Jo Mackiewicz

Are we giving AI a pulse through language?

English faculty members Jo Mackiewicz and Jeanine Aune are studying how we use anthropomorphizing language – or words that give human traits to non-human things – when writing about artificial intelligence. Their findings can help technical and professional communication practitioners reflect on how they think about AI technologies, both as tools in their writing process and in how they write about AI.

January 12, 2026

4 decades after the landmark book ‘Alone in a Crowd,’ women in the trades still battle bias

Jo Mackiewicz, professor in the Department English and a welder, reflects on whether women still battle equality in trade occupations, decades after the publication of Jean Reith Schroedel’s landmark book, "Alone in a Crowd: Women in the Trades Tell Their Stories."

September 18, 2025

After years as a writing professor, I became a welder − here’s what I learned

Professor of English Jo Mackiewicz has added welder to her vita. In this essay from The Conversation, she discusses what it's like for women to work in skilled trades.

November 5, 2024

Apprentices hone their writing, speaking skills through ISU-John Deere partnership

Department of English faculty members developed the curriculum and serve as on-site instructors for student communication trainings.

August 2, 2022

Jo Mackiewicz publishes “Welding Technical Communication: Teaching and Learning Embodied Knowledge”

Jo Mackiewicz, associate chair for faculty development in the Department of English recently published a book “Welding Technical Communication: Teaching and Learning Embodied Knowledge.” Mackiewicz notes, “I’m graduating with my diploma in welding, a degree I started in 2018 and finished by taking night classes at DMACC Ankeny. My…

May 13, 2022