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Presentations

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: June 2023

Three Times the Victim: The Unique Traumatic Terror of the Child Victim in 'Guilty Mom' Horror

Attention has been paid to the role of mothers in horror film yet a deconstructing analysis of the types of horror film mothers and how the actions of those types impact their child victims is lacking. Consequently, the relationship and circumstance of the fictional horror mother and her fictional horror child victim is often generalized as simply dysfunctional. This broad interpretation of dysfunctional prevents an understanding of the child victim’s experience and role. A frequent type of child victim is the child of a ‘guilty’ mother. Often, her guilt arises from her inability to assist her child and is further complicated by her relationships with those around her. Her guilt impacts her actions and attitudes and as a result impacts her child. While, both the ‘guilty’ mother and the tormented child are victims, their torment is experienced individually. The evil does not pull them together. It pushes them apart. Within the context of a horror film, the resulting tensional dynamic highlights the unique vulnerabilities of the child with a ‘guilty’ mother. The terror and trauma is focused and amplified. Additionally, the resulting story circumstances highlight society’s unjust treatment of those who are outside the mainstream, vulnerable, and in need of assistance.

This paper differentiates the types of horror film mothers, specifically the ‘bad’ mother from the ‘guilty’ mother, in order to focus on a unique type of child victim. After isolating the unique circumstances of the ‘guilty’ horror film mother this paper asserts that this specific child victim is more than a placeholder for the target audience’s viewing experience. This unique victim functions as a prompt to consider the role of society, and consequently that of the target audience members, in perpetuating evil by rejecting and silencing marginalized persons.

Rally of Writers
Lansing, Michigan: April 2023

Scene Structure 101

Feel loss in the plotting process? Need to tighten up the sagging middle? Scene structure may be what you need.

This session explores the function and structure of scenes, the elemental building blocks of plot. Attendees will gain insight into types of scenes, how to craft effective and well-paced scenes, and how to use concepts to revise and strengthen early drafts works.

Conference on College Composition & Communication
Chicago, Illinois: February 2023

Have First Year Writing Courses Become the New Frontline of Two-Year Institutions? 

Lansing Community College, among first community colleges to embrace accelerated learning, is an open-enrollment institution that serves urban, rural, and suburban communities. Since adopting the approach in 2012, the institution has employed both ALP and co-requisite course designs.

We provide and analyze data that chronicles our institution's ten-year history with accelerated learning.

 Cromaine Public Library 
October 2021

The Write Stuff: Planning and Writing Your CroNoWrite Novel

An exploration of the creative writing process just in time for Cromaine Novel Writing Month. Session covers everything from brainstorming ideas, scheduling your writing time, structuring scenes and quick fixes for writer's block to make sure you can stay on track whether you're participating in a writing challenge or writing on your own.


Popular Culture Association National Conference
Virtual: June 2021

Gothic Girls Gone Wild: Riverdale’s Recrafting of Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge

Paper Presentation

For decades, the Archie comics have depicted the fictional world of Riverdale and while doing so explicitly and implicitly addressed era-relevant social issues. Two Archiverse characters, Betty Cooper, sweet girl-next-door, and Veronica Lodge, privileged debutante, have been reinvented and freshly envisioned in the CW’s series, Riverdale. Their new depictions in the show offer the opportunity to inform on present attitudes of gender politics, such as commodification of sexuality and gender performativity.

Despite, or perhaps because of, being a broadcast television show, Riverdale intersects with mainstream popular culture. As part of that culture, the series should represent the interests and concerns of its audience. The world surrounding Archie Andrews has been updated, intensified, and othered. This multilayered amplification of setting provides an effective backdrop for the revitalized Archie characters but also complicates the understanding of the degree to which Betty and Veronica have been recrafted in a way that makes them currently relevant when situated in the conversations and politics of this #metoo era.

Intergenerational family dysfunction, secret societies, predatory men, marginalized women—all are classic elements of gothic fiction and all are present in CW’s Riverdale. Deconstructing the strategic and central role of setting in Riverdale provides a fuller opportunity to evaluate the influence of these tropes on the characterizations of Betty and Veronica. Have the characters truly been recrafted in ways that acknowledge the changing roles of heroines in present popular culture? Or has their potential been undervalued and are used as tropes themselves? Once the impact of the gothic setting is identified and disconnected from the overall narrative, an isolated assessment of the depictions of Betty and Veronica will be accomplished.

