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Brian McNely

Education:
Ph.D. | Rhetoric and Writing Studies, University of Texas at El Paso, 2009
M.A. | English and American Literature, University of Texas at El Paso, 2005
B.A. | Anthropology and English, University of Oregon, 1996
Biography:

I study everyday affects, sensations, aesthetics, and contexts, exploring their relationships to rhetorical theory. I teach courses in visual rhetorics and cultures, rhetorical theory, user experience research, and technical and professional writing.

Research Interests:
Professional Writing
Technical Communication
Visual Research Methods
Visual rhetoric
Qualitative Methods
ethnography
Availability

Office Hours, Spring 2020 | TR 12:30–1:30

Research

Rhetorical theory, research methodologies and methods, visual rhetorics and methods, professional and technical communication.

Selected Publications:

McNely, B. (2019). Lures, slimes, time: Viscosity and the nearness of distance. Philosophy & Rhetoric 52(3), 203–226.

 

McNely, B. (2019). Under pressure: Exploring agency–structure dynamics with a rhetorical approach to register. Technical Communication Quarterly 28(4), 317–331.

 

Rice, J., & McNely, B. (2018). Networked humanities: Within and without the university. Anderson, SC: Parlor Press.

 

McNely, B. (2018). El Paso, plastic bags, aesthetics. In C. Boyle and J. Rice (Eds.), Inventing Place: Writing Lonestar Rhetorics (220–231).

 

McNely, B. (2017). Moments and metagenres: Coordinating complex, multigenre narratives. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 31(4), 1–38.

 

McNely, B. (2016). Circulatory intensities | Take a book, leave a book. In S. Barnet and C. Boyle (Eds.), Rhetoric, Through Everyday Things (139–154). Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.

 

Gestwicki, P., & McNely, B. (2016). Interdisciplinary projects in the academic studio. Transactions on Computing Education 16(2), 80–104.

 

McNely, B. (2015). Instagram, geocaching, and the when of rhetorical literacies. Kairos 19(3).

 

McNely, B., Spinuzzi, C., & Teston, C. (2015). Guest Editors' Introduction: Contemporary research methodologies in technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly 24(1), 1–13.

 

McNely, B, & Teston, C. (2015). Tactical and strategic: Qualitative approaches to the digital humanities. In J. Ridolfo and W. Hart-Davidson (Eds.), Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities (111–126). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

 

McNely, B. (2014). Writing in sacred spaces: Tangible practices for understanding intangible spirituality. College Composition and Communication 66(2), 243–246.

 

McNely, B., & Rivers, N. (2014). All of the things: Engaging complex assemblages in communication design. In SIGDOC '14: Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Conference on Design of Communication. New York: ACM.

 

McNely, B. (2014). Knowledge work, knowledge play: A heuristic approach to communication design for hybrid spaces. Communication Design Quarterly 2(4), 14–51.

 

McNely, B. (2013). Visual research methods and communication design. In SIGDOC '13: Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference on Design of Communication. New York: ACM.

 

McNely, B. (2013). Exploring lived experience through ambient research methods. In N. Sappleton (Ed.), Advancing Research Methods with New Technologies (227–242). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

 

Gestwicki, P., & McNely, B. (2013). Assessing the immersive studio with periodic retrospectives. SIGCSE '13: Proceedings of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education. New York: ACM.

 

McNely, B., Gestwicki, P., Gelms, B., & Burke, A. (2013). Spaces and surfaces of invention: A visual ethnography of game development. Enculturation 15.

 

McNely, B. & Gestwicki, P. (2013). Visualizing knowledge work with Google Wave. In G. Pullman and B. Gu (Eds.), Designing Web-Based Applications for 21st Century Writing Classrooms. Amityville, NY: Baywood Press.

 

McNely, B. (2012). Big data, situated people: Humane approaches to communication design. Communication Design Quarterly Review 1(1), 27–30.

 

McNely, B., Gestwicki, P., Burke, A., & Gelms, B. (2012). Articulating everyday actions: An activity- theoretical approach to Scrum. In SIGDOC '12: Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference on Design of Communication. New York: ACM.

 

Hashimov, E., & McNely, B. (2012). Left to their own devices: Ad hoc genres in the design of transmedia narratives. In SIGDOC '12: Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference on Design of Communication. New York: ACM.

 

McNely, B. (2012). Shaping organizational image-power through images: Case histories of Instagram. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.

 

McNely, B., Gestwicki, P., Hill, J.H., Parli-Horne, P., & Johnson, E. (2012). Learning analytics for collaborative writing: A prototype and case study. In Proceedings of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge. New York: ACM.

 

McNely, B. (2011). Informal communication, sustainability, and the public writing work of organizations. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.

 

McNely, B. (2011). Sociotechnical notemaking: Short-form to long-form writing practices. Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society 2(1).