By: Clara Ramos
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
(IEEE), as described on its website, is an international, “professional
association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for
the benefit of humanity.” It has many groups of various technical subjects,
such as electrical engineering and computer science. It can definitely be
classified as a discourse community as it meets the 6 criteria as follows:
-Sharing a common
language or vocabulary: Although the IEEE is an international association, its
main language is English since it is based in New York.
-Sharing common
behaviors, practices, or procedures: The IEEE has a basis of helping technology
when taking action. It profusely award grants and awards to further and
recognize technological development.
-Sharing common goals
and beliefs: IEEE’s mission statement is as follows: “IEEE’s core purpose is to
foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefits of humanity.”
-Sharing common ways of
communicating with one another: Each year, IEEE holds more than 1,000
conferences where members meet together.
-Having a common set of
genres: The IEEE publishes many works of technical literature, spanning from
journals to magazine articles to guides to textbooks.
-Have a threshold for
membership: There are many levels of membership that can be acquired, the
highest being the IEEE Fellow. An example of a threshold for membership is becoming
a Fellow: the candidate needs to be nominated by their peers and be approved by
the IEEE Board of Directors.
IEEE upholds a code of
ethics which contain 10 statements such as “to be honest and realistic in
stating claims or estimates based on available data.” It mainly defines ethics
on how to treat other people and their work. Through their code of ethics, a
high value is placed upon teamwork and fairness.
Professor Middleton;
CAL-103-H
Sites used:
http://www.ieee.org/about/today/at_a_glance.html#sect1
http://www.ieee.org/about/vision_mission.html
http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html
http://www.ieee.org/about/today/at_a_glance.html#sect1
http://www.ieee.org/about/vision_mission.html
http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html
Clara,
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have already done some research on this community, which shows, because you have a strong sense of how they meet the 6 criteria of discourse community and how they function ethically. I don't think I have much to add to what you've said here, except that for the language/vocabulary, you might think about some of the terminologies that repeatedly arise on their website or in their journals. But rather than a random list of vocabulary terms, try to contextualize them. There are a few ways to do this. First, you might think of the most fundamental terms that are the absolute foundational vocabulary all IEEE members need to know. Second, you might think of the categories of vocabulary terms rather than the terms themselves and consider more deeply why those categories of terms are important. Third, you might discuss the vocabulary throughout the paper as the terms come up naturally in other facets of the discussion, much like Geertz did, introducing Balinese cockfighting terms naturally throughout the course of his conversation regarding the other criteria.