PERSONAL INFORMATION

Date of Birth:   August 4, 1940
Place of Birth:  Hannibal, Missouri

University Address

College of Liberal Arts
Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, LA  71272
Phone:  (318) 257-2660
E-Mail:  dminor@latech.edu

Home Address

1102 Glenwood
Ruston, LA  71270
Phone:  (318) 255-6045

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
 

• Ph.D. Texas A&M University, December l973.  English major with journalism minor. Dissertation: The Evolution of Puritanism into the Mass Culture of Early Nineteenth-Century America.
• M.A. Texas A&M University, August l968.  English major. Thesis:  Epic Qualities of the Early American Frontier Novel:  Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales.
• B.A. Texas A&M University, May 1966.  English major with history minor.
• A.A. Blinn College, May 1960.  Speech major.

• Diploma, A&M Consolidated High School, College Station, TX, May l958.

• Phi Kappa Phi

• Phi Theta Kappa
• Sigma Tau Delta

• 1998- Present Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Louisiana Tech University
• 1989-1997 Professor, Department of English, Louisiana Tech University
• 1984-1989 Associate Professor, Department of English, Louisiana Tech University.
• 1974-1984 Assistant Professor, Department of English, Louisiana Tech University.

• South Central Modern Language Association
• Association of Teachers of Technical Writing

• George K. Anding Professor of English.
• Louisiana Tech University Foundation Professorship Award for 1994-95.
• Faculty Senate Chair Award for 1989-90.
• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Summer Seminar, Michigan State University, summer 1978. Seminar Topic:  The Functions of Discourse in Science and Literature. Seminar Director: Dr. E. Fred Carlisle, Department of English, Michigan State University.

Courses Taught

Graduate

• Early American Literature
• 19th Century American Popular Literature
• Research and Bibliography
• English Teachers Workshop
• Science Fiction

• Survey of American Literature
• Survey of British Literature
• 20th Century American Novel
• Science Fiction
• Freshman Rhetoric and Composition
• Technical Writing
• English as a Second Language  (summer)
• Specification, Bid, and Proposal Writing
• The Scientific Method
• Writing for Publication
• Advanced Technical Writing
• Technical Writing Graphics
• Technical Presentations
• Developmental English

• Developed an Internet-based English 303 course, the first course to be offered entirely over the Internet by Louisiana Tech University.  This course has been offered the Fall Quarter, 1996, the Spring Quarter, 1997, the Spring Quarter, 1998, the Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters 1998-99 and the Fall, Winter, Spring Quarters of 1999-2000, and the Summer, Fall, and Winter Quarters, 2000-01.
• Helped to create the Technical Writing major (later Emphasis) at Louisiana Tech University;
• Developed a course in Science Fiction, first offered as English 475 and 575, the variable content course, to both graduate and undergraduate students; this course has been placed in the University Bulletin as English 480.

• Guest Scholar in a Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute  for Teachers held at Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe, Louisiana, during the summer of 1995.  This Institute, directed by Dr. Jeffery Galle of the Northeast English Department, focused on Utopian and Dystopian Versions of the Search for Home:  The Importance of Place in American Literature.
• Received a $58,000.00 grant to direct a Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities for a Summer Institute for Teachers. The subject of this Institute was Science, Human Values, and Narrative Technique in Science Fiction.  This Institute was held at Louisiana Tech University July 8-- August 2, 1991.

