Objects of O₂: A posthuman analysis of differentiated language use in a cross-disciplinary research partnership

Working across professional boundaries in cross-disciplinary research contexts is challenging work for technical and professional communicators (TPC). Utmost among the challenges in such work is the issue of access (Hannah & Arreguin, 2017). More specifically, how does a TPC obtain access, and perhaps even more concretely, what does access look like in cross-disciplinary work? Answers to these questions are difficult to find as access functions on many levels or dimensions in cross-disciplinary settings. For example, there is an immediate physical or bodily dimension to access-how do TPCs gain access to the work space and collaborators in a cross-disciplinary environment, or put another way, how are TPCs invited to be present on a team and work with other collaborators? Alternatively, from an intellectual perspective: how do TPCs access the conceptual and theoretical knowledge that is at work in a research project, the types of knowledge that are essential for substantive participation in the team’s research? Interpersonally, how do TPCs access and cultivate relationships with their collaborators, relationships that often have a long history and already formulated patterns of behavior or attitudes? Finally, as a linguistic or language concern, are TPCs able to understand and use the shared language of the project team (Anbar, Till, & Hannah, 2016; Hannah & Lam, 2016; Hannah & Saidy, 2014)?.