Amy D. Propen
	Education Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Scientific and Technical Communication, University of Minnesota, May 2007 Dissertation: "The Map, the Mill, and the Memorial: A Rhetorical Study of the Visual and Material" Committee: Mary Lay Schuster (Chair), Laura Gurak, Richard Graff, Francis Harvey Master of Technical and Professional Writing, Northeastern University, 2001 Bachelor of Arts, Geography and English, Clark University, 1996
	Areas of Specialization Visual and material rhetorics, rhetorical theory, rhetoric and technical communication as advocacy work, cultural studies of science and technology, critical cartography & GIS
	Publications Refereed Articles Propen, Amy and Mary Lay Schuster. "Making Academic Work Advocacy Work: Technologies of Power in the Public Arena." Journal of Business and Technical Communication (JBTC). Special Issue: Business and Technical Communication in the Public Sphere. Forthcoming. Schuster, Mary Lay and Amy Propen. "Victim Impact Statements and the Domestic Violence Victim: Judicial Responses to Emotion in the Courtroom." Law, Culture & the Humanities. Forthcoming. Propen, Amy. "Visual Communication and the Map: How Maps as Visual Objects Convey Meaning in Specific Contexts." Technical Communication Quarterly (TCQ). 16.2 (2007): 233-254. Propen, Amy. "Critical GPS: Toward a New Politics of Location." ACME: An International E-Journal of Critical Geographies. Special Issue: Critical Cartographies. 4.1 (2006): 131-144. Book Chapters "Cartographic Representation and the Construction of Partial Perspectives: Understanding Cartographic Practice as Embodied Knowledge." Rethinking Maps. Ed. Martin Dodge, Rob Kitchin, and Chris Perkins. New York: Routledge. Forthcoming 2008. Professional Publications Schuster, Mary Lay and Amy Propen. "Victim impact statements–Do they make a difference?" WatchPost. 14(3). Summer 2006: 1, 6-9. Book Reviews Propen, Amy. Rev. of Shaping Information: The Rhetoric of Visual Communication, by Charles Kostelnick and Michael Hassett. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (JTWC). 36.2 (2006): 211-217. Gurak, Laura and Amy Propen. Rev. of Eloquent Images: Word and Image in the Age of New Media, edited by Mary E. Hocks and Michelle R. Kendrick. TCQ 14.1 (2005): 101-109. Propen, Amy and Mary Lay Schuster. Rev. of Out of the Dead House: Nineteenth-Century Women Physicians and the Writing of Medicine, by Susan Wells. Rhetoric, Writing, Culture, Politics (JAC). 23.2 (2003): 443-48. Presentations "The Use of Sat Nav Systems: An Empowering Cultural Practice or Portentous of a Lost Geographical Imagination?" Association of American Geographers (AAG), Boston, MA, April 2008 Upcoming: "Recovering the Voices of Domestic Violence Victims within Judicial Discourse." Rhetoric Society of America (RSA), Seattle, WA, May 2008 "Establishing a Personal Identity in a Hostile Setting: Judicial Consideration of Victim Impact Statements." Co-presented with Mary Lay Schuster. CCCCs, New York, NY, March 2007 "Critical Perspectives on Geospatial Technologies: Geospatial Imagery as a Historiographical Visualization Tool." Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), Minneapolis, MN, November 2005 "A Semiotic Analysis of Cartographic Representation in the Popular Press: Israel-Palestine and the 1967 War." National Communication Association (NCA), Boston, MA, November 2005 "Meaning-Making and the Map: A Social Semiotic Approach to Analyzing Cartographic Representation." Association of American Geographers (AAG), Denver, CO, April 2005 "Visualizing Science: From the Printed Page to the Web." Panel Discussion, Visual Communication Division. National Communication Association (NCA), Chicago, IL, November 2004 "Semiosis and Mapping: A Semiotic Analysis of Two Maps Created and Deployed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)."        Rhetoric Society of America (RSA), Austin, TX, May 2004        Lecture Series, Department of Rhetoric, St. Paul, MN, October 2004 GIS Metaphors, Optical Metaphors, and Situated Knowledges: Understanding the Implications of Subject Fragmentation for Spatial Science Technologies." Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), Cambridge, MA, November 2001 "Environmental Discourse as Viewed through the Lens of Cultural Critique: A Rhetoric of Instability." Mid-Atlantic Popular/ American Culture Association (MAP/ACA), Albany, NY, November 2000 Teaching Experience Writing Instructor, University of Minnesota, Fall 2002–2006        Rhetoric 1152: Writing on Issues in Science and Technology        Rhetoric 3562: Technical and Professional Writing        Rhetoric 1101: Writing to Inform, Convince, and Persuade Computer Instructor, Science Museum of Minnesota: Computer Education Center, May 2005–March 2006        Microsoft Word: Introduction through Advanced        Microsoft PowerPoint: Introduction and Intermediate        Microsoft Excel: Introduction and Intermediate Teaching Assistant, University of Minnesota, Spring 2004, 2005        Environmental Science 1011: Issues in the Environment Writing Instructor, Northeastern University, Fall 1999–Spring 2001        English 1110: College Writing I        English 1125: Technical Writing        English 1350: Writing for the Professions        English 1360: Writing Practicum for Transfer Students