Publications

• "Getting a Handle on Graphics" in Teaching Technical Writing:  Graphics.  Ed. Dixie E. Hickman.  Association of Teachers of Technical Writing, l985, pp. 10-16.  This article received a favorable review by Charles Kostelnick in the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Vol. 17, No. 4, p. 432.  This article was used by Kenneth Houp and Thomas Pearsall in the 7th Edition of Reporting Technical Information (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992), one of the most popular technical writing textbooks, as the organizing medium for their chapter on graphics, as explained on page 674 of that text in the notes for "Chapter 12:  Graphical Elements of Reports":  "The order of our material in this chapter is based on the order suggested in Dennis E. Minor, `Getting a Handle on Graphics,' Teaching Technical Writing:  Graphics . . . ."
• "A Structure for the Problem Solving Paper."  The Technical Writing Teacher.  10, No. 1 (Fall 1982), 8-11.
• "Teaching the Technical Writing Proposal."  The Technical Writing Teacher.  7, No. 1 (Fall 1979), 24-27.
• "A Concept of Language for Technical Writing Students."  Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.  8, No. 1 (1978), 43-51.
• "Library Resource Materials for Technical Writing" (with Lowell F. Lynde). The Technical Writing Teacher.  3, No. 3 (Spring 1976), 135-143.
• "An Integrated Technical Writing Course."  The Technical Writing Teacher.  3, No. 1 (Fall 1975), 21-24.

• "Web-based Technical Writing: A Short Retrospective, 1996-2002." Read in the Technical Writing section at the November 2002 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association in Austin, Texas.
• "Cyber Chicken Soup for the Distance Educator's Soul." Presented at the Teaching in Higher Education Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 2002; co-presenter with Allison Smith and Tammy Powell.

• "Personalizing the Web Course." Presented at the Teaching in Higher Education Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 2001.
• "Language and the Digital Future or, From Real Clocks to Atomic Clocks."  Presented at the Teaching in Higher Education Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 2000.
• "Inexpensive Internet Resources." Presented at the Teaching in Higher Education Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 1999.
• "Considerations in Teaching a Course Via Internet." Presented at the Teaching in Higher Education Forum at LSU-Baton Rouge, April 1998.
• "A Neurological Language Model of Expression/Comprehension and Its Application to the Teaching of Writing."  Read in the General Linguistics section at the October 1983 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association at Fort Worth, Texas.

Grants

• Worked with Dr. Terry McConathy during the fall of 1996 on an LEQSF grant to obtain an Internet computer lab and Internet access for English and Foreign Language faculty.
• Wrote a grant application to the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities to bring the Louisiana novelist Ernest J. Gaines to Louisiana Tech University for a reading of his fiction.  The grant was funded and Mr. Gaines read on campus during the spring of l986.

• Arranged to have Allen Coulter, a well known television director at Home Box Office, to come to Louisiana Tech University as part of the College of Liberal Arts Academic Excellence activities.  Mr. Coulter made a presentation to the public on Thursday, April 13, 2000, which included a clip from the "X-Files."  Mr. Coulter also spoke at the Student Recognition Awards luncheon that same day.
• Arranged to have Frank Kelly Freas, world-renowned science fiction and fantasy artist, to come to Louisiana Tech University as part of the College of Liberal Arts Academic Excellence activities.  Mr. Freas gave a public address on April 12, 1999, showing a large collection of slides of his art work  He also spoke at the Student Recognition Awards luncheon and spoke to groups of faculty and students April 14.
• Arranged to have Michael McKean, well known television and motion picture actor, to come to Louisiana Tech University during Academic Excellence Week in the spring of 1998. Mr. McKean, who played "Lenny" on the television program "Laverne and Shirley," made a public presentation and talked to several theater classes. Mr. McKean's parents and grandmother attended Tech.
• Member of the Electronic Learning Committee at Louisiana Tech, 1998-present.
• Member of the Louisiana Tech University Instructional Innovation Committee, 1995--present.
• Chair of the Educational Program Committee of the Louisiana Tech University Strategic Planning Committee, 1995-1998.
• Fiction reading for the 7th and 8th grade gifted and talented students at Ruston Junior High School.  Invited to read science fiction short story, "Rubber Wrenches," by Linda Dick. October 31, 1994.
• Member of the SACS Steering Committee and Editor of the SACS Self- Study Report for Louisiana Tech University; member and Editor of the University Institutional Effectiveness Committee, one of the Principal Committees for the SACS Report.
• Editor of the Proceedings of the 1993 Philological Association of Louisiana, published 30 of the papers from the 1993 PAL meeting.
• Program Chairman of the March 1993 meeting of the Philological Association of Louisiana, which met at Louisiana Tech University, with approximately 90 teachers attending and over 80 papers being presented.  Organized the meeting; selected the papers; arranged the program; chaired some of the sessions.
• Editor of the Proceedings of the 1992 Philological Association of Louisiana, published 30 of the papers from the 1992 PAL meeting.
• Program Chairman for the 1992 meeting of the Philological Association of Louisiana.  This organization met during March of 1992 at Louisiana Tech University, with approximately 90 teachers attending and over 80 papers being presented.  Organized the meeting; selected the papers; arranged the program; chaired some of the sessions.
• College of Arts and Sciences representative on the University Assessment Oversight Committee, 1988--present.
• College of Arts and Sciences representative on the Career Planning and Placement Center Advisory Committee 1988--present.
• Faculty Senate Chairman for l987-88 school year.
• Past President of the Louisiana Tech Chapter of the United Federation of College Teachers.
• Member of the University Strategic Planning Committee, 1987-88.
• Member of the English Department Tenure and Promotions Committee, 1983-92
• Served on Departmental and University committees for the 1980 Southern Association Self-Study.

