Isidore K Dorpenyo

Associate Professor

Writing and Rhetoric: Writing and Rhetoric: International technical communication, professional and technical communication, social justice, public intellectualism, rhetoric of technology, technology and elections, politics, biometric technology, and localization.

Isidore K. Dorpenyo is associate professor of professional writing and rhetoric in the Department of English at George Mason University where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in technical, scientific and professional communication. His research interests include intercultural communication, localization, election technologies, social justice, public engagement, and user experience. His publications have appeared in Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Technical communication Quarterly, Technical Communication, Programmatic Perspectives, and the Community Literacy Journal. He is the author of the book User Localization Strategies in the Face of Technological Breakdown: Biometric in Ghana’s Elections. Palgrave Macmillan Press. 2020. He's co-edited three special issues. His co-authored article is the winner of the 2023 CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Award for Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical and Scientific Communication

Current Research

My current research investigates structural oppression by focusing on translation glitches and errors that impact cultural representation and humanistic communication. The project makes the argument that translation glitches are not mere technical errors; they expose the dangers and opportunities of technology. More specifically, they expose the cultural erasure embedded in the structural design of algorithmic powered translation technologies. With more businesses, organizations, and people relying on digital translation, translation glitches will continue to impact the way communities, languages, and cultures are represented. The project makes this argument by bringing together conversations about oppression, technology design, user experience, and systemic injustice to bear on the design of AI powered technologies. This project expands an understanding of a topic in the humanities (values in technology) and explores the relationship between technology (specifically, translation technologies) and its impact on society, especially on non-Western cultures.

Selected Publications

User Localization Strategies in the Face of Technological Breakdown: Biometric in Ghana’s Elections. Palgrave Macmillan Press. 2020

Dorpenyo, K.I. & Fernandez, L. (2022). Towards a Social Justice Agenda: Learning Outcomes as a Site for Coalition Building. Programmatic Perspectives, 13(1): 114-130

Guest Editor (special issue with Godwin Agboka in 2022): Enacting Social Justice in Technical and Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions Professional Communication, 65 (1):5-10

Dorpenyo, I. K. (2021). Local Knowledge as Illiterate Rhetoric: An Antenarrative Approach to Enacting Socially Just Technical Communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 00472816211030199.

Agboka, G. Y., & Dorpenyo, I. K. (2022). Curricular Efforts in Technical Communication After the Social Justice Turn. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 36(1):38-70. DOI: 10.1177/10506519211044195

**2023 CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Award for Best Article on Pedagogy or Curriculum in Technical and Scientific Communication

Equipping Technical Communicators for Social Justice Work: Theories, Methodologies, and Pedagogies

2021-06-01 | book-chapter DOI: 10.7330/9781646421084.c010

Dorpenyo, K.I. “Risky Election, Vulnerable Technology: Localizing Biometric use in Elections for the Sake of Justice.” Technical Communication Quarterly, (2019):1-15

Guest Editor (special issue): “Technical Communication and Elections Technologies.” Technical Communication, 65.4 (2018)

“Mapping a Space for Rhetorical-Cultural Analysis: A case of a Scientific Proposal.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 45.3 (2015)

Bowen, L. M., Arko, K., Beatty, J., Delaney, C., Dorpenyo, I., Moeller, L., ... & Velat, J. “Community Engagement in a Graduate-Level Community Literacy Course.” Community Literacy Journal, 9.1, (2014):18-38.

Grants and Fellowships

Received $10,000 CHSS Faculty Research and Development Award (FRDA)

Doug Eyman, Heidi Lawrence and Isidore Dorpenyo received $30,000 Curriculum Impact Grant to expand and revise the Professional Writing and Rhetoric concentration at George Mason