• Sarbani Vengadasalam
  • Sarbani Vengadasalam
  • Assistant Teaching Professor
  • At Rutgers Since: 2008
  • Office: Tillett Hall, Livingston Campus
  • Office Hours: By appointment
  • About:

    I have been designing and teaching online and onsite writing classes since 2008 at Rutgers University. I have contributed to the Graduate Writing Program, by designing and facilitating  Writing the Dissertation,  Writing for Publication & graduate Writing classes and piloting the first Prose Style and Academic writing in East Asian studies courses. I have contributed to the Business and Technical Writing Program by designing onsite and online Scientific and Technical Writing as well as Writing for the Business and Professions classes. I have used Web 2.0 tools and social media spaces, as well as the latest presentation and visualization software in these real-world classes

    I specialize in using technology and new media across different learning platforms. I use my certifications in facilitating MOOCs and using concept maps, interactive video tools, open education resources, social media and gamified learning environments on one hand as well as my MBA certificate and experience in e-publishing /corporate communications on the other to enhance the writing classroom. I have shared my practitioner knowledge and best practices in using new technologies as well as in connecting the classroom to the world outside at conferences and seminars.

    Before joining Rutgers, I have taught ELL and literature courses at all levels in other universities in the USA and abroad

  • Books:

    Teaching Business, Technical, and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook. Paperback edition. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023.

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    Teaching Business, Technical and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook

    Teaching Business, Technical, and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook. Hardback & E-book edition. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021.

    Amazon Book Link

    Google books link

     

    DESCRIPTION

    This book grows out of the insights and proficiencies gained through teaching undergraduate and graduate students in onsite, online, and blended formats for almost three decades. Using a practitioner focus, it proffers best practices utilized and validated during the process of successfully instructing students in writing their scientific or technical proposals, professional or business reports, and academic papers or doctoral dissertations at premier American universities. The book guides facilitators through syllabus creation, discussion management, and open educational resources use, while specifically offering strategies and support to the underserved online writing teachers who utilize multimedia materials and virtual discussions in learning management systems to reach out to students. Also, insider insights and specialist knowledge on using visual creation tools and open educational resources are shared. The text is a must-have handbook for undergraduate and graduate teachers, and particularly fills the need for a helpful sourcebook for remote teaching in a post-COVID world.

     

    ENDORSEMENTS

    “Not only is Dr Sen Vengadasalam acutely aware of the current state of instruction of our professional writing population, at both undergraduate and graduate levels, she has been at the forefront of its evolution, and assists us, through this book, in leading our students and colleagues into its inevitable next stage. I am certain this text will remain one of my most valuable resources for years to come.”

    From "Introduction"

    William Magrino, PhD

    Associate Teaching Professor, Rutgers University; Lead author, Scientific and Technical Writing & Business and Professional Writing 

    “Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam’s sharing of resources in this book, culled from a career in the field, is a sign of her meta- teaching; her syllabi and explication are “how-to” in that, with her academic writing pedagogy, Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam calls writers “teachers.” In that sense, she is the teacher of teachers.”

    From "Afterword"

    Miriam Jaffe, PhD

    Associate Teaching Professor, Rutgers University; Associate Editor, Writing and Pedagogy 

     This book is at one and the same time a theoretically sophisticated guide to the principles and best practices of writing instruction, a how to manual for designing and implementing writing courses across disciplines and modalities, as well as a sourcebook of course-ready exercises, assignments, syllabi, and daily schedules that will plug and play into classes across English, business, and scientific departments. Drawing on responses from employers themselves as well as the author’s own rich experiences in the academic and the corporate world, this is a book designed to train professionals to represent themselves and their institutions with distinction. With COVID 19 upending previous designations of “onsite,” “online,” and “hybrid,” teachers of writing across disciplines within higher education require this touchstone and new resource oriented specifically toward teaching across these suddenly different and differing modalities.