Technical Writing:  Publications

• "Need a Vacation from Headings?  Try the Scientific Method."  The Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication Newsletter.  Spring 1993, p. 3.
• "Newspeak, 1984, and Technical Writing."  Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.  15, No. 4, 1985, pp. 365-372.
• Review of The Case Method in Technical Communication:  Theory and Models.  Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.  15, No. 1 (1985), 75-77.
• "Albert Einstein on Writing."  Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.  14, No. 1 (1984), 13-18.
• "Chair's Comments:  Ethos in Technical Discourse."  Technical Communication: Perspectives for the Eighties.  (Proceedings of the Technical Communication Sessions at the 32nd annual meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication held in Dallas, Texas.)  Compiled by J.C. Mathes and Thomas E. Pinelli.  NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1981, pp. 439-440.
• "Visual Aids in Technical Writing."  English in Texas.  11, No. 4 (Summer 1980), 86-88.
• "Coherent Deformation in Scientific and Technical Writing."  Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.  10, No. 3 (1980), 201-212.

• "Some Considerations in Teaching a Technical Writing Course over Internet." Presented at the November 1998 annual meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• "Newspeak, 1984, and Technical Writing."  Read at the October 1984 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association in Biloxi, Mississippi.
• "Albert Einstein on Writing."  Read at the April 1982 meeting of the College English Association in Houston, Texas.
• "A Concept of Language for Technical Writing Students."  Read at the March 1977 meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication.

• "Some Values of Language Study."  English in Texas.  18, No. 4 (Summer 1987), 15-19.

• "Some Values of Language Study:  Musen, Dumuzi, and the Sumerian Postposition." Read at the March 1983 meeting of the Conference of College Teachers of English at Waco, Texas.
• "Coherent Deformation in Scientific and Technical Writing."  Read in the General Linguistics section at the 1979 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association.

• Looking Backward at Progress and Poverty: Edward Bellamy and Henry George Look at the Future. Quarterly Journal of Ideology. 25, No. 1 &2 (2002). Online Journal at http://www.lsus.edu/la/journals/ideology/index.htm
• "Shaved Monkeys, Sleepy Students, and Dangerous Kegs: Revolutionary War Humor and Satire." George Washington in and as Culture. Ed. Kevin L. Cope. New York: AMS Press, 2001, pp. 99-106.

• "Flawed Idealism in Frontier Kentucky:  James Lane Allen's The Choir Invisible." The Markham Review.  15 (Fall-Winter 1985-86), 3-6.
• "David Ross Locke."  Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume II:  American Humorists, 1800-1950, Part I.  Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg.  Detroit:  Gale Research Company, 1982, pp. 270-275.
• "The New and Regenerated Adams of E.P. Roe."  The Markham Review.  6 (Winter 1977), 21-26.
• "The Many Roles of Nasby."  The Markham Review.  4, No. 1 (October 1973), 16-20.

