Joshua Daniel | Humanities and Social Sciences | SIU

Dr. Joshua Daniel (formerly Daniel-Wariya) is Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of the Writing Studies program, which includes First-Year Composition. He holds a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from TCU, as well as his MA in English from New Mexico Highlands University. Having previously directed the First-Year Composition Program at Oklahoma State University, he is the author of two OER Textbooks for FYC (Who Teaches Writing, 2021) and (Writing Spaces at OSU, 2022). His scholarly work involves games and software, open education, and writing program administration. Examples of his scholarly work can be found in journals such as Games and Culture, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Computers and Composition, and elsewhere.

As a game studies scholar, my work has always intersected with interactive media in some form or another. My current project on the intersections of writing program administration and large language models extends some of my previous work on digital rhetoric and artificial intelligence, including "Welcome to Decision Points Theater," an article about the use of video games and virtual environments at the George W. Bush Presidential Library. I have also published scholarly work on the use of Twitter bots to promote propaganda and misinformation as well as the potential for new and emergent forms of A.I. to create possibility spaces for imagination and play in digital composing. My work lately has reflected on the possibilities and impossibilities for optimism in a world inhabited by this new A.I. My recent keynote address, “Administering Optimism: Why Humans and Machines Must Work Together to Write an Impossible Future for Higher Education,” outlines my thoughts on this subject as well as my current book project.

Far and away, however, what I am most proud of in my career has been the OER work I have pursued and implemented while directing First-Year Writing programs. Several years back, I had the great joy and privilege to work with the Gardner Institute, a non-profit organization that seeks to promote the goals of equity and social justice in higher education. When I became Director of First-Year Composition at OSU, DFWI rates in Composition I had risen to 29%. Partnering with the Gardner Institute and their "Gateways to Completion" program, we implemented a number of high impact practices to improve student persistence and success in the program, which resulted in DFWI rates falling to below 10% in fewer than 3 years. Retention scholarship is clear about the fact that if students believe they can succeed by the end of the first year in college, their chances of success are significantly improved. Because FYC sees so many first-year students, I believe it carries an extra responsibility and potential to help students believe in their own capacities for success through reading and writing. Eliminating commercial textbook costs for first-year students is a major way in removing barriers to access to and success in higher education for all students. By eliminating commercial textbooks at Oklahoma State, we delivered a cost-savings to our students of over a quarter million dollars per year, and I am committed to doing even more for students here at SIU Carbondale.