Graduation Year
2013
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Granting Department
English
Major Professor
Meredith W. Zoetewey
Keywords
Actor Network Theory, Bruno Latour, disciplinarity, humanities, pedagogy, technical communication
Abstract
In this thesis I argue that technical communication as an academic curricular entity has struggled to define itself as either a humanities or scientific discipline. I argue that this crisis of identity is due to a larger, institutional flaw first identified by the science studies scholar Bruno Latour as the problem of the "modern constitution." Latour's argument, often referred to as Actor-Network Theory (ANT), suggests that the epistemological arguments about scientific certainty are built on a contradiction. In viewing the problem of technical communication's disciplinarity through the lens of ANT, I argue that technical communication can never be productive if it seeks to locate itself within any of the institutional camps of the modern university. Rather, I contend that technical communication is a strong example of a nonmodern discipline, and that its identity crisis can be utilized to take one step towards rewriting the institutional debate over scientific certainty.
Scholar Commons Citation
Carabelli, Jason Robert, "Disciplinarity, Crisis, and Opportunity in Technical Communication" (2013). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/4650