• "Looking Backward at Progress and Poverty:  Edward Bellamy and Henry George Look at the Future."  Presented at the America at the 3rd Century and Millennium International Conference at LSu in Shreveport, October 5, 2000.
• "Shaved Monkeys, Sleepy Students, and Dangerous Kegs: Revolutionary War Humor and Satire." Presented at the Life, Times, and Legacy of George Washington International Conference at LSU in Shreveport, September 19, 1998.  To be published in a collection of conference papers by AMS Press in 2000.
• "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters: Frankenstein, Forbidden Planet, and Alien." Read at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association in Orlando, Florida, April 1998.
• "Old World, New Science, and Popery: Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Gods of Mars." Read in the Science Fiction Section at the October 1988 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association at Arlington, Texas.
• "Flawed Idealism in Frontier Kentucky:  James Lane Allen's The Choir Invisible."  Read at the January 1985 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Oxford, Mississippi.
• "Topsy and Pearl."  Read at the March 1979 meeting of the Conference of College Teachers of English of Texas, Fort Worth, Texas.
• "Dual Narration in Heart of Darkness."  Read at the March 1978 meeting of the Conference of College Teachers of English of Texas, Dallas, Texas.
• "The New and Regenerated Adams of E.P. Roe."  Read in the American Literature I section of the 1976 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association.
• "Nature's Transcendent Dower:  Flowers and Stars in the Poetry of William Wordsworth."  Read at the March 1974 meeting of the Conference of College Teachers of English of Texas.

• "Percheron" (short story).  On the Way Home (short story collection).  Greenville, MS: Ruby Shoes Press, 1996, pp. 65-92.
• "The Search for P.B. Doghammer" (novella of 99 typescript pages). Tomorrow: Speculative Fiction, December 1993, pp. 58-80.
• "Rubber Wrenches" (short story).  First prize winner (from 30+ entries) in the Science Fiction and Fantasy competition at the 1992 Deep South Writers Conference; published in a collection of winning entries from the 1992 Deep South Writers Conference, The Chapbook, edited by John Fiero, pp. 61-69.
• "The Light and the Dark."  One of the top ten entries (from nearly 600 entries) in the Faux Faulkner Contest, sponsored by American Way magazine, the University of Mississippi's Department of English and Center for the Study of Southern Culture, and Yoknapatawpha Press and its Faulkner Newletter.  Published in American Way, August 1, 1992, p. 99.
• "Muffling Bobby Joe" (short story).  Caesura.  (Spring, 1988), 58-76.
• Finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future International Science Fiction Writing Contest for 1987-88; entry, "Old Times There," published in L.Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume IV, edited by Algis Budrys; Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, Inc., 1988, pp. 397-417.  British edition published by New Era Publications UK Ltd.
• "A Time to Dig Down" (short story).  Publication of the Mississippi Philological Association, 1986, pp. 147-156.
• "Vox Digiti" (poem).  Sidelong Glances, Fall 1983.
• "Everymen of the Fifties" (essay).  The Shreveport Times Sunday Magazine, December 25, 1977, p. 5-f.
• "Golden Raindrops" (poem).  The Poet, Autumn 1977, p. 217.
• "Blue Beak" (poem).  The Dekalb Literary Arts Journal, 9, No. 2 (Winter 1976), 61.

• "Entebbe" (short fiction). Presented at the Mississippi Philological Association meeting at Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, Mississippi, January 26, 2001.

