Absent Voices: Rethinking Writing Women Safe

Abstract

My experiences teaching a service-learning composition class entitled Writing Women Safe that dealt with sexual violence against women point to a missing link between course content and community-based activism. Students in my all-female class wrote about and discussed the reality of rape, sometimes in the context of their own lives. However, for all the real talk about a real crime, our well-intentioned service component, the design of informational pamphlets for a rape crisis center, did not draw on students' personal resources, nor evoke a believable sense of "change agency." Greater engagement with avenues for action through writing, perhaps via the community partner's work in the local justice system, as well as deeper reflection on students' strengths and positioning, are central concerns as I revise my approach to the course. Faced with the prospect of one day implementing Writing Women Safe at my new institution, I argue that, as educators and scholars committed to community-based learning, we must develop partnerships that push all involved more deeply into honest assessment of needs, resources, and perspective.

Journal
Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric
Published
2008-09-01
DOI
10.59236/rjv8i1pp3-21
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References (10)

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  2. Additionally, his composition course reader, You Are Here: Readings on Higher Education for College Writers (…
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    Reflections: A Journal of Writing, Service-Learning, and Community Literacy
  4. Collision Course: Conflict, Negotiation, and Learning in College Composition
  5. You Are Here: Readings on Higher Education for College Writers Upper Saddle River
Show all 10 →
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  4. Service Learning: A Movements Pioneers Reflect on Its Origins, Practice, and Future
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    PS, Political Science and Politics