The latest issue of my discipline’s professional journal, Technical Communication, is online now and the cover‘s quite special.
As editor Sam Dragga explains, the cover art lists all of the academics and practitioners who contributed to this month’s articles, including me.
There’s a chapter in Hebrews that catalogues the exploits and experiences of several former or current community heroes: Abel, Noah, Sarah, Moses’ parents, Rahab. Having recounted what these people once did to express their faith, the writer points to “this great cloud of witnesses” whose lives can inspire and encourage.
Even if it appears we’re working on new territory and alone, we aren’t. Remembering those who’ve come before us isn’t just a smart way to recall what they did and gave as we nagivate situations all our own; it’s also psychologically affirming to perceive ourselves as part of a larger collective story than the stories we can write as lone rangers.
As I look at that journal cover, I see a cloud of witnesses. Many of them are alumni from my former department and program, people who’ve actively shaped the discipline of technical communication. We offer new perspectives based on what we’ve learned from being out in the field, and, article by article, we ensure that the discipline also accounts for populations that haven’t historically been included.
A great cloud of witnesses walks with us as we apply the tools of technical communication and rhetoric wherever we are. It’s just up to us to be part of that cloud for the next generation of professionals.