    Jonathan Elmore, Ph.D

    Coordinator of First Year Writing, Savannah State University; Managing Editor, Watchung Review

    Industry advisory boards constantly bemoan that students are not adequately equipped with soft skills such as written communication and presentation skills. This book provides the means by which individual educators or academic communities can explore, discuss and address a widening communications gap within and without the institution.  The book readily provides the basis for faculty development and training programs designed to meet the demands of the learning environment in the 21st century. A practical guide that integrates material from a very wide range of sources for busy academics, Dr Sen Vengadasalam’s  sourcebook  is preparing faculty for an interactive learning environment and shares best practices for integrating technology and technology-oriented thinking into course and syllabus design and the art and craft of online discussions 

    Deborah Helman, Ph.D

    Marketing Professor; Editor, DeVry Journal of Scholarly Research  

    Teaching Business, Technical and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook. Paper back edition. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023.

      

    New Postcolonial Dialectics: An Intercultural Comparison of Indian and Nigerian English Plays. Hardcover. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019. ISBN-13: 978-1527521841, ISBN-10: 1527521842]

     

    Google Books Link

    Amazon Link

     

    INTERVIEW 

    Khan, Amara. “Intercultural Framework and the Dialectic Aspects of the Study of Transnational Literatures: A Talk with Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam,” The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 11, Issue-VI, (December 2020 )ISSN 0976-8165: 552-571. https://www.the-criterion.com/V11/n6/Amara.pdf

    BOOK EVENTS

    Spotlight on Sarbani Vengadasalam’s Scholarship by CASE or Coalition for Antiracism, Social Justice and Equity at Rutgers. Talk Theme.  “Recognizing and Adopting Interculturalism in Letters and Life,” April 5, 2022.

    Book Launch & Book Talk. Miriam Jaffe, "Afterword: About Sarbani Vengadasalam's A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook.” Rutgers University. Bridging the Gap National conference, Oct 1, 2021

    “Changing Dramaturgies, Changing Interculturalities: A Tale of Two Postcolonies,” Book Talk and Seminar, A.M.E.S.A.L.L., Rutgers University, Sep 27, 2019. 

    “An Appraisal of Critical Theories and Presentation of the Intercultural Dialectic,” Book Talk, Seton Hall University, Mar 30, 2019.

    Book Launch & Book Talk, “How to Get Published: My Story,” DeVry University, Feb 1, 2019.

     

    REVIEWS OF BOOK ONE

    Bagchi, Pronema. “Book Review,” Muse India vol.  88,  2019 http://www.museindia.com/Home/ViewContentData?arttype=articles&issid=88&menuid=8611

    Sood, Abha. “Book Review,” Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature, vol. 1.no. 2, 2020, pp. 48-51.  >https://jcsll.gta.org.uk/index.php/JCSLL/article/view/59

    Sanyal, Arundhati. “Book Review,” Watchung Review, vol 4, 2021, pp. 55-58.

    Book review” Asian Theatre Journal, volume 37, number 2, 2020, pp. 590-592, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/766360

    Rossi, Jason. “Asian West End,” DeVry Journal of Scholarly Research, vol. 5. no. 1, 2019, pp. 69-71.

    Redwine, Elizabeth. “Book Review,” African Studies Quarterly, vol. 18. No. 4, 2019, pp. 96-7.  

    Peacock, Allison. Review. TDR/The Drama Review, vol. 6, no. 3, 2020, pp. 188-190 https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/dram_r_00959

    Pandurang, Mala. “Review,” Postcolonial Studies Association Newsletter, vol. 25, 2020, pp.34-36.

    Khan, Amara. “Intercultural Framework and the Dialectic Aspects of the Study of Transnational Literatures: A Talk with Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam,” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 11, no. 6, 2020, pp. 552-571.  ISSN 0976-8165: https://www.the-criterion.com/V11/n6/Amara.pdf

    Khan, Amara. “Book Review,” Summerhall: I.I.A.S. Review vol. 2  no. 5.2, 2019, pp.85-86 http://14.139.58.200/ojs/index.php/summerhill/issue/view/24

    Ketu H. "New Postcolonial Dialectics: An Intercultural Comparison of Indian and Nigerian English Plays." Journal of the African Literature Association  Volume 14, no. 3, 2020, pp. 502-504.