• "Morphing" (short fiction). Presented at the Mississippi Philological Association meeting at Delta State University, Cleveland, Mississippi, January 29, 1999.
• "The Removal" (excerpt from the novel The Photon Sea). Read at the March 1998 meeting of the Philological Association of Louisiana at Shreveport, Louisiana.
• "The Alienation of Silea" (excerpt from the novel The Photon Sea). Read at the January 1998 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
• "Roswell" (excerpt from the novel Technoir).  Read in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Section at the fall 1996 meeting of the South Central Modern Langauge Association in San Antonio, Texas.
• "A Passage to Palindrome" (excerpt from the novel The Photon Sea).  Read at the January 1997 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
• "The Show of Shows" (excerpt from the novel The Photon Sea).  Read at the April 1996 meeting of the Philological Association of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana.
• "Off-World R & R" (excerpt from the novel-in-progress, Galaxy Park).  Read at the January 1996 Mississippi Philological Association meeting in Greenwood, Mississippi.
• "The Children's Hour" (excerpt from the novel-in-progress, Hard Times in Grid City). Read at the January 1995 Mississippi Philological Association meeting in Jackson, Mississippi.
• "Fifteen" (excerpt from novel-in-progress, Hard Times in Grid City).  Read at the March 1994 meeting of the Philological Association of Louisiana at Lake Charles, Louisiana.
• "The Olliehawk" (short story).  Read at the January 1994 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association at Cleveland, Mississippi.
• "The 92" (excerpt from the novel-in-progress, The Photon Sea).  Read at the November 1993 meeting of the Arkansas Philological Association at Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
• "The Smell of Martian Snow" (short story).  Read at the January 1993 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Biloxi, Mississippi.
• "Harley and Farley, Alien Fishermen" (excerpt from the novella, The Search for P.B. Doghammer, published in Tomorrow:  Speculative Fiction).  Read at the November 1992 meeting of the Arkansas Philological Association in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
• "Doubloon" (excerpt from novel-in-progress, The Photon Sea).  Read in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers section at the October 1992 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association in Memphis, Tennessee.
• "Laissez-Faire for the Alien Masses (excerpt from novel-in-progress, Galaxy Park). Read at the January 1992 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Columbus, Mississippi.
• "Mother Martha, Comfort Me" (short story).  Read at the January 1991 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Starkville, Mississippi.
• "Rubber Wrenches" (short story).  Read at the January 1989 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association in Jackson, Mississippi.
• "A Good Boy" (short story).  Read at the March 1986 meeting of the Philological Association of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana.
• "A Time to Dig Down" (short story).  Read at the February 1986 meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association at the University of Southern Mississippi at Gulf Park.

• Honorable Mention, Second Annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, San Jose State University, 1983; entry published in It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, compiled by Scott Rice.  Penguin Books, 1984, pp. 135-136.
• Runner-up, "Modern Love Category," Third Annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, San Jose State University, l984.

• Chair of the Technical Writing session for the 2000 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
• Secretary of the Technical Writing session for the 1999 meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association meeting in Memphis, Tennessee.
• Organized and chaired the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Group Special Session held at the 1991, 1995, 1996, and 1997 South Central Modern Language Association meetings.
• Chair of the 1982 and 1986 Technical Writing sessions at the South Central Modern Language Association meetings.
• Secretary of the Technical Writing sessions at the 1981 and 1985 meetings of the South Central Modern Language Association meeting.
• Chair of the "Ethos in Technical Discourse:  Theory and Practice" session at the March 1981 meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Dallas, Texas.
• Organized and chaired the first technical writing session to be held at the annual meeting of the South Central Modern Language Association meeting; met on October 30, 1980, at Memphis, Tennessee.

• Presentation on "Considerations in Teaching a Course via Internet," done through the Instructional Innovation Committee; this seminar was held on September 24, 1997; it was open to all faculty.
• Organized and participated in a "Panel on Student Writing," done through the Instructional Innovation Committee; this seminar was held on  January 23, 1997; it was open to all faculty.
• Presentation on "Critical Thinking," done through the Instructional Innovation Committee, April 2, 1996; this presentation was open to all Louisiana Tech University faculty.