NaNo Lansing 
East Lansing, Michigan: October 2019

Honoring Your NaNo Journey
Fiction Writing Workshop

An offering of writerly inspiration with insights on how to stay true to your writing goals and make NANO your own. 

Popular Culture Association National Conference
Washington, D.C.: April 2019

Scary Vulnerability: Considering the ‘Guilty Mom’ Horror Film Through the Lens of Lacan’s the Real
Paper Presentation

The ‘guilty mom’ is at the center of three tensions: society’s expectation that she provide for her child’s emotional and physical safety, the child’s needs, and her own needs. Within the context of a horror film, this tensional dynamic highlights the unique vulnerabilities of this marginalized, archetypal character and creates an avenue through which viewers experience Jacques Lacan’s the Real.

A comparative assessment of The Exorcist (1973), Babadook (2014), and Hereditary (2018) offers the opportunity to examine the ways in which Lacan’s conflicting imaginary order and symbolic order create the impossibility of absolute comprehension. Salvoj Zizek expands on Lacan’s theory to identify the “real Real” (2006). This modality can additionally inform an analysis of the unique terror of the ‘guilty’ mom horror film.

 Student Success Summit 
East Lansing, Michigan: September 2018

IDEA vs. ADA: Differences in Laws Governing Students with Disabilities 
Presentation with Cheryl Garyata

The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) that governs K-12 settings differs significantly from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that governs colleges and workplace settings. Students who have received K-12 services under IDEA frequently face difficulties navigating these differences when they transition to college. The presenters focus on key differences in the two laws and discuss how these differences affect students. They also discuss strategies to help students transition successfully and techniques to help faculty effectively implement accommodations within their classrooms. 

Capitol City Writers Association 
East Lansing, Michigan: September 2018

Elemental Magic: Crafting Scenes with Power and Purpose 
Fiction Writing Workshop

Popular Culture Association National Conference 
Indianapolis, Indiana: April 2018

Got Trolls?: Understanding and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Virtual Brand
Paper Presentation

The creation of a virtual identity for self-promotional purposes requires strategic and intentional development. The resulting ‘brand’ serves a purpose unique from a casual or personal online presence. Evaluating the effectiveness of an individual, sole person, virtual brand requires a specific understanding of how singular brands are created and perceived. 

The creation of an effective brand depends on the creator’s willingness and ability to efficiently fragment and abstract their identity. One-person, virtual identities are received differently than identities resulting from corporate or institutional brands. This complicates on-line interactions. A consideration of the two primary user needs met by social media, belonging and self-presentation, as identified by Nadkami & Hofmann (2012), can assist in creating, negotiating, and evaluating the effectiveness of a singular virtual brand.

Conference on Excellence in Gateway Course Completion 
Houston, Texas: March 2018

Getting Past the Pilot Phase: Overcoming Challenges While Implementing Integrated Developmental Reading and Writing Courses 
Presentation with Professor Megan Lin


In this presentation we discuss 1) implementing an integrated reading/writing, co-requisite developmental curriculum and 2) the challenges faced in moving the courses through the pilot phase into regular course status. We provide a reflective, research-based overview of the process of creating two courses that have been enhanced by participation in the Gateways Project. The unique challenges of guiding a developmental course through the course proposal process will be highlighted from both the individual faculty and college-wide perspective. 

 Greater Detroit Romance Writers of America 
Royal Oak, Michigan: January 2018

How the Magic Happens: Scene Structure Simplified 
Fiction Writing Workshop

Conference on Excellence in Gateway Course Completion 
Las Vegas, Nevada: March 2017

One plus One Equals One: Implementing Lessons Learned While Integrated Developmental Reading and Writing Courses
Presentation with Professor Megan Lin

In this presentation we discuss creating and implementing an integrated reading/writing, co-requisite developmental curriculum. We provide a reflective, research-based overview of the process of creating two courses, upper level and lower level, that have been enhanced by participation in the Gateways Project. The importance of required faculty development and training being completed alongside the curriculum design will be emphasized. The unique challenges of developmental learning and teaching will be highlighted from both the individual faculty and college-wide perspective.

