Across the Disciplines, Volume 1
January through December 2004
Editors' Note: On Launching ATD
Sharon Quiroz and Mike Palmquist welcome you to ATD, reflect on its origins, and consider its direction. (Published March 8, 2004)
Column: Pam Childers on WAC, CAC, and Writing Centers in Secondary Education
Pam Childers considers "how those of us involved in WAC/CAC give to our colleagues in ways that enable us to receive an even bigger gift — that of learning from them as we learn with them." (Published March 8, 2004)
Special Issue:
Classrooms after the Events of September 11, 2001,
Guest Edited by Carra Leah Hood
Carra Leah Hood brings together a collection of essays and photography that allows us to share teachers' reflections on the impact of the events of September 11, 2001, on our teaching and our students' learning. (Published March 8, 2004)
Featured Articles:
Re-Inventing the Modern University with WAC: Postmodern Composition as Cultural and Intellectual History, by Robert Samuels
Robert Samuels examines the new role that Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) programs are playing in the rethinking of academic culture and discourse at contemporary universities. (Published December 12, 2004)
The Next Stage is a System: Writing Across the Curriculum and the New Knowledge Society, by Jessica Yood
Jessica Yood argues that WAC initiatives can help us better understand how the academy can act in the information age. Drawing on her observations of a newly emerging WAC program, she offers "an alternative approach to the traditional lens we use to look at disciplines or culture" and suggests that we consider systems theory as a way to observe the unique relationship between knowledge and Composition. (Published December 12, 2004)
Architects of Change: Writing Enhanced Course Program Development and Core Reform, by Linda Anstendig, Eugene Richie, Shannon Young, Pauline Mosley and Bette Kirschstein
Linda Anstendig and her colleagues report on the synergisms that developed as their university–wide Writing Enhanced Course Program was implemented in parallel with their university's new core curriculum. They evaluate their program and suggest the directions they plan to take now that it is firmly established within the core curriculum. (Published October 8, 2004)
Can Cross-Disciplinary Links Help us Teach "Academic Discourse" in FYC?, by Elizabeth A. Wardle
Drawing on an activity theory analysis, Elizabeth A. Wardle considers whether cross-disciplinary FYC collaborations can help us achieve current FYC goals. Her analysis of learning community linked FYC courses at a large Midwestern university suggests that learning community teachers are faced with as many–if not more–challenges as traditional FYC teachers when asked to prepare their students for academic discourses. (Published July 27, 2004)
The Dialogization of Genres in Teaching Narrative: Theorizing Hybrid Genres in Classroom Discourse, by Mary M. Juzwik
Mary M. Juzwik draws on a grounded study to propose a hybrid theory of classroom genres that builds on Bauman's conceptualization ofthe "dialogization of genres."This perspective foregrounds Bakhtin's earlier and more literary work, while backgrounding Bakhtin's later, more social scientific perspectives on genre.In particular, Juzwik considers problems with Bakhtin's distinctions between primary and secondary genres as they have been understood by researchers conducting genre analysis in academic contexts. (Published June 25, 2004)
Copyright, Access and Digital Texts, by Charles Lowe
Charles Lowe argues that the utopian dream of an open source idea economy is the antithesis of the dystopia imagined by content providers. He urges teachers to take a careful look at the open access movement and the work of Creative Commons. (Published March 8, 2004 Note: This article was a finalist for the 2003-2004 Kairos Best Academic Webtext Award. Congratulations, Charlie.)
Writing as Situated Thinking in General Education, by Yvonne Merrill
Yvonne Merrill argues that the use of critical thinking as an inducement for curricular reform in general education "is the surest and best way to implement writing across the curriculum, particularly at a large school with no formal WAC program." She chronicles the use of this approach at the University of Arizona and reflects on its implications for other institutions. (Published March 8, 2004)
Reviews:
This review draws on the efforts of a large cast of reviewers who will report on individual conference sessions, workshops, and special events at this year's Conference on College Composition and Communication. (Published April 10, 2004)
The Ongoing Legacy of Wendy Bishop Is In Our Stories, reviewed by Will Hochman
Will Hochman reviews The Subject is Story: Essays for Writers and Readers, edited by Wendy Bishop and Hans Ostrom. (Published March 8, 2004)