Florida International University Department of English 11200 SW 8th Street Deuxieme Maison Miami, FL 33199 https://twitter.com/benlauren http://linkedin.com/in/benlauren laurenb@fiu.edu http://benlauren.com http://ttu.academia.edu/BenLauren EDUCATION
PhD in Technical Communication and Rhetoric, Texas Tech University (expected 5/2014) Dissertation: Mapping Contradiction and Disruption in a Thirdspace Work Environment:
Applications for Technical Communication Committee: Rich Rice (chair), Kelli Cargile Cook, Fred Kemp
Abstract: The definition of a media lab has traditionally been limited to physical location. Yet, many organizations use digital tools to extend physical workplaces, like media labs, into virtual environments, hybridizing the material conditions of knowledge-‐work. This dissertation studies how a team of technical communicators at a multinational technology corporation manages projects, collaboration, and teamwork in hybrid, or thirdspace, environments. This research works toward understanding how knowledge-‐work, already hybridized in many organizations, can be best supported through functionally agile workspace design and dialogic participation by mapping the contradictions and disruptions the team encounters in thirdspace environments. The case study has applications for the practice of technical communication in varying contexts; strategic use of space, place, and thirdspace; and administration of hybrid workspaces.
MA in English/Creative Writing, Florida State University (12/2003) Thesis: Morning Spaces
Committee: David Kirby (chair), James Kimball, Andrew Epstein BA in English, Florida State University (5/2001)
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Lauren, B. (manuscript in progress). Planning for improvisation and serendipity in corporate thirdspaces: Functionally agile workspace design. Journal of Business and Technical Communication.
Lauren, B. (submitted). Fostering intercultural communication through transactional rhetoric: A problem-‐based service-‐learning model. Connexions: International Professional Communication Journal, 2(1).
Harrison, K., & Lauren, B. (accepted). Casting NTT faculty as practitioner-‐researchers: Using research opportunities to enhance teaching, service, and administrative assignments. In L. Lewis Gaillet & L. Guglielmo (Eds.), Academic publishing and contingent faculty.
Lauren, B., Feigenbaum, P., & Saba, R. (forthcoming, 2014). Writing beyond the page: Shifting genres and using new media. In R. Saba (Ed.), A student’s guide to college writing. Independence, KY: Wadsworth/Cengage.
Rice, R., & Lauren, B. (forthcoming, 2013). Developing intercultural competence through glocal activity theory using the connect-‐exchange study abroad app. In G. Verhulsdonck & M. Limbu (Eds.), Digital rhetoric and global literacies: Communication modes and digital practices in the networked world. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Williams, J., Rice, R., Lauren, B., Morrison, S., Van Winkle, K., & Elliott, T. (2013). Problem-‐based universal design for learning in technical communication and rhetoric instruction. Journal of Problem Based Learning in Higher Education, 1(1). Retrieved from
http://ojs.aub.aau.dk/index.php/pbl/article/view/285.
Lauren, B. (2013). Designing small spaces: A case study of the Florida international university digital writing studio. In R. Carpenter (Ed.), Cases on higher education spaces: Innovation, collaboration, and technology (pp. 65-‐86). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Lauren, B., & Rice, R. (2013). Teaching style in basic writing through remediating photo essays. Basic Writing e-‐Journal, 10(1). Retrieved from
http://bwe.ccny.cuny.edu/LaurenandRiceRemediatingPhoto.html.
Lauren, B. (2011). Divergent thinking through media labs. Intercom: The Magazine for the Society for Technical Communication, September/October 2011. Retrieved from
http://intdev.stc.org/2011/09/divergent-‐thinking-‐through-‐media-‐labs.
Lauren, B. (2004). What are we doing with our pennies? In W. Bishop (Ed.) On writing: A process reader (pp. 183-‐184). New York, NY: McGraw/Hill.
MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS
Lauren, B. (2013). Stop for nothing [CD]. Publisher: Author.
Lauren, B., Long, J., Moreton, P., Donaldson, B., & Lane, R. (2005). Time doesn’t notice [CD]. New York, NY: Atlantic Records.
Lauren, B., Long, J., Moreton, P., Donaldson, B., & Lane, R. (2004). Let it out [CD]. Publisher: Authors.
RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
Rice, R., & Lauren, B. (2013, June). New media glocal intercultural communication through activity theory and problem-‐based service-‐learning mobile application development. Computers and Writing Conference, Frostburg, MD.
Lauren, B. (2013, January). Designing small spaces: A case study of the DWS. International Higher Education Teaching & Learning Conference, Orlando, FL.
Lauren, B. (2012, March). Building bridges, building communities: Digital literacy narratives in the hybrid classroom. Conference on College Composition and Communication, St. Louis, MO.
Feigenbaum, P., Lauren, B., & Lovett, M. (2011, April). Logomechanics and writing production: The rhetoric of the multimodal text. Conference on College Composition and Communication, Atlanta, GA.
Lauren, B. (2010, April). Aural feedback in online classes. Florida International University Online Conference, Miami, FL.