Write on the Red Cedar Conference 
East Lansing, Michigan January, 2016

Spotlight on Romance
Fiction Writing Panel and Workshop 

Conference on Excellence in Gateway Course Completion 
Atlanta, Georgia March, 2016

Online Learning: Bigger Than Just the Screen 
Presentation with Dr. Cheryl Garyata

In this presentation we discuss developing a philosophy and curriculum design for online courses.  We provide a reflective, research-based overview of steps that led us to create online courses that have been enhanced by participation in the Gateways Project. The importance of developing a philosophy before beginning curriculum design will be emphasized. The unique challenges and benefits of online learning will be highlighted from both the individual faculty and college-wide perspective.

Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America
Grand Rapids, 2015

Killer Queries and Perfect Pitches
Fiction Writing Workshop

Michigan State University Guest Lecturer
East Lansing, Michigan: February 2015

Writing Like a Writer, Not an Academic: Tools for Getting it Done
Writing Workshop 


Capital Area Writers Special Interest Workshop
East Lansing, Michigan: February 2015

Making the Good Bad: Intimacy & Conflict in Scenes
Fiction Writing Workshop

 Conference on College Composition & Communication
Tampa, Florida: March 2015

It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It: A Developing Philosophy for Maximizing Human Presence in Online Learning Environments
Presentation with Professor Megan Lin

Establishing a human presence in online courses is imperative. Pairing professor content expertise and knowledge with the benefits of online learning environments give faculty the opportunity to  provide a unique virtual classroom experience. Fortunately, faculty don’t need a degree in experience architecture to be successful, only a guiding philosophy and some thoughtful planning.  

 Lilly Conference on College & University Teaching & Learning
 Traverse City, Michigan: October, 2014

It’s Not What You Say It’s How You Say It: Maximizing Human Presence for Online Learning 
Presentation with Professor Megan Lin

In this age of digital learners, this presentation will bring to light the benefits of creating a human presence in online courses by way of e-Portfolio eBook technology. Participants will review, compare, and discuss traditional and interactive online course styles. Using free software such as Prezi, Google Docs, Adobe Acrobat and Open Office, instructors and students can easily add clickable links to videos, movies, forms, voice threads, and websites. This provides a personalized approach for instructional enrichment and the student learning experience. The versatility of these living documents allows for countless modes of expression and accommodates various teaching/learning styles for instructors and students.

Student Success Summit Conference  
East Lansing, Michigan: September, 2014

Looking Back to the Future: Customizing the ALP to Promote Student Success at LCC and KVCC Presentation with Professor Christopher Manning

When Lansing Community College created an accelerated writing course, the goal was to put student learning needs at the center. We expected to impact two writing courses—Composition 1 and pre-college writing; our results went further.

As our accelerated program experienced success, a culture of acceleration developed and our curriculum development discussions began to focus on the problems accelerated learning fixes: barriers to student success. In this presentation, we will discuss the emergent culture of acceleration that helped our program identify and remove barriers resulting in a renewed focus on curriculum, philosophy and placement.

Michigan Developmental Education Consortium 
 Lansing, Michigan: March, 2014

A Culture of Acceleration: Removing Institutional Barriers for Developmental Writing Students Presentation with Professor Christopher Manning

When Lansing Community College took steps to create an accelerated writing course, the goal was to put student learning needs at the center so that each student’s educational path is individualized. We expected to impact the two affected writing course—Composition 1 and pre-college writing.
As our ALP program experienced success, a culture of acceleration developed and our discussions began to focus on the problems accelerated learning fixes: barriers to student success. In the last year, faculty of the Center for Transitional Learning have begun examining how our program and its curriculum sometimes creates barriers and now are in the process of identifying and removing the roadblocks. In this presentation, we will address the barriers we have identified and repaired as well as those we still need to knock down. We will also discuss the culture of acceleration and how a program without barriers can assist learners in becoming successful and independent. 

Liberal Arts Network Development 
Traverse City, Michigan: February, 2014

Pick Your Battles: Cell Phones in the Classroom 
Presentation with Professor Megan Lin and Professor Martine Courant Rife

Tired of fighting the “Please put away your cell phone” battle? Want to find innovative and intriguing ways to teach? Incorporating cell phone use into class time and course content may be the answer. Twitter and texting are a good start, but we’ll offer some strategies developed specifically for classrooms and presentations.

