An MTSU graduate teaching assistant who is helping to guide the direction of English composition instruction was the guest on a recent “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Sidney Blaylock

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Sidney Blaylock, a doctoral candidate in English with a concentration in rhetoric and composition, first aired July 28 on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.

You can hear that conversation above.

Blaylock is one of only 10 scholars in the nation appointed to the 2020 Bedford New Scholars Advisory Board by Macmillan, a longtime publisher of educational texts and materials.

The panel, which conducted its first virtual meeting in June, is charged with advising Macmillan on how teaching materials can be more effectively created and more effectively used in composition classes.

At the same time, Blaylock and his fellow board members are making professional connections with other scholars and learning about the educational publishing industry.

“That was actually covered in the very first session,” Blaylock said.

“They did a general overview of what it takes for the editorial team to actually come together and produce an educational textbook, all the steps that need to happen and the things that the editorial team needs from the authors and when they need it during the life cycle of the book.”

The Chattanooga, Tennessee, native is a graduate teaching assistant who teaches expository writing and research and argumentation in MTSU’s Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts.

His research interests include multimodality, rhetorical analysis, new media, cultural rhetorics, digital rhetorics, film, and Afrofuturism.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about the radio program, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.