Assistant Professor, Rhetoric, Composition, and Technical Communication
Residential College Live-In Faculty

Deborah Balzhiser joined the Department of English at Texas State University in 2005. She has taught rhetoric, composition, and technical communication since 1992, including designing customized courses for Mitsubishi and the Mayo Clinic Graduate School.  Her courses are hands on, so students can expect authentic writing experiences with projects they can put in their portfolios.  Dr. Morton has worked as a technical communicator, technical editor, instructional designer, training analyst, and change management specialist in start-up, large corporate, and academic settings.  Most recently, she worked to co-ordinate the training and help development teams of 91 interrelated projects and to lead them into best practices of re-use.

Degrees

• Ph.D., English Studies, Illinois State University
• M.S., Writing, Illinois State University 
• B.A., English, Western Illinois University

Contact Information

• office: Flowers Hall 141
• office phone: 512.245.3731
• email: dm45@txstate.edu
  

Teaching & Research Interests

• Workplace communication, processes, and best practices
• Medical rhetoric
• Visual rhetoric
• Instructional technologies
• Culture and technology
• Design methodologies

Courses Commonly Taught

• ENG 3303:  Technical Communication
• ENG 1310:  College Writing 1, Residential College
• ENG 1320:  College Writing 2, Residential College

Selected Publications

• "Inquiry into Hypertextualizing Teaching Assistants:  Or, How Do I Evaluate Hypertexts for Composition TAs?"  Contexts, Intertexts, and Hypertexts.  Eds. Scott Lloyd DeWitt and Kip Strasma. Cresskill, NJ:  Hampton, 1999.  265-297.
• "Toward Learning and Flexibility: Critical Review of 'Refocused Pedagogy for Technical Communicators.'" Technical Communication Quarterly 6.4 (Fall 1997).  
• "Socially Constructed Individuals: Integrating Writing Theories" English in Texas 25.4 (Summer 1994). 7-12.