Because cell phone use in the classroom isn’t all fun and games, we’ll also discuss weighty issues such as protecting privacy, the possible need for added syllabus language, and setting boundaries.

G2C: Conference on Excellence in Gateway Course Completion 
 Indianapolis, Indiana: March, 2014

Gateways to Completion: Strategies for Institutional Change 
Presentation with Dean Michael Nealon, Associate Dean Eric Snider, Professor Kevin Brown, and Professor Martine Courant Rife

In this presentation we discuss strategies for practice for year one of the Gateways to Completion (G2C) pilot initiative. We provide an overview of the actions that take place in the first year, from the decision making process to enter the pilot, through to the formation of the task force, the selection of the five gateway courses, and the initial evaluation of findings. We will discuss strategies that worked well, and also provide ideas for how to address challenges that arise when institutions undertake a path toward institutional change. We will outline the ways in which our course-specific action plans are developing, and the dramatic steps we intend to take in year two, in order to improve our gateway courses.
Association of Writers and Writing Programs
Seattle, Washington: April, 2014

The Irony of the Internet: Reevaluating and Redefining Business and Creativity in the Digital Age Panel Presentation with author William Hastings, author Mike Miner, and Unstuck editor Matt Williamson

The literary world is experiencing what the music industry has been for years: expanded audience access, revised distribution channels, and pressure from business giants. We all know business is done differently, but the digital age also requires us to think differently. This panel—editors, authors, and an agent—will explore these aspects of the digital age as well as how the internet and electronic media alter attitudes on creativity and the perceived value of artistic endeavors.

Authors After Dark
 Savannah, Georgia: July 2013

Horror in Romance
Panel Discussion with authors CJ Ellisson, Marie Rose Dufour, and Saranna DeWylde

Spontaneously Paranormal 
Panel Discussion with authors Julie Kenner, Melissa Ecker, MK Mancos, Cam Cassidy, and Kaitlyn Ballenger

Erotica 
Panel Discussion with authors Saranna DeWylde, Melissa Ecker, and Julie Kenner 

Zombies 
Panel Discussion with authors Jess Haines, Lia Habel, Mary Janice Davidson, and Bianca D’Arc

RT Booklovers
 Kansas City, Missouri: April 2013

Readers Know Best 
Panel Presentation with authors Katharine Ashe, Sabrina Jeffries, Deb Marlowe. Beth Ciotta, Kieran Krammer, Mari Freeman, Cherry Adair, and Cindy Holby/Kassie Tayler

Readers know best--covers, storylines, heroes, heroines, and promo--and authors want to hear your opinions. Bring your questions, praise, and pet peeves about romance novels to this interactive gathering where we'll talk business, play games, share prizes and giveaways.

RT Booklovers
Chicago, Illinois: April 2014 

Romance Readers Town Meeting 
Panel Presentation with authors Cherry Adair, Katharine Ashe, Beth Ciotta, Isabelle Drake, Cindy Holby aka Kassy Tayler, Sabrina Jeffries, Kieran Kramer, Deb Marlowe

Attend this Romance Readers Town Meeting and bring all of your questions and opinions about what you like best about romance novels, what you like to see on covers and in online forums, the types of heroes you love, heroine pet peeves, etc. Play some crazy games and have fun chatting about what readers adore about romance!

Michigan Developmental Education Consortium
Lansing, Michigan: March, 2013

Mass-placed and often Misplaced:  The Challenges in Placing Developmental Writing Students Using Computer Placement Tests
Presentation with Professor Christopher Manning and Assistant Professor Anthony Farina

Lansing Community College’s Center for Transitional Learning was initiated to increase success in developmental writing courses. We have recently begun piloting courses to meet the needs of lower level writing students. As part of these pilots, we have begun reassessing our placement system. Specifically, writing instructors have piloted different forms of writing testing as well as reconsidering test scores. Many of these changes resulted, in part, from a survey conducted in an accelerated learning course that combined reading, writing, and student development. Although this course no longer exists, it was a valuable experience in that it exposed key issues in placement.
During this case-by-case inquiry into our computer placement testing, we learned about the efficacy of our placement. In this presentation, we’ll examine test scores and their “limited predictive validity” (Clayton 2012) through the lens of case studies that follow developmental writing students through their placement testing, formative assessments and finally to their success or failure in a developmental writing classroom.

