Spinuzzi, Clay
Assistant Professor

Education: Ph.D. Iowa State University 1999
Office Location: PAR 17
Office Hours: Contact DRW 471-6109
Phone: (512) 471-8707
Clay.Spinuzzi@mail.utexas.edu

Research Interests: Rhetoric, Computers and English studies, genre theory, activity theory, computers and writing, workplace studies, research methods and methodologies. My background in professional and technical communication has led me to examine how people communicate in various workplaces. I'm especially interested in how people work with computers and other forms of technology, how they innovatively adapt artifacts to meet their needss, and how information circulates and is transformed in organizations. I've studied the work of software developers at Schlumberger Well Servicers as they interpreted, produced, and shared code; traffic safety workers at the Iowa Department of Transportation as they investigated causes of car crashes; and telecommunications workers as they worked in cross-functional teams to accomplish the man goals of their company. Through these studies, I've become very interested in information design -- how to investigate it, evaluate it, and improve it.

Recent Publications: Guest Editor, Technical Communication Quarterly, a special issue on Technical Communication in the Age of Distributed Work, forthcoming, Summer 2007.

Spinuzzi, C. (2005). Lost in the translation: Shifting claims in the migration of a research technique. Technical Communication Quarterly 14(4), 411-446.

Spinuzzi, C. (2005). The methodology of participatory design. Technical Communication 52(2). 163-174.

Tracing genres through organizations: A sociocultural approach to information design., 2003

''Open systems and citizenship: Designing a departmental website as an open system'', Computers and Composition, 20(2): 168-193. co-author

''Toward integrating our research our research scope: A sociocultural field methodology'', Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 16.1, 3-32.

Awards and Honors: NCTE Awards for Technical or Scientific Communication, 2003. Best Article on Philosophy or Theory, ''Toward integrating our research scope: A sociocultural field methodology.''

Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication, 2000; Committee on Technical Communication

Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication. 2004 NCTE Awards for Technical or Scientific Communication. Awarded for Tracing genres through organizations: A sociocultural approach to information design.