    Rengannathan, Mala & Deboshree Bhattacharjee. "Book Review," The I.A.C.L.A.L.S. Journal, 6 (2020): pp.239-242

    REVIEWS OF BOOK TWO

    Ganguly, Priyanka. Book Review: Teaching Business, Technical and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook by Vengadasalam S. S. Programmatic Perspectives Volume 13, Issue 1, 2023, pp.188-192, https://programmaticperspectives.cptsc.org/index.php/jpp/article/view/32/31.

    Anabire, D. A. Book Review: Teaching Business, Technical and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Pedagogy Sourcebook by Vengadasalam S. S. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication  Volume 53 , Issue 2, 2023, pp.67– 170. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472816221135652

    Ludwig, Lynn. “Book Review: Teaching Business, Technical and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook, by Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021, Computers and Composition, 64, 2022, pp. 1-3.

    Ludwig, Lynn. Book Review Vengadasalam, S. S. (2021). Teaching Business, Technical and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook. American Communication Journal ,Volume 23, Issue 2, 2021, pp 1-3

    Hellman, Deborah. From the Classroom, Book Review. DeVry University Journal of Scholarly Research, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Fall 2022), pp 52- 54. 

    https://www.devry.edu/content/dam/devry_edu/dvu/partners/d/corp/DVU_Schol_NAT_AcadJournal_FY22_Vol6No2_ONLINE_v4.pdf

    Martinez, Diane. Book Review: Teaching Business, Technical and Academic Writing Online and Onsite: A Writing Pedagogy Sourcebook. Technical Communication, 2022, pp. 96-7.

  • Education:

    Degrees

    • Ph D, University of Poona
    • M Phil, University of Madras
    • M B A(cert), DeVry University

    Certifications

    • Certificate in Journalism,(India)
    • Certificate in Teaching Excellence and in Teaching with Canvas, DeVry University
    • Certificate in Online Instruction, DeVry University
    • Certified TOEIC Rater, Educational Testing Servces
    • Training in WebCT, University of Minnesota,
    • Training in Online Facilitation with E-college, South University
    • Training in Online Teaching with WebTycho & LEO, University ofMaryland University College(UMUC of University of Maryland)
    • Using Google Universe(UMUC of Unviversity of Maryand) 
    • Rubrics & Effective Feedback( UMUC of University of Maryland)
    • Web 2.0 Tools - Sloan-C Institute
    • Learning Environments: Twitter -Sloan-CInstitute
    • Learning Environments: Mobile Apps -Sloan-C Institute
    • Assessment Techniques in Social Media Sloan-C Institute
    •  PowerPointless: Building More Effective Presentations withoutPowerPoint- Sloan-CInstitute 
    • Facilitating MOOCs- Sloan-C Institute
    • Exploring Interactive Video Tools, Sloan-C Institute
    • Infographics for Learning, Online Learning Consortium
    • Finding/Using Open Educational Resources, Online LearningConsortium
    • Designing Developmental Courses, Online Learning Consortium
    • Creating Concept Maps, Online Learning Consortium
    • Screencasting, Online Learning Consortium
    • Developing social media & digital presence,Online Learning Consortium
    • Designing Gamified Learning environments,Online Learning Consortium
    • Creating YouTube Videos for Teaching & Learning, Online Learning Consortium
  • Courses Taught:

              Undergraduate

    • Writing for Business & the Professions, onsite and online
    • Scientific & Technical Writing, on-site and online
    • Business Writing Essentials
    • College Writing
    • Expository Writing

     Graduate

    • Writing the Dissertation
    • Writing for Publications
    • Prose Style
    • Graduate Writing
    • Academic Writing in East Asian studies
  • Awards:

    Ph.D.

