The Value of Seeking Interdisciplinary Models for Smaller Professional Writing Programs
http://www.cptsc.org/conferences/2000/Blythe.html
  peer-reviewed

Blythe, Stuart
CPTSC Proceedings
2000

Abstract:

Technical communication strains disciplinary boundaries, which can make program development difficult. In a time when we are experiencing what Richard Lanham calls 'a complete renegotiation of the alphabet/icon ratio upon which print-based thought is built,' no traditional departmental home (e.g., English) seems appropriate. One look at the classified section of the Society for Technical Communication Web site suggests that a technical communication student should graduate with competence in information technology and visual rhetoric (among other possibilities) as well as writing. For many of us, however, those competencies fall outside the disciplinary boundaries as defined at our local institutions and in fact we may face penalties for developing such competencies. As a member of a department of English and linguistics, for example, my department has no way to reward me for learning CGI scripting or FrameMaker.