Lauren, B. (2009, June). Podcasting feedback for second-‐language writers. Computers and Writing Conference, Davis, CA.
INVITED PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS, AND INTERVIEWS
Lauren, B. (2013, February). Developing problem-‐based service-‐learning for professional writing classes. FIU Service-‐learning Workshop, Miami, FL.
Lauren, B. (2012, May). Developing the connect-‐exchange app: Intercultural technical communication and technology design. TTU May Seminar, Lubbock, TX.
Lauren, B. (2012, May). Designing small spaces: A case study of the FIU digital writing studio. TTU May Seminar, Lubbock, TX.
Lauren, B. (2011, November). Usability testing course content for student-‐users. FIU, Miami, FL.
Lauren, B. (2011, October). Using smart phones to document what happens in the writing classroom. FIU, Miami, FL.
Lauren, B. (2011, May). International students and technology: Rethinking the media lab in context. TTU May Seminar, Lubbock, TX.
Lauren, B. (2010, October). Technology and agency: Lowering the bar of inquiry. FIU, Miami, FL.
Lauren, B. (2009, October). Podcasting feedback for second-‐language writers. FIU, Miami, FL.
Rocque, G. (2009, September). Using audio in online courses: An interview with FIU professor, Ben Lauren. Miami, FL. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1eDEs3n.
Lauren, B. (2007, October). Millennials in the writing classroom. FIU. Miami, FL.
Lauren, B. (2007, March). Showing, not telling. University of Miami Writing Center, Miami, FL.
Lauren, B. (2006, September). About multilingual students. University of Miami Writing Center, Miami, FL.
Lauren, B. (2003, September). Managing your time as a graduate student. Florida State University. Tallahassee, FL.
*As coordinator of the DWS, I frequently visit undergraduate and graduate classes to lead workshops about multimodal composing, though they are not listed in the above section.
SPONSORED RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIPS, & AWARDS
• Helen DeVitt Jones Graduate Fellowship. (2013, August). TTU, $1500
• Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center. (2013, January). TTU, $3500 • Helen DeVitt Jones Graduate Fellowship. (2012, August). TTU, $1500
• Technology Fee Grant, Writer and PI. (2012, July). FIU, $3600
• Benjamin Rude Memorial Scholarship in Technical Communication. (2012, August). TTU, $1200 • Benjamin Rude Memorial Scholarship in Technical Communication. (2011, August). TTU, $1000 • Helen Locke Carter Memorial Scholarship. (2011, May). TTU, $1000
• Liberal Studies Course Development Award. (2011, May). FIU, $5500
• Online Development Research Grant, Writer and PI. (2009, May). FIU, $1500 • Global Learning Course Development Award. (2009, May). FIU, $5000 • Academy for the Art of Teaching Travel Grant. (2007, November). FIU, $1000
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
• Senior Instructor, Florida International University (August 2013 -‐ Present) • Instructor, Florida International University (August 2007 – July 2013) • Lecturer, University of Miami (September 2005 – July 2007)
• Adjunct Instructor, Florida International (January 2006 – July 2007) • Adjunct Instructor, Miami Dade College (September 2005 – July 2006) • Adjunct Instructor, Tallahassee College (January 2004 – December 2004) • Teaching Assistant, Florida State University (July 2001 – December 2003)
COURSES TAUGHT
• ENG 103: Basic Writing
• ENC 1101/ENG 105: Freshman Composition I (F2F, online, hybrid) • ENC 1102/ENG106: Freshman Composition II (F2F, online, hybrid) • ENC 2304: College Writing for Transfer Students
• ENC 3213: Professional & Technical Writing (F2F and online)
• ENC 3249: Professional & Technical Writing for Computer Science Majors • ENC 3311: Advanced Writing and Research
• ENC 3317: Rhetorical Theory and Practice (F2F and online) • IDS 3993: How We Know What We Know
• IDS 4920: Rhetoric and Public Writing (online) • ENC 4930: Visual Rhetoric & Information Design • ENG 4949: Digital Writing Studio Internship
COURSES DEVELOPED
ENC 2304: College Writing for Transfer Students
This course refreshed an existing class called Expository Writing. The revision of the class focuses on the needs of students transferring to FIU from other institutions and lays essential groundwork for thinking about writing from a rhetorical perspective. Students write traditional and multimodal essays, finishing the semester with an ePortfolio of their work.
ENC 3311: Advanced Writing and Research
Coursework utilizes a semester long research project that prepares students for writing an undergraduate or honors thesis. Students are encouraged to follow their research interests, to
improve writing and research abilities, and to engage in critical inquiry. The course presents a series of small writing/research assignments (such as a proposal, a progress report, synthesis of previous research, field notes, summaries, etc.), leading into a longer researched essay of 12-‐15 pages.
ENC 3371: Rhetorical Theory and Practice
This class is a required course for the FIU Certificate in Public and Professional Writing. The curriculum uses both ancient and contemporary rhetorical concepts to study discourse practice at school, home, work, civic life, and in other local or technological spaces. Students analyze their own rhetorical choices and those of professional and public writers.
