By Andrea A. Lunsford. I’m grateful to the editors of Composition Forum, Aja Y. Martinez, and the authors of this symposium for the opportunity to read and reflect on the essays included here, since doing so led me to do some very memorable time traveling. And specifically to the mid 1980s and my first encounter with what would become known as Critical Race Theory (CRT)—in the work of Patricia Williams, particularly her “Alchemical Notes: Reconstructing Ideals from Deconstructed Rights.” In those years, Lisa Ede and I were studying (and practicing) collaborative writing, with its implicit challenge to traditional notions of singular authorship as the only valid and valuable form of academic publication. We were attuned to scholars who were resisting such values, rejecting the unwritten but powerful rules against anything other than single authorship, and who were pushing the boundaries of traditional academic discourse in other ways as well.

By Natalie Shellenberger. This bibliographic essay explores the use of Derrick Bell’s concept of interest convergence in the fields of composition, rhetoric, and writing studies since his definition of the principle in 1980. After a brief overview of the concept of interest convergence and its implications to the fields of rhetoric and writing/composition studies, the main focus of this essay will turn to how it is currently taken up within the discipline: pedagogical development, writing administration, and academic scholarship and where to go from here.

By Molly Ryan. Mentorship in the field of writing studies is broadly understood to be an essential facet of disciplinary matriculation, but its features are sometimes slippery to define. Indeed, mentorship is difficult to concisely describe and more challenging still to enact in practice. When it does take root, however, both mentor and mentee are aware of the power and benefits of this sometimes-elusive dynamic. In my own experiences both in my MA and PhD programs, my exceptional mentors entered my life through what sometimes felt like serendipitous chance, as in, I was (luckily) in the right place at the right time to meet them. I know too well how lucky I am to have them as my guides, colleagues, and sometimes even friends, but even as a grateful recipient of the best-case scenario for mentorship, so to speak, I find myself continuing to reflect on how we as a field might better scaffold the dynamic of mentor/mentee.

By Taylor J. Wyatt. Any discussion about multimodal composition inevitably invites the question: “What counts as writing?” This question of what “counts” often reveals an underlying assumption that multimodality lacks adequate academic rigor. “What counts as writing” leads to further considerations, such as identifying pedagogical strategies to help students expand their knowledge in new writing contexts and genres. In their 2016 edited collection, Chris M. Anson and Jessie L. Moore define transfer “as the ability to repurpose or transform prior knowledge for a new context” (370). As they offer their definition of transfer, Anson and Moore note the complexity of the term and write, “for many scholars transfer functions as an umbrella term, encompassing an array of theories about the phenomenon” (370). Kara Poe Alexander, Matthew Davis, Lilian W. Mina, and Ryan P. Shepherd’s edited collection Multimodal Composing and Writing Transfer considers writing transfer and what counts as writing within a multimodal context.

By Meghan Hancock. I came to Threshold Conscripts: Rhetoric and Composition Teaching Assistantships—as I think many of us would—with vivid memories of my first semester teaching first-year writing. I felt some panic and anxiety, of course, at the very idea of a teaching role, but I was also struggling to reconcile the conflicting roles I carried. As Laura R. Micciche puts it in the Foreword to this collection, I was “not-quite teacher and not-quite student,” but was, nevertheless, asked to take on the important role of introducing students to college-level writing (xii). The anxieties and learning moments brought about by these intersecting identities make graduate student instructors of composition a rich and vital population to study, and yet as this collection consistently argues, the field of Writing Studies needs more scholarship examining their experiences. It is this gap that Threshold Conscripts, edited by William Macauley, Jr., Leslie R. Anglesey, Brady Edwards, Kathryn M. Lambrecht, and Phillip K. Lovas, addresses in its collective works that closely analyze the lived experiences of graduate RCTAs (rhetoric and composition teaching assistants) as they attempt to balance their multiple roles as teachers and students.

Gitte Frandsen Kiernan, Julia, Alanna Frost, and Suzanne Blum Malley. Translingual Pedagogical Perspectives: Engaging Domestic and International Students in the Composition Classroom. Utah State University Press, 2021. My first encounter with the concept of translingualism was in a graduate seminar where Bruce Horner, Min-Zhan Lu, Jacqueline Jones Royster, and John Trimbur’s Language Difference in Writing: […]

Joseph Forte Abstract This article argues that writing studies should perform something it terms “construct-focused RAD research,” or quantitative RAD research involving psychometric measurements, to study cognitive constructs that pertain to student writing. Construct-focused RAD research, which today is rare in the field, can provide a clearer sense of what writing pedagogy can accomplish. In […]

J. Michael Rifenburg, Jenn Mallette, and Rebecca Nowacek Abstract This methods-focused article attends to the mechanics of participant drawing as a data collection tool in qualitative research. Writing studies researchers undertaking qualitative research benefit from a wealth of handbooks on how to design methodologically sound studies. However, despite interest in visual research methods, little guidance […]

