{"667460":{"#nid":"667460","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Postdoctoral Fellows Shaping Your Georgia Tech Education","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EQuality writing and communication skills form the foundation for undergraduate education and career development, and the Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows at Georgia Tech are laying the groundwork for student success. Since the inception of the Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows program in the late 1980s, few groups at Georgia Tech have had such a significant impact on students as the Brittain Fellows.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe teach almost all Georgia Tech students at least once in their time at Tech, and so Brittain Fellows\u2019 impact on students is enormous,\u201d said Andy Frazee, senior academic professional and director of writing and communication in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach year, the Fellows\u2019 contributions shape Tech and blaze a trail for writing and communication courses everywhere. Frazee shares how these Fellows bring excellence and innovation to Tech both inside and outside the classroom.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EA Diverse Cohort of Postdoctoral Scholars\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA postdoctoral scholar, or \u201cpostdoc,\u201d is someone who has completed their doctorate and has come to Georgia Tech to engage in research, teaching, and the development of professional skills in preparation for their future career.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows account for nearly half of the faculty in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA typical cohort of incoming Fellows is between 10 and 15,\u201d said Frazee. \u201cThis year, 21 Fellows entered the cohort on August 1. We have also begun hiring twice a year, in August and in January. We welcomed an additional six new fellows on January 1, 2023.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Frazee, this is the most diverse cohort yet.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBrittain Fellows come from many disciplines, generally within English studies but also from the humanities more broadly,\u201d said Frazee. \u201cWe have Brittain Fellows who study Shakespeare and those who study video games; we have had anthropologists, historians, artists, and media scholars. And of course, we have folks who come out of rhetoric and composition as well as from technical and professional communication.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cohort structure brings diverse disciplines together at the same time, providing diverse perspectives to the courses they teach. While the cohort model for a postdoc program is exceedingly rare, it is the cohort structure that is a major reason for the Brittain Fellowship\u2019s success.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhile the entire Brittain Fellowship is an unusually supportive and cohesive group, the primary building block of this community is the cohort,\u201d said Frazee. \u201cEach group of fellows goes through orientation together, attends semester-long professional development seminars together, and elects representatives to the Writing Program Advisory Committee. All of the Writing and Communication Program leaders know that this cohesiveness is a primary reason for the Fellowship\u2019s remarkable success.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EExcellence in Teaching\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs a whole, Brittain Fellows serve as models for innovative writing curricula and Ph.D. professional development,\u201d said Frazee. \u201cBrittain Fellows teach two main sets of courses: first-year composition (English 1101 and 1102) and technical and professional communication (LMC 3403, 3431, and 3432).\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe multimodal curriculum goes beyond writing. Throughout their three-year term, Fellows also teach written, oral, visual, electronic, and nonverbal communication (WOVEN).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn ENGL 1101 and 1102, Brittain Fellows challenge and support first-year students in thinking rhetorically about writing and communication, from composing academic essays and giving presentations to producing websites and podcasts,\u201d said Frazee. \u201cIn the technical and professional communication courses, Fellows guide upper-level Scheller, Computing, and LMC students in communicating in the workplace.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis unique curriculum makes Tech\u2019s writing and communication courses highly esteemed.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe Georgia Tech writing and communication program has been recognized for a number of teaching awards, including the most prominent award for a writing program,\u201d said Frazee.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese awards include:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E2022 Conference on College Composition\u2019s Communication Writing Program Certificate of Excellence\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E2021 Regents\u2019 Teaching Excellence Award for a Program\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETech students may also encounter Brittain Fellows in the Naugle Communication Center where several Fellows serve as professional consultants.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EA Model for Postdoctoral Professional Development\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Frazee, the Fellowship is an important national model for a highly successful Ph.D. professional development program, both for academic and non-academic career development.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn short, we want Brittain Fellows, at the end of their three-year term, to move on to a great career,\u201d said Frazee. \u201cThrough our professional development seminar and other programming, in the past 12 months, we have supported 21 Brittain Fellows in finding full-time positions, 10 of those going on to tenure-track positions.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Fellowship offers postdocs an opportunity to better develop their research interests in writing pedagogy through one-on-one mentorship and co-authoring papers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn the past few years, we have been working to shape our mentoring structures to prepare Ph.D.s for the current professional scene and worked to build greater visibility for the Brittain Fellowship as a model of excellence,\u201d said Frazee. \u201cBasically, we have tried hard to change along with the changing professional scene.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrazee hopes to continue shaping the Fellowship to best prepare Fellows for their professional futures and to help other institutions understand the exciting possibilities related to well-designed teaching postdoc programs in the humanities.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Writing and Communication Program in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech invites applications for the Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellowship starting August 1. To learn more about the Fellowship or the application process, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/wcprogram.lmc.gatech.edu\/brittain-fellowship\/brittain-fellowship-application-process\u0022\u003Evisit the webpage here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"basic_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAndy Frazee shares how the Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows bring excellence and innovation to Tech both inside and outside the classroom.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Andy Frazee shares how the Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows bring excellence and innovation to Tech both inside and outside the classroom."}],"uid":"36249","created_gmt":"2023-04-20 20:57:33","changed_gmt":"2023-04-28 20:10:24","author":"Sara Franc","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-04-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-04-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"670683":{"id":"670683","type":"image","title":"2023 Brittain Fellows cohort at their end-of-the-year celebration","body":null,"created":"1682712539","gmt_created":"2023-04-28 20:08:59","changed":"1682712594","gmt_changed":"2023-04-28 20:09:54","alt":"Photo of the 2023 Brittain Fellow cohort","file":{"fid":"253588","name":"Brittain Fellows 2023.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/28\/Brittain%20Fellows%202023.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/28\/Brittain%20Fellows%202023.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1756244,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/04\/28\/Brittain%20Fellows%202023.jpg?itok=mGSkECZZ"}}},"media_ids":["670683"],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"},{"id":"249231","name":"Postdoctoral Services"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"69901","name":"Postdocs"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sara.franc@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESara Franc\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGraduate and Postdoctoral Education\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}