Scott L. Miller

Director

SSU Writing Center

Here I am, in the SSU Writing Center with the reading list for English 588:

About Me:

Education

Ph.D., The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, 1995.

My Dissertation, "Parallel Worlds: Vernacular Rhetorical Traditions in the English Renaissance," is a study of the vernacular genres of early modern rhetoric--letter-writing, preaching--as they relate to the mainstream "high" rhetorical tradition descended from the work of Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian (primarily).

MA, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, 1988.

BA, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, 1985.

Teaching

I teach courses in the Department of English, Sonoma State University. Currently, I'm teaching

English 588

The SSU Writing Center

My primary job is as Director of the SSU Writing Center. Located in 1008 Salazar Library, the Center was inaugurated on August 4th, 1997, when I Arrived to begin my new job. Check out our Online Writing Lab as soon as it's functional.

Other Scholarly Activity

My most recent publication:

"Present Perfect and Future Imperfect: Results of a National Survey of Graduate Students in Rhetoric and Composition Programs." With Brenda Jo Brueggemann, Bennis Blue, and Deneen M. Shepherd. In College Composition and Communication 48.3 (1997).

Check out my current vita.

Extracurricular Passions

I read about as widely as anyone I know (on my bedside table right now are two cookbooks, one mystery by Sarah Caudwell, and, if memory serves, the Bible). Unfortunately, my natural tendency is to skim through life, sort of browsing along from flower to flower, rather than dig deep. Consequently, I have to admit that the stuff I read isn't always of the highest and best quality. I also have some undiagnosed and not-very-serious incarnation of Attention Deficit Disorder, I think--I find it hard to read anything for very long, unless it's the last hundred pages of a really great novel. The best books I've read recently, in no particular order, are

Bleak House--Dickens being miraculously good
Moby Dick--Maybe after ten more readings I'll have some gist of the philosophical debate
Inequality by Design, by the sociologists at Cal--a careful yet devastating critique of social Darwinist philosophies like the "bell curve" hypothesis; basically, the authors demonstrate in multiple and persuasive ways that America is the world's most unequal "first world" country because of our own policy decisions--it doesn't have to be this way.
The Princess and the Pheasant, by Elisabeth Luard--the best food writer that I know of. Check out The Old World Kitchen--a stunning achievement. (Yes, I read cookbooks for fun.)

I'm about to revisit the Patrick O'Brian sea stories, which I read a while ago and need to read again.

I love good food, good wine, and good beer. To come: Scott's comestibles page!

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Department of English
English 587

This page was last revised on January 23, 1998.