Paige V. Banaji and Kathryn Comer Abstract The habits of mind (HOM) in the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing offer a useful bridge between high school and college writing instruction. As the field evaluates the benefits and drawbacks of the HOM, we would be well served to listen to students’ perspectives. This article presents […]

Kathleen Lyons Abstract This article explores the role writing teachers play as access-makers. Invoking theories of embodiment, relationality, disability, social justice, and making, the article offers a technē of access as rhetorical framework for developing and implementing accessible writing pedagogies. Technē is often associated with processes of making and knowing; meanwhile, access is a rhetorical […]

Megan McIntyre Abstract In response to a growing awareness of the oppressive foundations of educational institutions, literacy educators have turned to antiracist, culturally responsive (Alim and Paris; Paris), and equitable teaching and assessment practices to combat the inequities (colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, etc.) on which our institutions are built. According to scholars including Geneva […]

Rebekah Sims and Sharon Hunter Abstract This program(me) profile describes the development of embedded writing instruction within a Scottish initial teacher education course: the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE). This programme is the main entry route into primary and secondary school teaching in Scotland, where all teaching is a university-degreed profession. This profile describes […]

Raffaella Negretti, Hans Malmström, and Jonathan Weidow Abstract In this program profile, we describe the development of an integrated, genre-based writing curriculum in first-year engineering physics at a technical university in Sweden. The curriculum aimed at supporting undergraduate students develop disciplinary literacy and an understanding of the exigencies that different scientific genres fulfill, with a […]

Maria Eleftheriou and Sana Sayed Abstract The American University of Sharjah (AUS) Writing Center, one of the first writing centers in the Gulf region, supports a multilingual student body in the transnational context of the United Arab Emirates. The profile gives an account of the Center’s history, peer-tutoring program, tutor-training course, and Writing Fellows initiative, […]

Shane A. Wood, Nikolas Gardiakos, Matthew Bryan, Natalie Madruga, Pamela Baker, Joel Schneier, Joel Bergholtz, Emily Proulx, Vee Kennedy, Ricky Finch, Mya Poe, Norbert Elliot, and Sherry Rankins-Robertson Abstract The University of Central Florida’s First-Year Composition Program has sustained its commitment to values-based sustainable development despite a series of significant changes from 2020–2025. In this […]

Carl Schlachte The picture shows a young white man, maybe eighteen years old, his face wracked with confusion or frustration, head resting on a fist. The background, with rows of out-of-focus books, suggests he is in a library. Thick brown hair sweeps across the man’s head in the style of the time. He is clean-shaven, […]

Yan Li Abstract Over the past two decades, writing transfer theories have significantly influenced curriculum development in first-year writing (FYW) programs across the United States (US). This study examines the theories shaping multilingual curriculum development in FYW by presenting findings from a national survey informed by a transfer-encouraging methodology. Despite the critical importance of this […]

Walter Lucken IV An adequate summation of Professor Ian Barnard’s career in and out of rhetoric and composition studies would require much more than the space allotted. Suffice it to say that from the early 1990s to the present, Barnard, Professor of Rhetoric and Composition in the English Department at Chapman University, has steadfastly explored […]

Christian Weisser, Jackie Hoermann-Elliot, Gavin P. Johnson, and Daniel Ernst Readers of Composition Forum may have noticed a pause in our regular volumes; we postponed a Fall 2024 release while we were making some modifications to the journal. First and foremost, we have upgraded the design and functionality of the CF website by implementing a […]

Sandie Friedman Reznizki, Michal, and David T. Coad, editors. Dynamic Activities for First-Year Composition: 96 Ways to Immerse, Inspire, and Captivate Students. National Council of Teachers of English, 2023. A May 2022 New York Times article featured a graphic with the instantly recognizable design of the Harvard crest, but in place of the Latin “Veritas” […]

Grace Boulanger Knoblauch, Abby A., and Marie E. Moeller, editors. Bodies of Knowledge: Embodied Rhetorics in Theory and Practice. Utah State University Press/University Press of Colorado, 2022. Bodies of Knowledge: Embodied Rhetorics in Theory and Practice, edited by A. Abby Knoblauch and Marie E. Moeller, is an exceptional survey book for scholars invested in learning […]

Yuni Kim Ostman, Heather, Howard Tinberg, and Danizete Martínez, eds. Teaching Writing Through the Immigrant Story. Utah State University Press/University Press of Colorado, 2021. Building on a growing body of scholarship that advocates for student-centered approaches in composition pedagogy, Heather Ostman, Howard Tinberg, and Danizete Martínez advance a narrative-based framework in Teaching Writing Through the […]

