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Nicole Amare

Amare Headshot

Nicole Amare | Professor

Specializes in professional communication and rhetoric and composition, with interests in gender studies and late American literature.

HUMB 252  |  460-7157  |  namare@southalabama.edu

Unified Theory CoverA Unified Theory of Information Design: Visuals, Text & Ethics. With Alan Manning. Routledge, 2013.
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Communicative visuals, including written text, have a diverse range of forms and purposes. In this volume, the authors show that it is possible to both describe and explain the major properties of diverse visual-communication forms and purposes within a common theoretical framework of information design and ethics. For those unaccustomed to thinking of written text as a visual form belonging to the same general class as other visual forms (colour, texture, shape, imagery, etc.), consider how a text's readability suffers if we remove all white space and punctuation, which can be identified as visual signals of the same subtype as grid lines and bullet points, dividing and calling attention to adjacent information. The authors identify deep connections between foundational visual design elements and the grammar of language itself.  No physicist or chemist today questions the value of a single theory that describes and explains a wide variety of phenomena, but oddly enough, the authors have frequently been asked why they are interested in advancing a unified theory of visual communication. The simplest answer is: to treat visual communication as a science, and seeking unified theories is just what science does. In more practical terms, a unified approach to visual communication allows us to teach visual design students relatively few things that will enable them to do relatively many things.

Other Books Coauthored

  • A Unified Theory of Information Design:  Visuals, Text & Ethics. Co-authored by Alan Manning. Baywood, 2013.
  • Technical Editing in the 21st Century.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011. (with B. Nowlin and J. Weber).
  • Real Life University.  Nashville: Premium Press America, 2002.  (with M. McMyne).

Books Edited

  • Giving Back. St. Louis: Saint Louis University, 2006.
  • Beyond the Lemonade Stand.  St. Louis: Saint Louis University, 2004.
  • Student Entrepreneurs. Nashville: Premium Press America, 2003.

Book Chapters

  • "The Technical Editor as New Media Author: How CMSs Affect Editorial Authority." Content Management: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice.  Eds. George Pullman and Baotong Gu. Amityville, NY: Baywood Press, 2009. 181-199.
  • "Style: The New Grammar in Composition Studies?" Refiguring Style: Possibilities for Writing Pedagogy.  Ed. T.R. Johnson and Thomas Pace.  Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2005. 153-166. 

Journal Articles

  • "American prophets: Mark Twain and Joseph Smith revisited." Journal of Mormon History, 37.4 (2011) (with A. Manning).
  • "Editor-Author Ethics: Examining Real-world Scenarios from Interviews with Three Journal Editors."  Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 39.3 (2009): 285-303 (with A. Manning).
  • "Writing for the Robot: How Search Tools Affect Résumé Ethics," Business Communication Quarterly, 72.1 (2009): 35-60 (with A. Manning).
  • "Culture Shock: Teaching Writing within Interdisciplinary Contact Zones," Across the Disciplines, 5 (2008) (with C. Brammer and K. Campbell).
  • "Where Is She?  Gender Occurrences in Online Grammar Guides."  Research in the Teaching of English, 30.4 (2007): 163-187.
  • "Writing Outreach as Community Engagement."  Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, 30.3 (2007): 57-74 (with T. Grettano).
  • "The Language of Visuals: Text + Graphics = Visual Rhetoric." IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 50.2 (2007): 57-70 (with A. Manning).
  • "Finding Dickinson: Linguistic Sexism and Inconsistent Indexing in Masterplots." Women & Language, 29.1 (2006): 37-42.
  • "Visual-rhetoric Ethics: Beyond Accuracy and Injury."  Technical Communication, 53.2 (2006): 195-211 (with A. Manning). 
  • "To Slideware or Not to Slideware: Students’ Experiences with PowerPoint vs. Lecture." Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 36.3 (2006): 297-308.
  • "Lynching Mark Twain, the Prophet." The Mark Twain Annual, 3 (2005): 104-112 (with A. Manning). 
  • "Perceptions of Memo Quality: A Case Study of Engineering Students, Practitioners, and Professors." Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 35.2 (2005): 179-90 (with C. Brammer). 
  • "Act Well Thy Part: Playing ‘Technical Writer’ and ‘Engineer.’" IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 47.3 (September 2004): 211-215.
  • "Twain’s Huckleberry Finn," The Explicator, 62.4 (Summer 2004): 206-210 (with A. Manning).
  • "The Contribution of  Electronic Communication Media to the Design Process: Communicative and Cultural Implications."  IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (Special Issue on International Communication, Technology, and Culture) 45.4 (December 2002): 2502-64 (with A. van Luxemburg and J. Ulijn). [Professional Communication Society’s Best Article Winner, September, 2003.]
  • "The Culture(s) of the Technical Communicator." IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 45.2 (June 2002): 128-132.
  • "Professional Communication and Poe's 'The Purloined Letter.'" IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 43.2 (June 2000): 206-209.
  • "Exploring How Instruction in Style Affects Writing Quality." Business Communication Quarterly 62.3 (1999): 71-86 (with K. Campbell and C. Brammer). [BCQ Research Award Winner, October, 2000.]