    • University Grant Commission's  Research Fellowship 

    M. A

    • Lord Pentland Prize
    • Grigg Memorial Medal

     

    B.A

    • Merit scholarship
  • Other Information of Interest:

     

    Speaking interests

    Literature: World Literatures in English, Indian and African Drama, Postcolonialism, New directions in theater, Diaspora Writing

    Writing: Online teaching strategies, Professional and Technical writing pedagogy, Academic and Graduate Teaching, ELL and developmental English

    Interesting Info

    Traveled to twenty-five countries and counting

    Know five languages

    Social Media Links

    Orchid Id

    https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9344-0018

    Facebook Writers Group    

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/983367405035644/

    Technical and Professional Writers Group  

    https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8428809/

     Twitter

    https://twitter.com/sarbani_v

    Linked in

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarbanisenvengadasalam

     

  • Membership Affiliations:

     

    • Member, New Jersey College English Association
    • Life Member, American Studies Research Center
  • Publications:

    EDITED COLLECTION

    Writing & Pedagogy. Special Issue on Professional Writing. Guest Edited by Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam. 14.2 (2022). Equinox Publishing

       EDITORIAL, JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE

     "Bridging the gap between workplace writing and professional writing instruction: New pedagogical directions." Writing and Pedagogy 14.2 (2022): 159-162. https://journal.equinoxpub.com/WAP/article/view/21707/27039

    BOOK CHAPTERS/PUBLISHED  PAPERS

    • “When Learning Goes Viral: Exploring Social Media Affordances in the Professional Writing Classroom.” The Journal of Multimedia Rhetorics,  6, 1.2, 2022, pp. 168-177. http://journalofmultimodalrhetorics.com/files/documents/909b398d-cf1d-4091-8151-5c9240a389ba.pdf. @ http://journalofmultimodalrhetorics.com/6-1-2-issue-sen-vengadasalam
    • "Transformative Pedagogy & Student Voice: Using Empowerment, Awareness, and Scaffolding Principles in Teaching Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Writing,” Journal of Effective Teaching in Higher Education, 3.2 (Fall 2020): 1-16. Available at https://jethe.org/index.php/jethe/article/view/95
    • “Moving towards an OER Pedagogy: Presenting Three Ways Of Using Open Educational Resources(OER) in the Professional Writing Classroom,” The International Journal of Open Educational Research. October 2020.
    • “Superimposing R.E.A.L. Principles On The Project Writing Pyramid: A Paradigm Shift in Teaching Professional Writing.International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction 12.2 (Fall 2020): 108-126.
    • “Publish or Perish: The Pedagogy and the Design of my Writing for Publication Course,”Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature. 1.2 (2020): 1-9.
    • “Encounters and Exchanges: An Intercultural Interrogation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Dramaturgy in Muktadhara in Rabindranath Tagore and the Indian Dramatic Performance Traditions. Edited by Arnab Bhattacharya and Mala Renganathan, London: Anthem, 2
    • "Sharing Insights and Techniques of Creating a Syllabus for a Graduate “Prose Style” Developmental Writing Class.” Book chapter. GLOBETSonline Proceedings, International conference on Education, Technology, and Science.Turkey: GLOBETS, 2020 pp. 315-319, ISBN: 978-605-82371-3-1
    • “Infographics in Teaching and Writing: Best Practices” DeVry University Journal of Scholarly Research 4.1(2018):52-56
    • “Getting the Job: A Book review of How to Get into a Professor’s Shoes.” DeVry University Journal of Scholarly Research, 3.1(2016): 50-52. 
    •  “A Learner-Centered Pedagogy to Facilitate and Grade Online Discussions in Writing Courses.” Writing & Pedagogy 5.2 (2014): 269-99. 
    • “Transposing Information Theory on Ghosh’s Dialectics:   Critiquing The Calcutta Chromosome’s Futurological Vision.” International Journal of Arts and Sciences, 6.2 (2013): 249 -260. http://www.universitypublications.net/ijas/0602/html/H3V222.xml 
    •  “Amitav Ghosh: Novelist, Writer and Intellectual Activist.” Great Lives from History: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Vol 1, Ed. Gary Okihiro. Ipswich: Salem Press, 2012.
    • “The De Debate: Cultural Politics and De’s Novels.” In the Fiction of Shobha De. Ed.Jaydipshinh Dodiya. New Delhi: Prestige books, 2000:  31-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=HpkgAQAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=sarbani 
    •  “Dramatic Strategies and the Post-Colonial Condition: A Comparative Study of the Nigerian and the Indian Theatrical situation.” Commonwealth Literature: Recent Perspectives. New Delhi: Creative Books, 1999: 36-45.https://books.google.com/books?id=oZYfAQAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Theatrical+situation 
    •  “Who is a Better Feminist-the rural Parboti or the Urban Romola?: A Study of Ashapurna Debi’s Distant Windows.” Indian Women Novelists. Ed. R. K. Dhawan.  New Delhi: Prestige, 1995:  35-149.
    • “What’s New About the New Theater?: A Comparative Study of Badal Sircar’s Procession with Wole Soyinka’s The Road as Post–colonial Theatre.” New Directions in Indian Drama. Eds. Sudhakar Pandey & Freya Barua. New Delhi:  Prestige, 1994: 72-84 
    • “Cultural Encounters and National Character: A Comparative Study of the Myth of the American and the Indian Frontier.” Closing of the American Frontier: A Centennial Retrospect, 1890-1990. Ed. David E Harrell. Hyderabad: American Studies Research Center, 1994: 1-26.
    • "Whither African-English Literature?” African Literature Today. Ed. R.K.Dhawan. New Delhi: Prestige, 1994.
    • “How ‘Red’ is ‘Black’?: An Analysis of the Relationship of the African-American Movement with Marxism.” Literature and Politics in Twentieth Century America.  Ed. Glen Johnson. Hyderabad: American Studies Research Center, 1993:32-40.
    • “Moving with the Movement: A study of the Inputs, Influences and Interpretations of the American Movement with the African American movement as Manifested in Poetry.” The Commonwealth Review 8.1 (1992-3): 37-48.
    •  “A tete-a-tete  about African Literature with Bernth Lindfors.” The Commonwealth Review 4.1 (1992-3): 9-18. 