Marie Pruitt Lewis, Lynn C. Pivotal Strategies: Claiming Writing Studies as Discipline. Utah State University Press, 2024. Disciplinarity has long been a concern of writing studies scholars. In an attempt to solidify the boundaries and status of the discipline, scholars have defined keywords, outlined threshold concepts, identified foundational texts, conducted large-scale quantitative analyses of books, […]

Hua Wang Vee, Annette, Tim Laquintano, and Carly Schnitzler, editors. TextGenEd: Teaching with Text Generation Technologies. The WAC Clearinghouse, 2023. https://doi.org/10.37514/TWR-J.2023.1.1.02. The rapid rise of AI, especially since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, has intensified debates about the role of AI tools in higher education. While some educators reject AI’s use—particularly in writing […]

Kristina Quynn Abstract CSU Writes supports researchers as writers across their career span at Colorado State University. The program emerged in an already rich writing ecosystem that includes a Writing Center and the WAC Clearinghouse. Since 2015, CSU Writes has helped thousands of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students write more regularly, skillfully, and with […]

Megan Callow Abstract Discipline-linked writing programs can pose challenges for administration and enrollment, but they can also offer valuable opportunities for students to learn more deeply about writing and communication in particular disciplinary contexts. This program profile features one enduring discipline-linked writing program at the University of Washington; to describe the program’s history, organization, and […]

Kimberly K. Gunter, Lindy E. Briggette, Mary Laughlin, Tiffany Wilgar, and Nadia Francine Zamin Abstract In this program profile, we recount the development of Fairfield University’s award-winning WAC/WID program. We specifically describe the roles of labor and disciplinarity in building “shock-absorbent” WAC program architectures that enable WAC programs to persist. Arguing that labor resources are […]

Megan Von Bergen, Kelly Sauskojus, Amber Kent-Johnson, and Lisa King Abstract The article addresses the process of making significant programmatic changes to the PhD exams in the Rhetoric, Writing, and Linguistics division in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Drawing from the various experiences and positionalities of the authors, the article […]

Manny Piña and Susan Wolff-Murphy Abstract This article examines the complexity with teaching for transfer (TFT) as curricular content through a qualitative study of how TFT was experienced by first-year writing (FYW) students at a regional, Hispanic-Serving public institution. Our analysis of reflective student writing supports previous studies that show that the curriculum supports the […]

Adam Phillips Abstract This article focuses on the academic job market for the field of Writing Studies primarily using data from 2021–2022 to provide insight for early career scholar-teachers. This study looks at the total jobs available for the 2021–2022 job market compared to previous years, the number of tenure-track (TT) and non-tenure-track (NTT) positions, […]

Caitlin Martin and Mandy Olejnik Abstract Composition, rhetoric, and writing studies (CRWS) as a field has historically recognized the importance of mentoring for graduate students, but there can be a disconnect between learning theory and how mentoring occurs in practice. In this article, we argue for a more systematic approach to graduate student mentoring that […]

Jeaneen S. Canfield Abstract There are multi-faceted, invisible layers within a writer that impact the writer’s processes. Since these layers are not necessarily brought to conscious awareness or made visible, however, the writing process contains unintentional influencers. I forward these notions to argue for intentional pedagogical practices that not only consider ideas of space, place, […]

Emily Barrow DeJeu Abstract While templates for academic writing, like those offered in the popular textbook They Say/I Say, have been embraced by some, others still question the extent to which an emphasis on form comes at the expense of substance. But ancient rhetoricians offer a theory of rhetoric that unites style and substance, and […]

Daniel Libertz Abstract Over the past decade, more attention to data, quantitative, and critical data literacies in writing studies has led to a variety of approaches for getting students to experiment with data in their writing projects. This article explores an approach combining “data feminism” and “quantitative rhetoric” that asks students to consider data literacy […]

Ben Kuebrich Ira Shor taught for over forty years at CUNY Staten Island and the CUNY Graduate Center. Well-known for his experiments with critical pedagogy, Shor has authored several books, including When Students Have Power: Negotiating Authority in a Critical Pedagogy, Critical Teaching and Everyday Life, and A Pedagogy for Liberation: Dialogues on Transforming Education, […]

Christina Saidy, Emily Robinson, and Kristin C. Bennett Abstract This qualitative study examines the experiences of first-year TAs as they conducted teacher research projects in the TA practicum. We argue that teacher research in the practicum provides a way to bridge teaching and knowledge making, foster a continual and layered learning practice, and extend the […]

Composition Forum is conducting a massive upgrade to a WordPress-based site, which will bring an entirely new look and feel to the journal. But our transition to this new platform will take some time, and there are bound to be some hiccups along the way. All existing links to previous issues (of the form https://compositionforum.com/issue/##/title.php) […]