Public Presentations in Mechanical Engineering and the Discourse of Technology

Abstract

Dannels (2001) has advocated Communication in the Disciplines (CID) as a model for Communication Across the Curriculum (CXC) teaching and scholarship. Turning attention toward CID work requires an alternative way of thinking and planning, and invites an expanded, discipline-specific agenda for CXC scholarship. The purpose of this study was to engage in that discipline-specific agenda—using Carolyn Miller's discourse of technology framework to interpret and explore the communication practices of one disciplinary community (mechanical engineering) with attention to the public presentation genre. Using an ethnographic orientation, data were extracted from a variety of documents (the Department of Mechanical Engineering website, course syllabi, assignment descriptions, and guidelines for evaluating oral performances) as well as field notes from meetings and classroom observations. Results illustrate this community was indeed driven by the discourse of technology—that speaking well in this community meant focusing attention on the “object” (and/or visual representations of that object) and away from the self or personal identity of the speaker. This study concludes by discussing implications of these results in terms of CID practice—specifically asking whether we should become agents of those disciplinary discourses with whom we work or whether we should retain some responsibility to the broader mission of a college education.