Experiences of POROI Alumni

Testimonial 301

For me, POROI was the perfect bridge between my experience in the MFA program in Nonfiction Writing and my work towards the Ph.D in Communication Studies.  I came out of the workshop environment really valuing the support and feedback offered by the writing community, but wanting the rigor and analysis of an academic degree.  Taking classes like “Comparative Disciplinary Rhetorics” or “Writing For Learned Journals” or seeing my professors present their interdisciplinary work at POROI seminars gave me rigorous analysis in a workshop setting.  I think that very often students who have not done creative work view writing as just another tool for thought—and berate themselves for not moving their thoughts seamlessly on to the page.  In contrast, as part of the Writing University, POROI provides an environment in which academic writing is encountered as process, not product.  In the course of this process an exchange develops among disciplines as well as individuals—a kind of scholarly and creative community dedicated to inquiry.

Testimonial 72

"For those graduate students who would be happy becoming experts in their chosen fields couched within very narrow parameters, the POROI certificate would be a disservice to them. However, those who wish to obtain a larger intellectual horizon where disciplinary boundaries are treated as arbitrary lines of demarcation, then the POROI certificate is a worthy investment of time and energy."

Testimonial 198

"Intellectually, the courses I took to earn the certificate were outstanding...From the four POROI courses I took, I got the sense that I was embarking on intellectual territory that merited the attention and respect of scholars in many disciplines...I am convinced that my graduate certificate from POROI made me stand out from a pool of similarly qualified candidates who applied for the job I currently hold.  Since my job demands an interdisciplinary approach to communication, as many jobs now a days do, my certificate solidified in the minds of the search committee my ability to transcend the boundaries of our discipline, and form alliances among the Department of Communication and other departments and schools."

Testimonial 197

"As a communication PhD applying for a position with a University Writing Program, the POROI certificate was an important way to show how writing and writing instruction was a part of my education.  Advice from writing for learned journals makes its way regularly into my work and the work of Professor Depew and our guest lecturers in Writing Dissertations was invaluable both for completing my degree, preparing for the job market, and now as I advise my own PhD students...Poroi was a tremendous help in my professional development. I wouldn’t be at the University of Utah without the POROI experience or the degree certificate.  It’s on my wall next to my diploma...the program addresses one of the most important ways of considering the discursive practices of knowledge...It [POROI] also models interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary activity in ways that far exceed some more recent conversations on the topic."

Testimonial 14

"…the program was of considerable value to me: I think it really codified elements of rhetorical analysis much more comprehensively than what had been offered in my prior class work…Moreover, many of the central books I read as part of the seminar: McCloskey’s Rhetoric of Economics, Latour’s Science in Action, Taylor’s Defining Science, and of course, the red book (Rhetoric of the Human Sciences), still remain important touchstones that I use in my research on the rhetoric of medicine."