Can This Marriage Be Saved: IS an English Department a Good Home for Technical Communication?    

In partial answer to the many questions that have been raised about the definition and location of technical writing programs, a random sample of full-time teachers of professional writing was conducted. The results indicate that those located in English departments do not receive the respect and support they need. Those located in other departments are significantly more satisfied. Some strategies for improving the situation are suggested.

MacNealy, Mary Sue and Leon B. Heaton. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Academic>Education>TC>Professionalism

Legitimizing Technical Communication in English Departments: Carolyn Miller's "Humanistic Rationale For Technical Writing"    

Carolyn Miller's oft-cited "Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing," published in 1979, tries to give technical communication faculty more cultural capital in English departments controlled by literature professors. Miller replaces a positivistic emphasis in technical communication pedagogy with rhetoric. She shows how technical knowledge is produced by individual activity and social affirmation and not by objective descriptions of sensory impressions. Her "Rationale" is an attempt to change institutional and discursive structures by persuading literature professors that technical communication can have as much distinction in the academy as literature.

Moore, Patrick. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2006). Academic>Education>TC>Professionalism