Keeney to Direct Wyoming Writing Project |
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Sept. 24, 2007 -- Colin K. Keeney, senior lecturer in the University of Wyoming Department of English, has accepted an appointment as the new director for the Wyoming Writing Project (WWP).
"Colin brings a long involvement with both writing instruction and Wyoming to the Writing Project," says Susan Frye, Department of English chair.
As the state's only affiliate of the National Writing Project (NWP), the WWP's mission is to improve the quality of writing instruction across all curricula in grades K-16. In part, this program is delivered through a series of in-service workshops around the state during the academic year.
The culmination of each NWP site's effort is a "Summer Invitational," an intensive, four-week course in writing and writing instruction. For the Wyoming Invitational, selected administrators and teachers from all grade levels convene at UW during July.
"They work to improve methods for teaching writing to Wyoming's students and on developing their own writing as well," Keeney says. "In exchange, they receive up to six hours of graduate credit."
Keeney has taught a variety of professional and technical writing courses for the past 19 years. He was part of a core group that in the early 1990s integrated writing with computer technology at UW. He describes himself as "a Wyoming guy."
"My family originally arrived in Sweetwater County in 1962. The family moved on, but I stuck around," he says.
A graduate of Green River High School, Keeney received an associate's degree from Western Wyoming Community College. He later earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from UW. Prior to returning to UW as an instructor, Keeney worked as a writer and editor for corporations such as Hallmark Communications and Time/Life Books.
"In another life, I also worked as an underground miner, a disc jockey, a bartender, and a honky-tonk musician," he adds.
Keeney credits his firsthand experience with a Summer Invitational for having a profound impact on his life.
"I worked with (UW Professor) Tilly Warnock during the 1983 Summer Invitational," he says. "As a result I immediately switched from studying literature to composition and rhetoric. I'd like to have the same kind of positive influence on other teachers."
For more information, call (307) 766-6202 or e-mail wwp@uwyo.edu. The Wyoming Writing Project is supported by the University of Wyoming Department of English, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the National Writing Project.
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Colin K. Keeney Posted on Monday, September 24, 2007
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