IWCA 2016 Conference Proposal
According to Grutsch McKinney (2013), writing centers (WCs) operate from a master narrative that does not fully capture the complex, multi-varied work all writers (consultants, administrators, faculty, students) bring into the space. Particularly, this narrative does not incorporate the identities all individuals bring into WCs. We consider WCs as spaces of intersectionality where individuals work to recursively develop knowledge(s) along with the ever-present identity of “writer”. We work to disrupt this master narrative with “little narratives” (Daniell, 1999) and alternative narratives which include myriad writer identities. We frame this work through a cultural rhetorics lens and foreground “cultural communities” (C.R. Theory Lab, 2011; Geller, Eodice, & Condon, 2007) to explore the physical and discursive practices that are the foundation of our work.
During this interactive workshop, we explore tactics for working with writers from across the disciplines to collaboratively explore the development of WCs as spaces in which writers are challenged to identify and access ways of knowing, doing, and writing to support the development of a strong cultural community of writers. Participants will engage in activities that address questions like What is a writer identity? What are the existing, master narratives circulating and constructing writer identities? And how can we work to construct a strong cultural community of empowered writers?
Workshop participants will leave with boundary-crossing strategies including constructing little narratives in multiple modes and engaging in literacy improvisation activities that can be used to identify dominant narratives, discuss how they legitimize and perpetuate dominant ideologies, and consider how these institutional master narratives can be disrupted. Through these conversations and by fostering long-term mental habits or dispositions that enable students, consultants, administrators, and instructors to create a coherent community of discourse, we can support the development of critical knowledge and skills that writers use within and beyond the university.
During this interactive workshop, we explore tactics for working with writers from across the disciplines to collaboratively explore the development of WCs as spaces in which writers are challenged to identify and access ways of knowing, doing, and writing to support the development of a strong cultural community of writers. Participants will engage in activities that address questions like What is a writer identity? What are the existing, master narratives circulating and constructing writer identities? And how can we work to construct a strong cultural community of empowered writers?
Workshop participants will leave with boundary-crossing strategies including constructing little narratives in multiple modes and engaging in literacy improvisation activities that can be used to identify dominant narratives, discuss how they legitimize and perpetuate dominant ideologies, and consider how these institutional master narratives can be disrupted. Through these conversations and by fostering long-term mental habits or dispositions that enable students, consultants, administrators, and instructors to create a coherent community of discourse, we can support the development of critical knowledge and skills that writers use within and beyond the university.