{"id":2169,"date":"2005-05-03T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2005-05-03T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnhub.aucegypt.edu\/cltnewsletter\/?p=2169"},"modified":"2026-10-22T07:41:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:41:32","slug":"sustainable-excellence-in-communicating-across-the-curriculum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learnhub.aucegypt.edu\/cltnewsletter\/?p=2169","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable Excellence in Communicating Across the Curriculum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published on:<\/strong> May 3, 2005<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Luther King famously said, “I have a dream”…and we as faculty at AUC have our dreams too.\u00a0One of these dreams is of being professors who have lively interaction with intelligent students.\u00a0This dream depends on effective interactive communication in all the disciplines, across the entire liberal arts curriculum of the university.\u00a0The reality empowers students as well as faculty in a sustained communal synergy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are students in fields such as Computer Science and Engineering and Business Administration \u2013 which attract the largest number of students \u2013 going to be prepared to engage in the lively intellectual discourse we faculty dream of?\u00a0 How can not only students’ writing, but also verbal skills be developed to the point where they can begin to communicate as peers with their professors?\u00a0How can we ensure excellence in communication is sustained throughout the years at AUC and beyond?\u00a0How can we foster “communication synergy”?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the solutions adopted at over 4,000 American colleges and universities (Richmond et al. 2001) arose out of a movement initially known as “Writing Across the Curriculum” (WAC), and now expanded as Communicating Across the Curriculum (CAC) (see “Communicating Across the Curriculum” 2002). The philosophy at the heart of this movement is that students learn best by interactively writing and talking about what they read and hear, and that the faculty’s responsibility to ensure that graduates of their university can think critically and communicate effectively is best fulfilled by a campus-wide communication program in all the disciplines throughout the students’ educational careers (Richmond et al.<\/em> 2001).\u00a0Implementing such programs not only improves the discourse of the students, but also increases faculty morale and faculty collegiality, as well as intellectual interchange among all departments (see research reported in Glick 1988).\u00a0Thus, the entire campus becomes a livelier, more stimulating environment for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A campus-wide communication-intensive program requires more effort from everyone \u2013 students and faculty \u2013 and administrative support and appreciation expressed in concrete terms (Glick, 1988).\u00a0It also requires renewed commitment to teaching students how to think independently and critically, rather than just telling them what to think (Glick, 1988).\u00a0It is a step away\u00a0from traditional security for both professors and students, but it is also a step away from a moribund academic atmosphere often characterized by a lack of academic integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The well-known neurologist, Oliver Sacks, argued in his book, Seeing Voices,<\/em> that human “abilities with language and the ability to convey that language in cogent forms to other members of our species are central to our critical abilities and essential to our ability to really think about concepts” (Richmond et al<\/em>. 2001).\u00a0Thus, it is central to the academic mission to educate ourselves and our students to communicate effectively with each other, both in writing and orally (Richmond et al<\/em>. 2001).\u00a0Sustaining excellent communication across the curriculum must also be central to lifelong learning…it doesn’t stop developing when a student \u2013 who might one day even become a university professor \u2013 is handed his or her diploma upon graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A faculty member in the sciences at Iowa State University once remarked that his students didn’t write \u2013 they worked in groups to use computer analysis programs to analyze their data, and then they framed the data to solve the problems presented in case studies, and they wrote essay questions in their examinations.\u00a0To him, that wasn’t writing, but ‘writing up’ \u2013 yet it still should have been perceived as interactive communication that was integrated with what they did and thought (Russell in Richmond et al<\/em>. 2001).\u00a0And it was not only written, but also spoken, visual, and electronic (see “Communicating Across the Curriculum” 2002).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As AUC moves into the era of modern educational technology with ‘smart classrooms’, WebCT, and PowerPoint teaching, it is more imperative than ever that we as an academic community \u2013 faculty and students \u2013 gather together to see how we can integrate enhanced communication into every department and curriculum.\u00a0As the world becomes more of a ‘global village,’ a sense of the importance of how one frames a message \u2013 what to include, what to leave out, which words and images to use \u2013 is essential in developing the social responsibility expected of global citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this end, we invite you (and your students) to join us in contributing your ideas and experiences at the symposium below.\u00a0Through this gathering, AUC aims to create an interdisciplinary dialogue \u2013 and even an inter-institutional exchange \u2013 to foster a learning community that values written and oral communication as tools for cognitive development and inquiry-based learning, a community that empowers students to explore, assess, and create a community where passion for knowledge is inspired, rhetorical skill promoted, and civic responsibility instilled.\u00a0 Learning excellence \u2013 in all disciplines, and among all members of the academic community \u2013 can and must be cultivated and sustained<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On the Road to Sustainable Excellence:  Communicating Across the Curriculum”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Symposium \u2022 November 11-12, 2005 \u2022 American University in Cairo organized by The Writing Program \u2022 The English Language Institute \u2022 The Core Curriculum \u25aaThe Center for Learning and Teaching<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Keynote speaker<\/strong> \u2013 one of the leading experts in the field \u2013 Dr. Chris Anson<\/strong> www.home.earthlink.net\/~theansons\/Portcover.html<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proposals may be submitted before June 30, 2005, at<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

www.aucegypt.edu\/academic\/wpconference\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For further information, contact the organizers at cacprop@aucegypt.edu<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Communicating Across the Curriculum:  Integrating more Communication Activities into your Classroom”. (2002).  University Center, Rochester.  Retrieved February 23, 2005, from www.roch.edu\/dept\/spchcom\/cac.htm<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glick, M. D. (1988, Spring).   “Writing Across the Curriculum:  A Dean’s Perspective”, in WPA:  Writing Program Administration, 11, 3, 53-57. Retrieved March 20, 2005, from cwp.missouri.edu\/cwpinfor\/facultypub.htm<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richmond, R., Russell, D., Duin, A. H., McLeod, S., and Kaufer, D. (2001, Spring).  “Communication-Across-the-Curriculum Panel”.  Panel transcript.  Iowa State University.  Retrieved March 20, 2005, from www.engl.iastate.edu\/ISUCComm\/s1proceedings\/CAC_Panel.html<\/a><\/strong>
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