	Related Work Experience Research Assistant for Professor Mary Lay Schuster, University of Minnesota, Spring–Summer 2006.       Assisted with a research project on victim impact statements presented in sentencing hearings in domestic violence and sexual assault cases; assisted with analysis of judicial interviews and interviewing of victim advocates and judges; helped develop a means of classifying and describing judicial behavior and interaction between victims and judges in sentencing hearings; helped design an observation heuristic for taking notes during sentencing hearings in domestic violence and sexual assault cases in which a victim impact statement was given; observed sentencing hearings in which victim impact statements were presented in order to analyze judicial responses to these statements Writing Consultant, Writing-Intensive Outreach: Scientific and Technical Communication, Fall 2004–Spring 2005.       Worked with writing-intensive faculty in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences to integrate writing and communication modules into the scientific and technical content of their courses Research Assistant for Professor Elizabeth C. Britt, Northeastern University, Winter 2001       Researched and abstracted sources in risk communication and compiled bibliographies for these sources Writing Center Tutor, Northeastern University, Fall 1999–Winter 2000        Tutored undergraduates in all coursework related to their writing program requirements
	Industry Experience Senior Usability Writer, Digital Business Processes, Philadelphia, PA: 2/07–present       Manage development and production of all end user-facing documentation; work with Marketing and R&D to identify user needs; redesign online help system with emphasis on workflow-driven scenarios; produce video tutorials for user help Document Production Specialist, the D. E. Shaw group, New York, NY: 5/06–2/07       Edited and formatted a wide range of paper and online documents and publications; updated company intranet consistent with requests from various internal departments; designed and created company marketing and recruiting materials; worked with printers and other vendors to produce these materials; managed and prioritized projects according to internal and external deadlines Writing and Editing Consultant, Longman Publishers, St. Paul, MN: 9/02–1/03       Provided substantive editing and content development for 2nd edition of Gurak and Lannon's A Concise Guide to Technical Communication Technical Writer, Lotus Software/IBM Software Group, Cambridge, MA: 8/01–7/02       Redesigned online help system for Lotus QuickPlace software (now IBM Lotus Team Workplace), wrote Administrator's Guide for Lotus QuickPlace version 3.0, and tested software for usability Technical Writer, Vexcel Imaging Corporation (now VXServices, LLC), Boulder, CO: 7/97–3/99       Wrote end user documentation for version 2.0 of vxscan and vxphotolist software, wrote in-house documentation for all programs and files associated with the release, and tested software and hardware to inform documentation Marketing Communication Assistant, Frankfurt Balkind Partners, New York, NY: 1/97–5/97       Assisted Director of Marketing and Communications, acted as liaison between Marcomm and freelance artists and writers, scheduled client meetings, maintained detailed logs of potential freelancers' portfolios, and scheduled interviews
	Professional Activities Visual Rhetoric Field Editor, rhetcomp.com: A portal of sites relevant to the field of rhetoric and composition Site creator, visualRhetoricPortal: A web portal of sites pertaining to studies in visual rhetoric Discussant, “Eloquent Images: Visual Literacy and Beyond." Michelle Kendrick, Lecture Series, Department of Rhetoric, St. Paul, MN, April 2005 Panel Chair, “Rhetoric of Illustrations and Maps.” Rhetoric Society of America (RSA), Austin, TX, May 2004 Professional Memberships Association of American Geographers (AAG) Modern Language Association (MLA) National Communication Association (NCA) Rhetoric Society of America (RSA) Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Home

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