INTRODUCTION

For this project, I interviewed Dr. Michael Salvo, Assistant Professor of Technical and Professional Writing at Purdue University. Dr. Salvo has a great interest in the ever-advancing technology and its effects on professional writing and on society as a whole.

BACKGROUND

Dr. Salvo hails from New York. He completed his undergraduate work at Hunter College, NY, with a major in English. He was also involved with the "special honor's program" at Hunter College. He then obtained a master's from Binghamton University in upstate New York, and finally earned a PhD in Technical Communication and Rhetoric from Texas Tech University. He taught at Northeastern University in Boston before coming to Purdue.

TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

I think it would be safe to characterize Dr. Salvo's interests as rather broad, as we touched on everything from the use of technical manuals in the military to postmodern philosophy in the interview. Dr. Salvo's major interest, however, is in the uses of technology, and how technology is related to literature. In addition, Dr. Salvo is interested in the usability of technology in the classroom, and he uses technology and the concept of usability extensively in his ENGL 515 class.

One specific interest of Dr. Salvo is the "Dehomag and the Holocaust." The Dehomag was a Nazi Germany state company which used punch-card technology, originally developed for use in the US census, to facilitate the Final Solution. Dr. Salvo uses this analogy to inform us that the ethical qualities of most technologies is dependent upon the values of those using them.

One recent published article of Dr. Salvo's is entitled "The Distributed Gesamptkunstwerk: Sound, Worlding, and New Media Culture." Gesamptkunstwerk is the German composer Wagner's term, meaning a "total work of art," that creates a whole other world which provides a means of escape. A modern example of this phenomenon is World of Warcraft, but Dr. Salvo traces its routes much farther back.

When it comes to teaching, Dr. Salvo said he does not like to teach students rhetoric through rhetorical tricks (such as the "Just Memo" which uses softer language to describe the holocaust). He likes to present them with the information so that they can decide things for themselves. He is also very active and interested in using computer technology to teach students about rhetoric.

PERSPECTIVE ON PW

When asked what is professional writing, Dr. Salvo first answered with a question: "what is not professional writing?" He believes this category is extremely broad, but said that people who make a living concentrating on writing are "professional writers."

I proceeded to discuss some of the theory behind professional writing with Dr. Salvo. First of all, he said that he believes PW needs more theoretical work, as it is very important. Dr. Salvo said it is work figuring out how communication works and to discover how social and technological contexts affect communication.

Dr. Salvo seemed supportive of the articulation theory of professional writing. He said that the writer does add information in the writing process, and is not just translating the information in a readable form. Specifically, the professional writer creates a structure through which information can be easily communicated.

The Winston Churchill quote, "We make the building and then the building makes us" was used by Dr. Salvo to emphasize the importance of professional writers. Indeed, he said we use words as tools that others have made and defined. The professional writer, in a sense, creates the structure that determines how the audience will consume information, and is thus an extremely important component in the process of communication.

This brings us to Dr. Salvo's interests in visual rhetoric, which he defines as "extratextual rhetorical persuasion." He studies how we automatically recognize an email as an email, a chapter heading as a chapter heading, or letter as a letter, merely by its visual layout.

Dr. Salvo advised us that the professional writing major is rather different than other majors on campus. He said there won't be any professional writing "career fairs," and, as such, one must be proactive in seeking a job in the field.

CONCLUSION

I found Dr. Salvo a very interesting professional writing professor. He did, however, stress that the academic work he does is rather different than what professional or technical writers might do in the field. Nevertheless, his broad interests and extensive knowledge make him a very good source for learning about professional writing at Purdue. I really did sense the important placed on theory here at Purdue in interviewing him.

Matt Bradney

Appendix (note to instructor: both Moira and I interviewed Michael Salvo at the same time, so we just used the same set of base questions)

1. How should I address you?
2. What is your title at Purdue? Assistant Professor of Technical and
Professional Writing
3. What professional responsibilities does the title entail?
4. How did you obtain this position?
5. Why do you think you were chosen for this position?
6. What other types of positions did you consider, and why?
7. What types of career opportunities are available to Professional
Writers, and what are the projected opportunities for the next ten years?
8. What is your level of education, and what subjects are your degrees
in? How does this enhance your prospects in the workforce as a Professional
Writer?
9. What is your level of expertise in writing or any other field?
10. What area or areas are you considered an expert in, other than as a
Professional Writer? Do you think it is necessary for Professional Writers to be experts in a specific field other than writing, in order to communicate ideas not related to rhetoric or writing?
11. What is your definition of Professional Writing, and how did you determine this definition? What is not Professional Writing?
12. How would you describe the work of a Professional Writer?
13. What areas of expertise are Professional Writers utilized in, and for what purpose? (Primarily communication, document production, etc?)
14. How does the work of a Professional Writer vary from one area of expertiseto the next?
15. What gives you credibility as a writer? (yourself, others, previous work, etc.)
15. What motivated you to become a Professional Writer?
16. Do you enjoy your job? Why or why not?
17.Is there anything you don't like in your position?
18. How do you incorporate Professional Writing into your job on a daily basis?
19. Do you consider Professional Writing an actual profession, or a tool to be used to expedite the work of others?