual meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association
meeting;
met on October 30, 1980, at Memphis, Tennessee.
University Presentations
-
Presentation on "Considerations in Teaching a Course via Internet,"
done
through the Instructional Innovation Committee; this seminar was held
on
September 24, 1997; it was open to all faculty.
-
Organized and participated in a "Panel on Student Writing," done
through
the Instructional Innovation Committee; this seminar was held on
January 23, 1997; it was open to all faculty.
-
Presentation on "Critical Thinking," done through the Instructional
Innovation
Committee, April 2, 1996; this presentation was open to all Louisiana
Tech
University faculty.
Updated November 2002