College Composition and Communication Sep 2025

From an Unsettled Middle: A Critical-Ethical Stance for GenAI-Engaged Writing Assignments

Christopher Basgier ; Lydia Wilkes

Abstract

From an unsettled, ambivalent middle between discourses of generative AI integration and refusal, we offer a critical-ethical stance for AI-engaged writing assignments. We apply a critical thinking framework to these assignments, assert critical AI literacy as a kind of critical thinking, and discuss how critical thinking and critical AI literacy can facilitate ethical discernment about generative AI use. This unsettled, critical-ethical stance positions scholars in our field to support context-sensitive pedagogical responses to generative AI across first-year writing, Writing Across the Curriculum, writing centers, and beyond.

Journal
College Composition and Communication
Published
2025-09-01
DOI
10.58680/ccc202577162
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
first-year composition writing pedagogy writing across the curriculum argument writing centers artificial intelligence literacy studies
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