Former TCR graduate student and current Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech University Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq and USU Professor and CHaSS Associate Dean Rebecca Walton are the recipients of the 2023 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Technical and Scientific Communication Award in the category of Best Article on Philosophy or Theory of Technical Scientific Communication. Cana and Rebecca’s article, “Reviewer as Activist: Understanding Academic Review Through Conocimiento” appeared in Volume 40 Issue 4 of Rhetoric Review. The selection committee for the award noted “[their article] is incredible; it offers a new, justice-oriented way of thinking about the review process, provides a practical guide, and demonstrates the value of its implications to TPC as a whole.”  

Rebecca also received the 2023 CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Award in the category of Best Original Collection of Essays in Technical or Scientific Communication along with co-editor Godwin W. Agboka of the University of Houston-Downtown for their edited collection Equipping Technical Communicators for Social Justice Work: Theories, Methodologies, and Pedagogies. Cana also has an essay in this collection as does TCR Emeritus Professor Keith Grant-Davie. The selection committee found that “The thoroughness and variety of essays [in their book] results in a collection that is both provocative and useful for multiple contexts… Walton and Godwin’s edited collection fills a gap in technical communication work focused on social justice, offering compelling examples of how to ethically engage in social justice work as well as frameworks for how to begin new projects in this direction. The collection offers a great balance of breadth versus depth in social justice research and should be essential reading for those in the field preparing to incorporate social justice as a central tenet of technical communication.” 

Rebecca says, “Both of these awards are for collaborative projects with brilliant scholars who are a delight to work with. I do my best work when I get to partner with scholars like Dr. Itchuaqiyaq and Dr. Agboka because we not only share the load but really stretch each other with new ways of thinking and writing.” 

Both awards will be presented on February 17 at the CCCC Annual Convention in Chicago.