G2C: Conference on Excellence in Gateway Course Completion
Indianapolis, Indiana: April, 2013

Accelerating Successful Completion of First-Semester College-Level Composition 
Presentation with Professor Martine Courant Rife

In this presentation, faculty discuss the conception, design, and implementation of a new one semester “Step-Up” option that allows students placing into the traditional one semester developmental writing course to instead take a combination course where these same developmental writing students are mainstreamed into the college level writing course (WRIT 121) while simultaneously taking a supplemental course where they receive individualized instruction focused specifically on achieving success in the college level course (See Adams, Bailey, Edgecombe).

Achieving the Dream  
Anaheim, California: February 2013

Compressing Composition: Accelerating Student Success 
Presentation with Professor Christopher Manning

In this presentation, faculty display the conception, design, and implementation of a new one semester “Step-Up” option that allows students placing into the traditional one semester developmental writing course to instead take a combination course where these same developmental writing students are mainstreamed into the college level writing course (WRIT 121) while simultaneously taking a supplemental course where they receive individualized instruction focused specifically on achieving success in the college level course (See Adams, Bailey, Edgecombe).
Now in our second semester and beginning to scale up this effort, our initial results from a small pilot in spring 2012 have yielded promising results. In our pilot, 100% of the students who would have otherwise spent two semesters completing the course sequence to achieve success in WRIT 121, were, with the support offered in the supplemental course, able to successfully complete WRIT 121 one semester. The MATH department is implementing a similar model also with measureable success. We will provide a comparison of programs.

Liberal Arts Network Development
 Traverse City, Michigan: February, 2012

Student Engagement in New Community College Classrooms 
Presentation with Professor Susan Henderson, Sally Pierce, and Christopher Manning

As the population of community college students continues to change, institutions must remain flexible and adapt to the needs to the students, emerging evidence from research, and limited resources. In response to the changing needs of our diverse student population, Lansing Community College has recently piloted accelerated learning courses.
We would like to share what we believe to be best practices in developmental education and the rational for those best practices. We would also like and to talk with colleagues from other institutions to see what others are doing in the classroom and with their programs.

Michigan Community College Association’s Michigan Center for Student Success
 East Lansing, Michigan: October 2012

Compressing Composition 
Presentation with Professors Christopher Manning and Martine Courant Rife

Emerging research indicates strategies accelerating developmental writing are showing great promise and in this session faculty from Jackson and Lansing Community Colleges will discuss their approaches to acceleration. After hearing about the experiences at the two Michigan colleges, representatives from the Accelerated Learning Program at the Community College of Baltimore County will share their perspective and discuss an opportunity for Michigan colleges to replicate this promising national model.

Romanticon
 Akron, Ohio: October 2012

Please Don’t Call My Baby Ugly: Reviewing, Reviewers, and Reviews
Presentation with reviewer Laura Topaz

Reviews are a touchy subject among authors, readers, and even the reviewers themselves. Get everyone's POV and engage in some open, honest discussion about book reviews. What do readers want/expect from reviewers? How are books chosen for review? Should authors read them, why or why not? And of course, what about those semi-dreaded, nonprofessional consumer reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, blogs, and other sites.?

Grand Rapids Region Writers Group
Grand Rapids, Michigan: October 2012

The Attraction of Fiction: The Emotional Connection 
Individual presentation

Dynamic characters and a compelling plot are crucial. But they’re not enough! Sensual details are the key to giving readers that up close and personal experience—and not just in love scenes. Come to this workshop and discover the fictive dream, what techniques can be used to induce it, and how to maintain that dream state that’ll have your readers begging for more.

National Council of Teachers of English
Columbus, Ohio: October, 2011

Using the mythological hero’s journey to shape and develop reflective personal narratives 
Individual presentation

The first of this two hour session will focus on theory--the explanations behind good writing--and answer questions like: what exactly am I supposed to be doing? The second hour will focus on application--how good writing looks when the theories are applied--and will answer questions like: how exactly am I supposed to do it? Bring notes on a work-in-progress for the hands-on exercises.
In this interactive workshop session, participants will explore how understanding the structure of the mythological hero’s’ journey, and the archetypal characters found within it, can be used to help students shape creative writing and personal narratives. As part of the exploration, theme, thesis, conflict, purpose, and audience will be addressed.

