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Jerz > About > Dennis G. Jerz [ Professional Biography | Writing Handouts ]

Phone: 724.830.1909
Fax: 724 830 4601

I’m grateful for vaccines and America’s First Amendment freedoms.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

On this website I don’t intend to speak for my employer or anyone else. Views expressed here are my own.

Consultation Hours, Spring 2024

  • Tue 2:30-4
  • Wed 10-11
  • Thu 2:30-4
  • Also by appointment
  • If you would like an in-person meeting (and you agree to mask if you are sick) we can meet in my office, St. Joseph 403
  • A Zoom appointment is also fine.

How to Book an Appointment via Google Calendar

For an in-person or Zoom visit, Seton Hill students may book a 15-minute appointment via Google Calendar. 

  • Make sure you are logged in to your SHU gmail account (and that your time zone is set appropriately).
  • When you click the link to my Google appointment calendar, you will see gray boxes that represent open appointment slots. Click one, and you will see the following.
  • You may fill out the details, or just leave them blank. Click “save” and you’ll see this message. It will automatically appear in my calendar, and I will know to save the time for you.
  • If you see the above message, your appointment has been booked. You are welcome to email me if you’d like to let me know what you’d like to discuss.
  • If for any reason you cannot make your appointment, please let me know in advance, so that I can free up the slot to help another student.

Courses

Address:

1 Seton Hill Dr.
Box 461
Seton Hill University (map)
Greensburg, PA 15601

Link Permissions: Feel free to link to any resources you find on my website. There’s no need to wait for my permission (but I’d still enjoy hearing from you).

Reprint Requests: If you want to reprint an article or a long extract, please contact me first.

Blender 3D Portfolio: Some of my CGI designs.

View Comments

  • Greetings Dr. Jerz,

    I hope you don't mind me sending you a bit of obsequious fan mail. As I do web searches on obscure things that I'm deeply interested in, I keep running across your excellent work. I am huge fan of text adventures and I've even developed my own tools for my students to create them - so I've obviously seen your contributions to Get Lamp I also have a borderline obsession with "Hunt the Wumpus" and was well into reading your article on its history before I realized you were its author. My students love playing the graphic version on the TI-99/4a I have in my classroom. I've written versions of the game for Windows, the Sinclair ZX81, and am working on a Commodore version in 6502 assembly which I may turn into a "home-brew" cartridge. Lastly in visiting your website, I found the article about Scott Adams, with whom I had just corresponded.

    Thank you for all interesting research. It is greatly appreciated.

    Sincerely,

    Evan Wright

    Game Programming Instructor
    Technology Center of DuPage
    Addison, IL 60101

    • What a pleasant message -- I happened to be tending to my blog when your message came in. I have fond memories of my TI-99/4a and a Commodore 64. I'm very glad to know you find my resources helpful.

  • Thank you for your response, Dennis--I think the safest way to proceed will be to list your site as a resource and have folks visiting our site link back directly to you. We definitely want to make sure we don't overstep by quoting from your materials but would like to encourage our readers to gain some valuable insights by seeing what you have to share. Thank you so much! Anne Woita, Hildegard Center for the Arts

  • Professor Jerz, I am associated with a non-profit arts organization in Lincoln, Nebraska called Hildegard Center for the Arts (a 501(c)3). Our mission is to collaborate with existing organizations and agencies to Celebrate the Arts and Inspire Humanity.

    As part of our theme of "Bridges" for our programming for the next three years, I am undertaking a project to work with artists, teachers and therapists to develop and formalize lesson plans focusing on the Arts to be used for enrichment, growth and healing. We are developing the plans to be implemented by those who work with the elderly and those facing the challenges of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (both children and adults--including our Veterans) as well as emotional, mental and physical challenges. We are also working with those who are battling addiction and children working through the grieving process. We will be trying out the plans through pilot programs at places such as the VA Hospital, Retirement Communities, and Child Behavior/Development/Trauma/Advocacy Centers before we eventually post the plans on our website (www.hildegardcenter.org). We'd like to also include articles by professionals and therapists and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas. It's a pretty daunting task but we're digging in!

