“You’re Not Alone”: An Interview with Tom Deans about Supporting Community Engagement

Abstract

This interview is not the first in Reflections for Tom Deans, a Professor of English and Director of the Writing Center at the University of Connecticut. His first interview appeared in issue 1.1 of Reflections and focused on his work as chair of the recently created CCCC national service-learning committee dedicated to creating “disciplinary momentum” around service learning. He has a career-long interest in community-engaged writing and research, and served as both a Senior Editor and the Book Review Editor for Reflections over several years. In this interview, he reflects on the beginning of Reflections, the emergence of composition’s interest in service learning, and the growth of institutional support and recognition of community engagement. Overall, he finds that despite its early modest aspirations, the field’s trajectory has resulted in a large amount of exciting and important work, and provided a “real viable pathway” for educators who want to build a career around community engagement.

Journal
Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
Published
2020-04-01
DOI
10.59236/rjv20i1pp42-51
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References (3)

  1. CCCC Institutionalizes Service-Learning
    Reflections
  2. Writing Partnerships: Service-Learning in Composition
  3. How Developing a Network of Secondary School Writing Centers Can Enrich University Writin…
    WPA: Writing Program Administration