Greening the words: How professional communication assignments can make a difference

Abstract

While the 2009 president of IEEE believes sustainability can best be addressed by technology offerings from IEEE members, this paper asserts that IEEE-PCS writing teachers and their students also have a role to play in building a sustainable future. Different assignments and methods are used to “infuse” our writing curriculum with sustainability principles. Building on the work of composition theorists and practitioners―including Derek Owen, Dobrin and Weisser, and Goggin and Waggoner — my UCSB Writing colleagues and I have modified the curriculum in engineering, business, and professional writing courses at the lower-division and upper-division levels. Our curriculum asks students to research, analyze, write, and reflect on the concepts and practices of sustainability. Often the combination of “service learning” with sustainability issues helps to provide situations that encourage students to author very practical documents — newsletters, design proposals, project proposals, business plans, and brochures. The paper provides evidence that — for students, faculty and staff, and external community “clients” — writing teaching and learning can contribute to improving our world by addressing sustainability issues.