THE HOME PAGE OF
DANIEL WILLIAM LAWRENCE, PHD
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF WRITING
DEPARTMENT OF WRITING, LANGUAGE, AND LITERATURE
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - SUPERIOR

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CLASSICAL RHETORIC
ORIGINS OF TECHNOLOGY
FOLK PHILOSOPHY
DIGITAL MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY STUDIES
RHETORIC OF MUSIC

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DANIEL WILLIAM LAWRENCE, PHD is tenured Associate Professor of Writing in the Department of Writing, Language, and Literature at the University of Wisconsin - Superior. His work applies classical rhetorical principles to technological problems. His Digital Writingtextbook with Broadview Press is used at universities throughout North America and is now in its second edition. His writing is represented by Lighthouse Literary Agency.

He is currently in the final stages of a monograph connecting physicalism and the evolution of human technology, The Origins of Technology: Environments, Organisms, and Rhetoric. The book identifies core problems in the origins of technology and offers an interdisciplinary framework from evolutionary biology and neurobiology to explain the concurrent independent development of human technologies. By blending modern science with the humanities, the book resolves key issues in our understanding of technological origins. The book argues that our present understanding of the origins of technology fails to account for the non-arbitrary, material origins of technology.

His peer-reviewed research on writing, technology, and rhetoric appears in Teaching Reading and Writing in the Era of Fake News, Online Credibility and Digital Ethos: Evaluating Computer-Mediated Communication, Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion, among other places.

Digital Writing, 2nd Edition, Broadview Press (2026)

“Digital Writing will open a lot of eyes to the subtle arts of persuasion employed at every turn of the average person’s daily digital life, arming them with the resource to be more intentional in their participation and more sophisticated in their response.”
— Andrew McLuhan, author of written matter (Revelore Press)

“The new edition of Lawrence’s invaluable book is a timely and necessary contribution to the discourse around digital writing careers and artificial intelligence. Rather than either endorsing generative writing tools uncritically or dismissing them outright, Lawrence offers a welcome, nuanced perspective that I have not seen in other writing and rhetoric texts…. I used the first edition of this book for the last four years in a marketing writing course, and I am thrilled to incorporate the second edition into my class.”
— Katie Sagal, Cornell College

“The second edition of Digital Writing is a fresh and up-to-date pedagogical resource for the study and teaching of rhetoric and digital composition. From lessons in the use of social media to an introductory chapter on GenAI, the book provides well-thought-out explanations of key rhetorical concepts. Teachers will appreciate the work Dan Lawrence has done creating thoughtful and engaging student exercises, making this new edition a thoroughly useful resource for designing and teaching undergraduate courses in rhetoric and writing studies.”
— Jim Ridolfo, Professor and Chair, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies, University of Kentucky

“Digital Writing is important, practical, and easily accessible for a wide audience of students. Though the idea of what it takes to create and analyze digital writing changes almost daily, Lawrence grounds his book in timeless rhetorical principles that are powerful enough to adapt to emerging genres and practices. In addition to giving students strong examples to help understand concepts, Lawrence provides a wealth of approaches to help student writers develop skills they need to write in the age of AI and beyond.”
— Robert Folk, Kutztown University

“Dan Lawrence’s book Digital Writing comes as an excellent resource for anyone writing for digital channels or interested in exploring how technologies can assist their businesses and professions. As a media theorist and writer, Lawrence loaded this book with advice that will serve digital writers; professional writers; business communicators; students; instructors of business, technical, and professional communication; and those curious about getting careers in digital writing.…
— Dorcas A. Anabire, Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

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BOOKS

Lawrence, Daniel William. The Origins of Technology: Environments, Organisms, and Rhetoric. Forthcoming.

Lawrence, Dan. Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web.Broadview Press. 2nd Edition. 2026

Lawrence, Daniel. Disinformed: The History of Humanity’s Search for Truth. Urano Publishing. 2024.

Lawrence, Dan. Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web. Broadview Press. 1st Edition. 2022.

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MUSICOLOGY

Public Domain / CC0 Traditional, Instrumental Blues Albums

Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/daniel-william-lawrence/

Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@dr_dan_lawrence

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COURSES IN ROTATION

WRIT 498-003 Independent Study - The Origins of Technology
WRIT 450: Special Topics - The Nonfiction Book Proposal
WRIT 411: Writing and Artificial Intelligence
WRIT 409: Digital Writing
WRIT 401: Advanced Rhetoric - Theory and Practice
WRIT 309: Technical Writing
WRIT 303: Introduction to Rhetoric
WRIT 209: Professional and Business Writing

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RECENT PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP & PRESS

“What can the Ancient Greeks teach us about the 2024 US presidential election?”

“UW-Superior associate professor releases new book to combat disinformation.”

Cox, Lorin. “What history can teach us about combating disinformation problems of today: UW-Superior professor argues bad actors have been manipulating communication for thousands of years.” Wisconsin Public Radio Interview. June 21, 2024.

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RESEARCH INTERESTS

Classical Rhetoric, Origins of Technology, Digital Media Theory, Philosophy of Technology, Rhetoric of Music

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RESEARCH STREAMS

Rhetoric: For thousands of years, humans have struggled with the relationship between truth, lies, reality, and language. These issues are exacerbated by global, technological communication. Rhetorical and philosophical education empower us to make sense of the endless stream of messages in our lives.

Technology: Through understanding the origins of technology in our natural world, we can better understand humanity’s relationship to technology, and build better technological environments to chart a more prosperous and meaningful path forward for the well-being of the human species. The lens of physicalism helps us to understand human technology as the byproduct of the interaction of physical, material systems: brains and bodies, environments, objects, networks.

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LINKS

Home page: https://danielwilliamlawrence.net

Faculty page: https://uwsuper.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/lawrence-daniel/

Free Music Archive (Musicology): https://freemusicarchive.org/music/daniel-william-lawrence/

Internet Archive (Musicology): https://archive.org/details/@dr_dan_lawrence

YouTube: https://youtube.com/drdanlawrence

Google Scholar Profile: Daniel William Lawrence, PhD

ORCID ID: 0009-0003-4828-097X