    RECENT PRESENTATIONS

    • “Sharing the  Insights and Techniques of Creating a Syllabus on a Graduate Writing Class” GLOBETSonline, International Conference, 6 June 2020.
    • “Why OER is poised to revolutionize academia: Offering Best Practices for an OER pedagogy.” New Jersey Writing Alliance Conference, May 2019
    • “Sharing Insights and Techniques of Creating a Syllabus for Real World writing,” New Jersey College English Association Conference, March 2019.
    •  "From the Classroom: The Why and the How of the Infographic Wow” NEG Symposium, New Jersey, April 2018
    •  "When Learning goes Viral Using social media tools to expand teaching spaces” Explore, Collaborate, Innovate. UMUC conference 2017 Feb 1-2, 2017
    • “What’s Revolutionary About the Santiniketan style of theater?: An Investigation of  the Dramatics of The Waterfall,” Presented in  and chaired ‘Forms of Postcoloniality’ panel, New Jersey College English Association Conference April 16, 2016. 
    • .“Socializing Virtual learning Spaces: Exploring Pedagogical Affordances of Select Web 2.0 tools”, 47th Annual NeMLA convention, Hartford, Connecticut, Mar 19, 2016.
    •  “Threads & Trees: Using Learner-Centered Pedagogy in Online Discussion Areas & Peer Review Boards," Online Learning Conference, New Jersey 2013.                        
    • “Transposing Information Theory on Ghosh’s Dialectics: The Calcutta Chromosome Makes Transhumans,” International Journal of Arts and Sciences' conference, Harvard campus, Boston, 2013. 
    • "All Things Explained: Demonstrating Use of Taxonomy and Rubrics", OIRT Technology Showcase, New Jersey, 2012.
    • How less is too less? : Facilitating and Grading Threaded Discussions in Online English Classes” NJEdge Conference 2012.  http://conference.njedge.net/2012/poster-session/
    • “THE “WRITE” AND THE “WRONG”: Facilitating and Promoting Student Engagement in Threaded Discussions in an Online Writing Class: New Jersey Writing Alliance, 2012. http://njwritingalliance.weebly.com/2012-conference.html 
    • “Virtual Facilitation of Research Projects,” University of Maryland University College Sharefair: Adelphi, Maryland 2011. http://contentdm.umuc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15434coll5/id/1063 
    • “Asynchronous Distance Learning Via Internet: Virtual Facilitation of real-world projects,” Twelfth Annual Faculty Best Practices showcase:  New Jersey, 2011.