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ARTICLE The Role of Historical Study in Technical Communication Curricula Edward A. Malone Missouri University of Science and Technology David Wright Missouri University of Science and Technology Abstract. Historical study within academic disciplines is often used to invest students in their own futures and to create a sense of community among practitioners. As technical communication programs continue to develop, program designers must make decisions about how much historical study should be included. The current study examines information about how much value teachers of technical communication place upon historical study and the reasons for its inclusion in or exclusion from academic programs. Survey results show that attention given to historical study varies by program but that a few resources dominate study within many programs. The authors make recommendations for integrating historical study into technical communication curricula and offer an outline for a technical communication history course. Keywords. history of technical communication, teaching of technical communication, study of history, survey, professional issues Technical communication programs are frequently forced to make curricular decisions based on a variety of needs, wants, and desires. Students, employers, and administrators often have specific desires concerning student training, and those desires, taken as a whole, may outpace the available number of credit hours within any given degree program. Courses covering topics such as technical communication history are often not what students, employers, or administrators have in mind when they think of highly trained graduates who are “business ready.” Translated, the phrase “business-ready” usually refers to graduates trained in using the software of the moment and skilled in aiding production of various types. Programmatic Perspectives, 4(1), March 2012: 42–87. Contact authors: ?malonee@ ? and ?wrightmd@?. The Role of Historical Study in Techn