Scholarship

Paul W. Ranieri

SCHOLARSHIP
Scholarship Plan
Vita

PROJECTS
Presentations
Publications
Works in Progress
Study Abroad

INDIVIDUAL SCHOLARSHIP PLAN

Paul W. Ranieri
Associate Professor
Department of English
Ball State University

Generally speaking, there is no institution devised by humans which the power of speech has not helped us to establish. . . . for the power to speak well is taken as the surest index of a sound understanding.
Isocrates, Antidodsis

When the Greek rhetorician and Father of Humanistic Studies placed "speech" at the center of culture--and education--he established a still timely defense for what we as "scholars" in Departments of English value:

· a commitment and respect for the power of language
· a commitment to using language to study systematically the crucial issues of our age
· a commitment to present publicly our ideas before our peers
· a commitment to model and teach our skills to the next generation of scholars

For Isocrates these principles applied both to the public and private spheres, to a professional life as well as to the life of a citizen.
     My life with "language," I hope, would mirror that which Isocrates modeled 2400 years ago. I value the creative, expressive power of language, the need to use language to address daily problems, the fact that language is public, thus requiring that it be used carefully, with an ear to its limitations, and I value the fact that I am asked to help new generations develop their language skills.
     Thus, my role in the Department of English at Ball State University is to use language well, to model its successful use, and to work to develop a community of English Studies based on and operating well with language. As a result, my "public" role in the academic community-teaching, administrative work, committee work, and the dissemination of knowledge-all arise from the same assumptions and values.
      For the next four-year period, then, I see the following projects resulting from my view of myself, of the department, and of my academic discipline:

· Present and publish accounts of our successes with and research on Freshman Connections. In the process, continue both my teaching in Freshman Connections and my role as Director of Freshman Connections.
· Present and publish on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, as it directly relates to my own work, as well as to my work with my three-year Lumina Foundation for Education grant.
· Present and publish articles and chapters applying principles from classical rhetoric (Scholarship of Integration) to relevant issues in teaching, administration, and liberal education.
· Complete and publish-at first on the Worldwide Web-the first-year, writing textbook and related multimedia projects, used in my ENG 103 course.
· Plan and begin the data collection for a longitudinal study of how students evolve their sense of liberal education beginning with students in their last year of secondary school and continuing into their late twenties.
· Publish and maintain a personal website containing course materials and research in progress, thus illustrating the technological and pedagogical expertise expected of our graduate students and required to teach undergraduates in the 21st century.
· Continue reading in my two areas of specialty-classical rhetoric and intellectual development.
· Continue to improve my skills with the "practical rhetoric" inherent in university, college, and department leadership, especially in the areas of liberal education and the University Core Curriculum.

In addition to these goals, I see myself over the next four years continuing to teach well and continuing to extend my humanities commitment to study abroad programs as needed.
After spending 11 of my last 15 years in administrative work, I welcome the opportunity to return to more of a teaching/research role in the department, striving to understand more about the place of language in both teaching and learning.

Revised-January 2004