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Overview
Faculty
Majors
Courses
Activities
& Opportunities
Resources
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| Jeffry
C. Davis |
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Associate
Professor
On faculty since 1990
Office:
313 Blanchard Hall
630.752.5786
Jeffry.C.Davis@wheaton.edu
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| Education |
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Ph.D.
English, Language, Literacy and Rhetoric, University of
Illinois at Chicago
M.A. English, Composition Studies and American Literature,
Northern Illinois University
B.A., Wheaton College
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| Professional
and Personal Interests |
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| Professionally,
I spend much of my time and energy writing and teaching
about education; in particular, I focus on the literacy
skills that are central to the liberal arts: reading,
writing, speaking and listening. As the Director of the
Writing Center at Wheaton, I enjoy empowering students
to write clearly and persuasively, helping them to read
their own work with a critical eye for revision. Preparing
college students to teach English also proves to be a
central preoccupation for me at Wheaton; therefore, I
supervise student teachers in the public schools.
Personally,
I enjoy hard manual labor, whether it involves splitting
wood for the fireplace or planting flowers in my garden.
As Wendell Berry writes in The Unsettling of America,
"While we live our bodies are moving particles
of earth, joined inextricably both to the soil and to
the bodies of other living creatures." Not unrelated,
I often listen to country music, especially while driving
my pickup truck. The lyrics of Vince Gill, Patty Loveless,
and Alan Jackson are a few of my favorites. Finally,
my wife Ruth and I love to eat Indian and Vietnamese
food.
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| Courses
Taught |
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ENG
324 - Methods of Teaching English
ENGL 101 - Classics of Western Literature
ENGL 215 - Classical and Early British Literature
ENGL 494 - Senior Seminar
ENGW 103 - Writing Effective Prose
ENGW 381 - Advanced Writing
ENGW 471 - Composition Theory, Practice, and Pedagogy
ENGW 494 - Senior Seminar in Writing
ENGW 495 - Writing Projects
ENGW 496 - Writing Internship
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| Membership
in Professional Societies |
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Member
of the Research Network Forum, CCCC
Chair of Christianity and Literature Publication Review
Committee (1998)
Member of the Academy of American Poets
Member of the Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition
Member of the National Council of Teachers of English
Member of the National Writing Centers Association
Member of the Rhetoric Society of America
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| Research |
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| Much
of my research concerns itself with Quintilian, the first-century
Roman teacher of rhetoric. I believe that the discipline
of English finds its roots in the rhetorical tradition,
which historically emphasizes more than a narrow focus
on belles lettres. In this light, English study
ideally should fit one to use words well -- whether written,
spoken, or read -- in a variety of situations and circumstances,
for purposes in the academy and beyond. Consequently,
my work embraces and promotes liberal arts learning, which
has as its end the development of whole people who can
serve the common good. |
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Recent Publications and/or Presentations |
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Publications
“'Connected'
Writing Instruction: Adapting Quintilian’s Pedagogy
to the College Classroom"
"Cultures
in Conflict: Quintilian’s Conversion by Saint Jerome"
"Leaping
Into the Personal Narrative: A Complex Construction
of the Past and Present"
"Pitching
a Tent, Welcoming a Traveler, and Moving On: Toward
A Nomadic View of the Writing Center"
Reading
for Life
Presentations
"Teaching
With An End In Mind." A week-long faculty seminar
on education, conducted two consecutive years at Minnehaha
Academy, Minneapolis: summer, 2002-03.
""Facilitas'
for Living Well: The Four Language Skills for the Liberal
Arts Student." A paper presented at the National
Faculty Leadership Conference, Chicago: June, 2002.
"The
First Account of a Rhetorician Writing: Quintilian's
Composing Narrative." A paper presented at the
Conference on College Composition and Communication,
Denver: March, 2001.
"Profane
Writing for Sacred Purposes: Jerome's Use of the Institutio
oratoria for Catechization." A paper presented
at the Midwest Conference on Christianity and Literature:
Intersections of the Sacred and the Profane. Chicago:
March, 2001.
"Doing
My Own Assignment: A Personal Narrative." A paper
and presented at the Annual Conference of the Illinois
Philological Association. Chicago: April, 2001
Facilitas
for Working and Living Well: The Four Language Skills
for the Liberal Arts Student." A lecture given
at the annual meeting of the Illinois Small College
Placement Association, Wheaton: March, 1999.
"Forming
Ethical Students and Responsible Citizens: Quintilian's
Aim Through Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening."
A paper presented for the Center for Applied Christian
Ethics Workshop, Wheaton: March, 1999.
"The
End of Liberal Arts Education in America": The
Pew Younger Scholars Fall Retreat. A series of eight
talks presented at Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia:
November, 1998.
Helpful
Information
Guidance
for Students of English
Resources for
Teaching English
The
Wheaton College Writing Center
Requesting a Recommendation
or Reference from Dr. Davis
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