Conference Proceedings

  • "Emotion-spectrum response to form and color: Implications for Usability.  Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii: July, 2009. 1-10. (with A. Manning)
  • "A Language for Visuals: Design, Purpose, Usability," Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference. Montréal, Canada: July, 2008 (with A. Manning).    
  • "A Simpler Approach to Grammar: (Re)engineering Parts-of-Speech Instruction to Assist EFL/ESP Students," Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference.  Seattle, WA: October, 2007 (with A. Manning).
  • "A Usability Model of High-Tech Visuals Based on the Semiotics of C.S. Peirce," Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference.  Saratoga Springs, NY: October, 2006 (with A. Manning).
  • "Visual Rhetoric and PowerPoint's Pitfalls."  Proceedings of the International Professional  Communication Conference. Limerick, Ireland: July, 2005 (with A. Manning). 281-287.
  • "Technology for Technology’s Sake: The Proliferation of PowerPoint."  Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference. Minneapolis, MN: September, 2004. 61-63.
  • "Does Cooperative Learning Belong in the College Classroom?"  (Report No. RIEJAN2004).  East Lansing, MI: National Center for Research on Teacher Learning.  (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED477450) 17 pages (with B. Nowlin).   
  • "Application of Goffman’s Social Interaction Theories to the Technical Communicator/Engineer Relationship." Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference.  Orlando, FL: September, 2003.  295-300. 
  • "Engineering a Traditional English Department: Writing Instruction and the Role of Freshman English."  Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition.  Nashville, TN: June, 2003.  1565-1574 (with C. Brammer).
  • "Technical Communication Theory in the New Millennium." Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference.  Portland, OR: September, 2002.  538-543.
  • "Bridging the Gap: A Case Study of Engineering Students, Teachers, and Practitioners." Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference.  New Orleans, LA: September, 1999.  (251) 255 (with C. Brammer).
  • "Exploring the Relationship of Style Instruction and Writing Quality," Proceedings of the International Professional Communication Conference.  Québec City, Canada: September, 1998.  373-378 (with C. Brammer and K. Campbell).

Reviews and Other Writings

  • Review of Going Public: What Writing Programs Learn from Engagement. Ed. by Shirley K. Rose and Irwin Weiser. Journal of Teaching Writing, 29.1 (2012), forthcoming.
  • Review of Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte. Forthcoming in Technical Communication.
  • Instructor’s Manual for Technical Editing in the 21st Century. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011 (with B. Nowlin and J. Hollis Weber).
  • Companion Website to Technical Editing in the 21st Century. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011 (with B. Nowlin and J. Hollis Weber).
  • Review of Storytelling for User Experience: Crafting Stories for Better Design by Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks. Technical Communication 58.3 (2011), forthcoming.
  • Review of The Restructuring of Scholarly Publishing in the United States, 1980-2001: A Resource-Based Analysis of University Presses by Barbara G. Haney-Jones. Technical Communication, 57.3 (2010), 341.
  • Review of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo. Technical Communication, 57.4 (2010), 419.
  • Review of Visual Communication: Integrating Media, Art, and Science by Rick Williams and Julianne Newton. Technical Communication 60.3 (August 2008): 300.
  • Review of Thinking and Interacting like a Leader: The TILL System for Effective Interpersonal Communication by Kim Sydow Campbell.  Technical Communication 58.4 (November 2006): 476.  
  • Review of Service Learning in Technical and Professional Communication by Melody Bowden and J. Blake Scott. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 47.2 (June 2004): 148-149.
  • "What is Natur(e)al?"  Splinter Hill Bog: The Writing Project. 1st ed.  Mobile: Bog Press, 2003. 35-38.
  • Review of Miss Firecracker. The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film. Ed. John C. Tibbetts, et al. New York: Facts on File, 2001.  202-203.
  • Review of "Night, Mother." The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film. Ed. John C. Tibbetts, et al. New York: Facts on File, 2001. 206-207.
  • Review of Sabrina. The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film. Ed. John C. Tibbetts, et al.  New York: Facts on File, 2001. 257-258.
  • Review of Steel Magnolias. The Encyclopedia of Stage Plays into Film. Ed. John C. Tibbetts, et al. New York: Facts on File, 2001. 280-282.
  • Profile of Roger Grice. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 43.4 (2000): 402-404.
  • Profile of Marsha Durham. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 43.4 (2000): 405-408.
  • Profile of Jan D’Arcy. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 43.3 (2000): 331-335.
  • Profile of Patrick Dean. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 43.2 (2000): 213-214.
  • Profile of Normand Croteau. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 42.4 (1999): 309-310.
  • Profile of Charles D. Haynes. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 42.3 (1999): 185-187.
  • Review of Strategies for Empirical Research in Writing by Mary Sue MacNealy.  College Composition and Communication 51.1 (September 1999): 134-135.    
  • Review of Strategies for Empirical Research in Writing by Mary Sue MacNealy. IEEE  Transactions on Professional Communication 42.1 (March 1999): 64-66.