    I would like to include a series of activities on writing short stories and came across your article: "Short Story Tips: 10 Ways to Improve Your Creative Writing". This resource would be a tremendous help for our participants who want to try their hands at writing, especially those who could benefit from telling their "stories" while in the process of healing. May I have your permission to re-post sections of this article onto our website (we plan to to have everything posted in January) with proper citations to you and links back to your website address?

    We, at Hildegard, are excited about the possibilities our project generates. All plans and materials we are able to gather and post on-line will be free for downloading and use by anyone who could benefit from bringing the arts to their clients/patients. I am hoping you will be willing to "partner" with Hildegard Center in this way to bring the Arts to a larger audience as we also shine a light on all the great work you're doing.

    I will look forward to hearing what you think! Anne Woita

    • Thank you for your note, Anne. You are free to include hyperlinks or fair-use excerpts. I do ask that you do not publish an online copy of my work or long passages (e.g. complete sub sections) in any format. Your project sounds very interesting.

  • Professor Jerz: The Ohio Department of Education is launching a new email system next week. We are orienting our staff on guidance for writing effective emails. I came across your Top 10 Strategies for Writing Effective Email and would like to use several of them in a presentation and handout. Tips I plan to use are #1, #2, #3, #4 and #7. Thank you for the useful article and examples. Hope you are fine that we'll be using them. Patti Grey, Associate Director, Office of Communications and Outreach.

    • Of course, as long as you cite the source. I'm glad to learn you found that document helpful.

  • I had a link to Index of Crowther’s original game, ADVENT. I just checked it and received a Forbidden notice. What happened?

  • Thank you. This blog is great! Instructional and inspiring. As a 40-something man coming back home with 12,000 pictures from world travel, I couldn't figure out how to put my experiences in short, concise stories. You've started me down the road to writing success.

  • Hi there Dennis,

    Wow, I *love* your citation builder! However, I'm having a little trouble understanding some of the terminology regarding web pages. Would you kindly answer the following quick questions for me (for all of us, actually)?

    re: "Author" and "Publisher"
    What is the difference between these two?
    Where would I typically find the Author?
    Where would I typically find the Publisher?

    re: "Title of the Page" and its "Label"
    What is the difference between these two?
    Where would I typically find the Title of the Page?
    Where would I typically find its Label?

    re: the "Date" and the "Accessed (date)"
    What is the difference between these two?
    Where would I typically find the Date?
    Where would I typically find the Accessed (date)?

    Thanks so much for your assistance Dennis, and have a great day!

    • Did you click on the words such as "Author" and "Publisher" and read the 3-4 paragraphs with examples that should appear on the right of the screen? If you find any of that explanation confusing or insufficient, please let me know.

  • Good evening Professor Jerz,

    I just read your article, "Should a Journalist Covering Rocky Horror Live Attend the Show in Drag?" on reddit.com/r/rhps. I noticed one small background fact in your article that you may want to correct: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was based on the stage play "The Rocky Horror Show," not the other way around, as you have it. However, the audience participation you mention, did originate with the movie and has been incorporated into latter productions of the live show.

    Also, I do agree with the advice you gave your student to "dress in drag if they wanted to," but I would make sure you emphasize that they should only go in drag or costume if that is part of their personality. If they go dressed up, and it's not really who they are, they will probably be very distracted by how uncomfortable they are and not be able to report the story through a clear lens.

    Thanks,
    Randal

    • You are right of course -- it was a play before it was a movie. Thanks for the correction.

  • I am hoping it is acceptable to use your papers as supplemental reading for the Presentational Speaking class I am teaching this summer. Marjorie Brody's SPEAKING YOUR WAY TO THE TOP is very informative but does not give the type of specialized informationyou do to complete the SLO's of our college, Baker College of Muskegon. Thank you,

  • I contacted you some years back for permission to use your white paper on thesis statements in my high school classroom and received it (thank you). I have been using your method with success ever since. I am about to cite it from your weblog in my masters' final, with APA and acknowledgement at Pitt. Do you have any problem with this> Sorry I cannot find your email address

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