Contemporary composition's equipment for knowledge making is an ample assortment of theories and methods from Western social science and humanities traditions, as well as, increasingly, non-Western traditions. These are applied to an ever-growing list of locations, events, and subjects of writing, rhetorics, and literacies. Periodically, the field…

For the over 25 million students enrolled in America's colleges and universities, postsecondary writing instruction is critical for success in college and beyond. In writing courses, students gain experience analyzing expectations for writing held by different audiences and practice meeting those expectations. This experience contributes…

In this short essay, I explore in a narrative style the following question: do narrative analyses of sport and exercise need to engage more fully with social theory in order to become more forceful in their arguments? More specifically, to have real impact, and to achieve what we are especially trained to do as qualitative social scientists,…

In this interview, Paula Mathieu explores the rhetorical tactics and contemplative practices necessary to cultivate hope in a period of political tumult. Drawing on her scholarship on the "public turn" in Composition Studies, a term she gave us in her vital "Tactics of Hope: The Public Turn in English Composition," Mathieu…

The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) recognizes the need to promote inclusive approaches and praxes responsive to the needs and experiences of disabled people. Committing to full access and inclusion guarantees the rights of those with disabilities in classrooms and in the profession and energizes practical and…

This document first identifies multiple assets student veterans often bring to writing classrooms and then acknowledges some of the special considerations that writing instructors and writing program administrators (WPAs) should take into account when working with student veterans. After presenting these generalizations, the document offers…

There are many thousands of education researchers in the world, thousands of higher education institutions, and hundreds of relevant research journals. But the EWA has chosen to rely almost exclusively on an infinitesimal proportion of it for expertise. Ironically, the tiny group on which they depend comprises some of the world's most poorly read…

This brief commentary first clarifies Brandt's concept of sponsors of literacy in light of the way the concept has been taken up in writing studies. Then it treats Brandt's methods for handling accounts of literacy learning in comparison with other ways of analyzing biographical material. Finally it takes up Lawrence's argument about literacy…

Composition professionals in post-secondary institutions--composition faculty, writing program administrators, and technology staff--share concern and responsibility for helping students learn to write at a college level, using the most effective communication technologies. Disciplinary practice and research suggest that portfolio assessment has…

As an American-trained compositionist working in the Middle East, Amy Zenger questioned the ways she and others in her position conduct research and construct, revise, or administer composition programs outside of the U.S., particularly when these programs purport to adhere to American models of liberal arts education. Universities and programs…

This article posits that inviting students to interrogate and share their worldviews through personal narratives could promote mutual inquiry across difference. Detailing a series of assignments and activities developed from the model of invitational rhetoric, this article analyzes students' writing and reflections to demonstrate how mutual…

Icy Lee is Professor in the Faculty of Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she is currently serving as Chairperson of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her main research interests are in the areas of second language writing and second language teacher education. Icy is best known for her research on feedback in L2…

Thus far, attention to comics in academia has been focused "on" comics as a subject of literary (Chute; Gardner; Hatfield), theoretical (Cohn; Groensteen, "The System of Comics" and "Comics and Narration"; Postema), or pedagogical studies (Bakis; Carter; Jacobs). There has been less emphasis on scholarly composing…

Jennifer Hitchcock interviews community activist and director of Syracuse University's Composition and Cultural Rhetoric doctoral program, Steve Parks. They discuss Parks's working-class background, career path, influences, and activism. Parks also considers the direction of the field of composition and rhetoric and expresses optimism for the…

"Let's keep this in perspective," writes Jeff Anderson." The Common Core State Standards are a guiding document." Anderson cautions readers to look beyond such artificial boundaries and dive into pedagogy, process, content knowledge, and research that reveals best practices for teaching writing. Educators, he notes, need…