IDS 3993: How We Know What We Know
This course was created as part of the FIU quality enhancement plan for global learning. The course emphasizes principles of information literacy from an interdisciplinary and global perspective, and is taught by a team of FIU professors in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, the Department of Library Science, and the Writing and Rhetoric Program.
IDS 4920: Rhetoric and Public Writing
This course was created as a senior seminar for students in the FIU Liberal Studies program. Students looked at public writing existing from pop culture to legal proceedings to discuss how these texts impacted their daily lives at work, school, and home.
ENC 4930: Visual Rhetoric & Information Design
This class examines principles of information design and visual rhetoric to complete writing, analysis, and production assignments. Students create documents to gain competency using different software tools (e.g. Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe InDesign) and to learn how to create user-‐ centered designs by studying techniques in areas such as typography, page layout, and graphic design.
ENG 4949: Digital Writing Studio Internship
This internship gives students hands-‐on experience working with clients and helps prepare them for jobs as professional communicators. Students gain experience in authoring video, audio, and other multimedia texts; learn software such as Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, ProTools, iMovie, and Movie Maker; and develop skills in project management, teamwork, and collaboration.
SERVICE University, FIU
Member, Search Committee for Assistant Director, FIU Writing Center (AY 2011) English Department, FIU
Member, ad hoc Committee on the Digital Humanities (August 2012 -‐ Present) Member, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (August 2012 -‐ Present) Chair, Digital Writing Studio Advisory Committee (August 2011 -‐ Present) Adjunct and TA Mentor, FIU (August 2007 -‐ Present)
Writing Program, FIU
Member, Instructor Search Committees (AY 2013) Member, Instructor Search Committee (AY 2012)
Member, Service Learning Committee (August 2012 -‐ Present) Chair, Technology & Instruction Committee (August 2011 -‐ Present)
Member, College Writing for Transfer Students Curriculum Committee (AY 2009) Reader, SACS Writing Assessment Committee (AY 2008)
Member, Hybrid Instructor Committee (August 2007 – May 2010) Chair, Advanced Writing & Research Curriculum Committee (AY 2007)
RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE
Coordinator, FIU Digital Writing Studio (August 2011 -‐ Present)
• Support and collaborate with faculty to design and produce multimedia projects • Remain current with emerging multimodal platforms, practices, and genres • Supervise the activities of the assistant coordinator, volunteers, and interns • Implement and revise the Studio’s operating principles
• Give job performance feedback to the staff
• Research and train staff in best practices of media lab consultation • Promote the Studio’s work across the department and university • Seek funding opportunities such as internal and external grants
• Visit classrooms to assist faculty and students as they work on multimedia projects • Participate in the development of emerging digital initiatives
• Develop an operating budget with the director of the writing programs
President, STC South Florida Chapter (January 2013 -‐ Present)
• Represent and lead the chapter by communicating its needs and interests • Preside over and organize regular local chapter meetings
• Represent the chapter at executive meetings and functions
• Support student volunteers and members of the leadership committee • Organize and oversee chapter committees to facilitate community outreach • Enthusiastically support members and act as a resource for new members • Assist in editing content for chapter website and other chapter publications • Arrange speakers that serve both academic and practitioner interests
Research Assistant for Dr. Rich Rice, TTU (January 2013 – May 2013) • Wire-‐framed a mobile app to support a distance learning program • User tested the wireframes as part of an iterative design process
• Developed a smartphone app development model based on activity theory
• Co-‐wrote a published book chapter on using activity theory to develop mobile apps • Presented app development model for peers at an international conference
Volunteer Grant Writer, YMCA of South Palm Beach County (September 2011 – April 2012)
• Researched local and national funders for a family literacy program
• Worked with Director of Financial Development on a budget for the program • Evaluated internal assessment strategies to help strengthen argument for funding • Submitted a letter of interest detailing a three-‐year plan for funds
English Department Website Content Manager, FIU (May 2010 – August 2012) • Managed the transition between content management systems
• Created and edited news, informational content, and public interest articles • Managed, designed, and implemented a new workflow for the site
• Communicated feedback to developers on needed features in the CMS • Registered unique URLs and managed social media presence of department • With chair, developed a monthly series to highlight alumni accomplishments
Writing Program Technology Coordinator, FIU (August 2010 – August 2011)
• Filmed and edited promotional videos, workshops, lectures, and presentations • Edited sound recordings, photos, and other forms of media for the website • Assisted in the development and promotion of the program website
TECHNOLOGICAL PROFICIENCIES Documents Adobe CS5 Microsoft Office Keynote Prezi Lightroom Audio ProTools Garageband Audacity Logic Web HTML PHP CSS XML Dreamweaver Video
Final Cut Pro iMovie Movie Maker Camtasia CMS WordPress Podio Google Drive Blackboard Moodle Research NVivo Morae Qualtrics VUE PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Society for Technical Communication Association of Teachers of Technical Writing National Council of Teachers of English Rhetoric Society of America
Broadcast Music Incorporated
