Brian J. Fallon, PhD
selected talks, current projects,
and academic experience
SELECTED TALKS
Mississippi Writing Centers Association Conference March 24, 2018
SUNY Council on Writing
September 9, 2017
Conference on College Composition and Communication
March 17, 2017
RECENT PUBLICATIONS & OTHER PROJECTS
CHANGING CONDITIONS FOR MULTILINGUAL WRITERS:
WRITING CENTERS DESTABILIZING STANDARD LANGUAGE IDEOLOGY
2020 article co-authored with Sarah Blazer and published in Composition Forum.
Lindsay A. Sabatino and I embarked on this edited collection to provide writing tutors with tips and strategies for consulting on multimodal texts. We, along with our contributors, offer writing center educators a new curriculum for working with 21st-century communication projects. The collection was nominated for the International Writing Centers Association 2019 Outstanding Book Award.
You can visit the collection's companion web site at www.multimodalwritingcenter.org.
2011 National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing keynote address published in Fitzgerald and Ianetta's (2015) The Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors: Practice and Research
The National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW) is an annual conference for undergraduate and graduate peer writing tutors and writing center professionals that was founded in 1984. As treasurer of the conference, I led efforts to establish NCPTW as a non-profit educational organization with the mission of providing scholarly opportunities for peer writing tutors. Today, NCPTW gives out $10,000 in scholarships annually to students attending the conference.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
My take on teaching, learning, and leadership.
TEACHING
My teaching is about guided practice, revision, and developing consciousness around students' language practices and their relationships to others. I want student writers to have opportunities to engage audiences, to imagine and make meaningful contributions to important conversations, and to consider possibilities for communicating ideas across cultures and in response to global challenges. My pedagogical approach begins with what students bring to the learning situation and then challenges them to complicate that reality with new ideas, knowledge, and contexts. Especially in terms of language teaching, I strive to educate students about diversity, social justice, and the ideologies that inform discursive practices.
LEARNING
As a writing center practitioner, I believe authentic conversation, empathic listening, critical reflection, and sustained inquiry are required for effective learning. Peer collaboration and co-learning has been the focus of my scholarly and professional work. I believe in an epistemological approach that privileges organizing students around knowledge-discovery and -building activities.
LEADERSHIP
Institutions of higher education benefit from service informed by experience, creativity, and academic expertise. Bringing these together to drive initiatives informs my approach to working with colleagues, building programs, and leading committees. I believe in good citizenship as a model for leadership. Good citizens take care of their communities, and leading through change requires knowing the ability and potential of a community. My leadership responds to internal and external factors while drawing on the talents and capabilities of colleagues to imagine new possibilities for the environments in which we teach, learn, and work.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
PhD, Composition and TESOL, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2010
Dissertation: Perceived, Conceived, and Lived Experiences of 21st-Century Peer Writing Consultants
MA, Rhetoric and Composition, Colorado State University, 2004
BA, English Language and Literature, University of Kansas 2002
PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR OF FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
Center for Excellence in Teaching at the Fashion Institute of Technology
January 2023 - present
DIRECTOR OF THE WRITING AND SPEAKING STUDEIO
July 2008 - December 2022
Founded FIT's first writing center program. The Writing Studio provides students support in language acquisition, literacy skills, and rhetorical creativity. The program has grown to include a writing across the curriculum initiative and support for faculty working on writing projects. In the coming academic year, the program will add support for oral communication.
ABOUT ME
I am the director of Faculty Development and the Center for Excellence in Teaching at the Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY, where I founded and formerly directed the Writing and Speaking Studio. I have also taught courses in basic writing, first-year writing, creative non-fiction, and undergraduate research. My scholarly work focuses on peer tutors' experiences as learners and teachers. I am particularly interested in the intersection of politics, social justice, human rights, and language and literacy learning.
NOTABLE PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
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member of SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT2) Task Group on Optimizing Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education and report contributor
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campus coordinator for the SUNY Chancellor's Awards for faculty excellence
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co-editor and author Multimodal Composing: Strategies for 21st-Century Writing Consultations
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current development director, former treasurer, and founding board member of the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW)
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co-chair of the IWCA/NCPTW 2014 joint conference
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leader at the 2012 and 2013 IWCA Summer Institute for Writing Center Directors and Professionals
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keynote speaker at NCPTW (2011), the Gulf Coast Student Success Conference (2015), and the SUNY Council on Writing (2017), Mississippi Writing Centers Association Conference (2018), Rutgers Writing Program Conference (2020)
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recipient of the 2010 Ron Maxwell Award for distinguished leadership in promoting the collaborative learning practices of peer tutors in writing
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co-winner the 2007 IWCA scholarship award for an outstanding article
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awarded 2017 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service