Faculty/Staff Detail
Laura Dunbar
I joined the writing program at SUNY Cortland in the fall of 2018 as a scholar-teacher of writing. Of all the things I find rewarding about Writing Studies, one of my favorites is being privileged, as I am now, to work with developing writers from every discipline who are at the beginning of their writing journeys. Previously, I taught in and coordinated Canadian Composition and Professional Writing programs, experience that currently guides my mixed methods research into Professional Writing programs in North American higher-education. I also work on local historiographies of writing programs. My approach to teaching and research in writing is informed by Community of Practice theory, aspects of Rhetorical Genre Theory, and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. I am a member of the Canadian Society for Discourse and Writing and the (North American) Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication.
Education
Doctoral student, Applied Linguistics & Discourse Studies, Carleton University (present)
Ph.D., English Literature, University of Toronto (2016)
M.A., English Literature, Carleton University (2010)
B.A., (Honors), Trent University (2009)
Teaching
CPN-100, “Writing Studies I”
ENG-306, “Advanced Writing Workshop”
Publications
““No one who can’t write can get a degree here”: The story of a Canadian university writing test” (in progress)
“Instructional Note: Using Real Manuscripts to Teach Professional Editing,” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, March 2017
“Best Practices in Peer Review: A Guide for New Teachers,” Reflections on Academic Lives: Identities, Struggles, and Triumphs in Graduate School and Beyond. NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
“I Can Soljer With Any Man: The post-911 Renaissance of James Jones," War, Literature, and the Arts, 2016. wlajournal.com/wlaarchive/27/Dunbar.pdf
Creative non-fiction:
“Shelter in Place," Care Home Stories. Eds. Sally Chivers and Ulla Kriebernegg. View the Shelter in Place chapter (PDF)
Miscellany:
"Shiver me timbers: what does it mean to talk like a pirate?" http://www.concordia.ca/content/shared/en/news/main/stories/2016/09/16/talk-like-a-pirate-day-laura-dunbar.html
"Academic Jargon" (interview): http://www.concordia.ca/content/shared/en/news/main/stories/2016/07/19/how-to-wrap-your-head-around-university-jargon.html
"Seriously. Is it Feb-rew-ary or Feb-oo-rary?" http://www.concordia.ca/news/cunews/main/stories/2016/01/29/writing-expert-laura-dunbar-on-pronunciation.html
"The 2015 Oxford Dictionaries 'word of the year' is an emoji. Does that make it fair game for essays?" http://www.concordia.ca/news/stories/cunews/main/stories/2015/11/19/oxford-word-of-the-year-tears-of-joy-emoji-laura-dunbar.html
"5 grammar tips that could improve your grades." http://www.concordia.ca/news/news/stories/cunews/main/stories/2015/09/24/5-grammar-tips-National-Punctuation-Day.html
Conference papers:
Congress 2018, University of Saskatchewan, Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing, “Characteristics of Professional Writing programs in Canadian post-secondary education: A mixed methods study”
Congress 2017, Ryerson University, Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing, “No one who can’t write can get a degree here: The story of a university writing test”