The Concept: To form a group of faculty who want to intentionally support students in using
writing to enter and participate meaningfully in academic discussion. Each hour-long
gathering will invite collegial exchanges on a writing classroom practice or issue, in dialogue
with disciplinary knowledge from Writing, Rhetoric and Composition Studies (i.e., CCCC
position statements; episodes from the podcast Bad Ideas about Writing; or, essays from
Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies).
The Audience: Open to all, particularly faculty teaching FYS and W-courses this semester.
The Format: Workshops will open with a position or recommendation from the discipline,
followed by small group sharing toward producing a practical teaching text or lesson plan.
Meetings will close with large group discussion to consider how individual content expertise
might lead to different, even overlapping, values in writing pedagogy.
-Optional readings and podcasts will be circulated a week prior to each gathering.
-Faculty may be invited to share student writing from a current class at the workshop.
The Aims:
-To offer a regular time and space for faculty to engage findings from the field of Writing
Studies, particularly as we adapt to teaching writing in the age of gen-AI and
-To foster a campus writing culture whereby we gain a sense of distinct disciplinary
approaches colleagues adopt in the writing classroom.
-Cognizant of how varied writing practices may be, we will be better positioned
to instill similar awareness in our students as they develop their ability to apply
appropriate writing strategies across different contexts.
For more information: Please complete the following form if you are interested in attending any of these events and would like to continue receiving communications about the gatherings: Conversations on Teaching Writing Interest Form.
Gathering Times (Mondays from 4pm to 5pm in Timken Library, Classroom 118)
September 22: Conducting Whole Class Workshops/Teaching Integrated Reading + Writing
October 20: Defining the Value of an Academic Writing Practice: With and Against LLMs
October 27: Scaffolding for a Final Research Essay
November 10: Teaching Reflective Writing with an Eye toward Assessment OR Ideas vs. Errors: Global Issues when Commenting on Student Essays
November 17: Literacy Practices in the Humanities, Sciences, and Social Sciences: Values around Teaching Writing in the Age of AI