UW-L English Studies Blog

The UWL English Department presents the Fall 2018 Professional & Technical Writing Speaker Series

Recent alumni will offer job market tips & reflect on how their UWL experiences prepared them for exciting careers! All UWL students are welcome.

Ellie Peters (UWL '18)
Admissions Counselor
Viterbo University
Wednesday • October 17
6:30-7:30 pm • Wimberly 113

Lauren Pfaffenroth (UWL '17)
Community Relations Manager
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Tuesday • October 30
6:30-7:30 pm • Wimberly 114

Taylor Pasell (UWL '18)
Marketing & Media Specialist
Allergychoices, Inc.
Thursday • November 15
6:30-7:30 pm • Wimberly 113

Questions or accommodations needed? Contact Dr. Lindsay Steiner, lsteiner[at]uwlax.edu

 

“The Target Shoots First: Selling and Selling Out for the Columbia House Record Club” -- Friday, Oct. 19, 2:30-3:30, Wimberly 104

Dr. Chris McCracken will present “The Target Shoots First: Selling and Selling Out for the Columbia House Record Club” from 2:30-3:30 on Friday Oct. 19 in Wimberly 104.

Much of the work we do in technical and professional writing classrooms is an effort to bridge gaps between workplace and academic discourses. In this presentation, Dr. McCracken will demonstrate one of the ways he does that work in his professional writing classes by way of a fairly obscure documentary titled The Target Shoots First. This first-person documentary, directed by and featuring Chris Wilcha, focuses on Wilcha’s first year designing catalogues for the (now-defunct) Columbia House Record Club during the early-mid 1990s. The Target Shoots First is an autobiographical look at selling and selling out for the Columbia House Record Club that offers students a uniquely candid view into how writing mediates and structures professional organizations and identities. The documentary also functions as a fascinating artifact from a pivotal time when digital technologies began to fundamentally change how people collaborate.

The Target Shoots First is currently available on Vimeo for free: https://vimeo.com/58192159