RT Booklovers Convention
Los Angeles, California: March 2011

Sense-Sational and Sexy
Presentation with author Katherine Ashe

Dynamic characters and a compelling plot are crucial. But they’re not enough! Sensual details are the key to giving readers that up close and personal experience—and not just in love scenes. Come to this workshop and discover the fictive dream, what techniques can be used to induce it, and how to maintain that dream state that’ll have your readers begging for more.

Michigan Developmental Education Conference
Livonia, Michigan: April 2011

Got Structure? Using the mythological hero’s journey to shape and develop reflective personal narratives 
Individual presentation

In this interactive workshop session, participants will explore how understanding the structure of the mythological hero’s journey, and the archetypal characters found within it, can be used to help students shape creative writing and personal narratives. These personal narratives can serve as both reflective papers and preparation for analytical expository essays. As part of the exploration, theme, thesis, conflict, purpose, and audience will be addressed.

Liberal Arts Network Development
Traverse City, Michigan: February 2011

Got Structure? Using the mythological hero’s journey to shape and develop creative writing and personal narratives 
Individual presentation

The meeting place of creativity and intellect is unique to fiction. It is the creative nature of fiction that makes reading novels evoke an “afferent” process—meaning students put themselves in the work. (Rosenblatt, Theoretical Models and Processes, pp. 1057-1092, 1994) Once the student is immersed in the story, fiction’s distinct capacity to illuminate the human condition by fostering the interconnection of mind and spirit can pull readers through universal themes while speaking culturally, offering glimpses into different values, traditions, and life issues. This combination of characteristics invites discussion and critical thinking, two elements essential for academic success.
The goal of my session is to explore how fiction can be used to encourage critical thinking which can in turn be used to develop student writers who are emotionally connected to their topics and intellectually invested in their thought and writing.

Midwest Regional Comparative and International Education Society 2010 Conference! Ypsilanti, Michigan: October 2010

Exclusionary Structure or Cultural Clash, Why do Immigrants Dropout?: Comparing One Group in Different Countries 
Individual presentation

The issue of students willingly disengaging and dropping out of secondary school is controversial due to the varying views on causality and accountability. The controversy is further intensified by common assumptions and lack of concern stemming from an unrealistic notion that the issue is an individual problem rather than a community/state/nation problem. Because the issue extends beyond individuals to all citizens in a country, and perhaps, as the world becomes increasingly networked (Kjaer, 2004, pp. 144-146), other countries as well, secondary school dropout rates are a global concern. Therefore, exploring the external and internal factors for those dropout rates is an urgent necessity.

Despite the significant differences between the educational systems and pedagogical philosophies of The Netherlands and France both countries continue to see high numbers of first and second immigrant students dropping out. The main findings of this paper are that despite each country’s efforts to address the problem, the secondary school dropout rates of first and second generation Moroccans in The Netherlands and France remain high. The thesis of the paper is that the continually high rate is the result of both external and internal factors.

Comparative and International Education Society
Chicago, Illinois: March 2010

Exclusionary Structure or Cultural Clash, Why do Immigrants Dropout?: Comparing One Group in Different Countries 
Individual presentation

This paper explores the relationship between external factors, such as institutional structures and governmental policies, and internal factors, such as cultural and familial expectations, in regard to the secondary school dropout rates of first and second generation Moroccans in The Netherlands and France. Analysis includes the use of Institutional theories. The main findings of the paper are that despite each country’s efforts to address the problem, the secondary school dropout rates of first and second generation Moroccans in The Netherlands and France remain high. The thesis of the paper is that the continually high rate is the result of both external and internal factors. The paper concludes with questions for future study.

Liberal Arts Network Development
Port Huron, Michigan: February 2010

Fiction as a Springboard for Critical thinking and Expository Writing : Individual poster presentation
Using fiction in academic courses can deepen student connection and interest. The benefits of assigning novels in academic courses include not only more lively course discussions, accompanied by deeper thinking, but also the fostering of student writers who are emotionally connected to their topics and intellectually invested in their thought and writing.