Next Steps: New Directions for/in Writing about Writing

Call for Proposals
Next Steps: New Directions for/in Writing about Writing
Barb Bird, Doug Downs, I. Moriah McCracken, and Jan Rieman, Editors
Proposal Deadline: May 15, 2015
For nearly ten years, the writing studies pedagogy known as “writing-about-writing”
(WAW) has been emerging around the country as a significant new approach to teaching
general education writing courses, and first-year composition courses in particular. ​
Next
Steps: New Directions for/in Writing about Writing​
will be a resource for teachers,
scholars, and students who want to investigate WAW and the efficacy of its theoretical
and pedagogical principles. Many of these WAW principles have been empirically tested,
suggesting that WAW's teaching of threshold concepts can lead to high transfer and
metacognitive reflection. These early research results have resulted in growing interest in
WAW and a widening range of WAW approaches.
We seek proposals that demonstrate the breadth of this range, or that consider the
underlying theory and surrounding principles that can make writing-about-writing
effective. Our goal for ​
Next Steps: New Directions for/in Writing about Writing​
is to create
a forum for a richer set of narratives and voices than have so far been published about
the nature of this pedagogy and to develop a deeper understanding of WAW pedagogies
as they’ve evolved over the past decade. ​
Next Steps​
will seek contributions for three main
sections. We invite 500-word proposals for chapters to be included in these key sections:
❖ WAW Curricular Approaches.​
We are seeking two kinds of proposals for this
section—proposals for in-depth explorations (final submission of 2500-3500 words)
and for shorter, vignette-essays (final submission of 500-800 words)—both of which
should showcase the variety of approaches that fall under the WAW umbrella.
Proposals in this curricular section should focus on what WAW looks like in
individual classrooms, including explicit discussions of assignments and activities.
Submissions in this section might explore how WAW works in different
institutional and course spaces, including (but not limited to)
➢
➢
➢
➢
developmental writing courses,
writing courses for international students,
one- and two-semester first-year writing sequences, and
upper-division courses (such as those described by Read and Michaud’s (​
CCC
66.3) “Writing about Writing and the Multimajor Professional Writing
Course”).
Submissions for the curricular section might also focus on WAW as a way to
engage students in conversations about literacy studies, academic research,
composition theories, key concepts related to academic writing, and identity or
cultural views of writing.
❖ Student Research in WAW. ​
Proposals for this section should be student-authored
or student co-authored. Proposals for in-depth explorations (final submission of
2500-3500 words) and shorter, vignette-essays (final submission of 500-800 words)
are welcome. Contributions to this section might explore
students’ perceptions of and reactions to WAW pedagogy and theory;
styles of research supported by WAW approaches;
commentary on the effectiveness and challenges of the approach;
resources (online as well as campus-wide, regional, and national) that
effectively support undergraduate research related to WAW; and
➢ work students ​
do ​
in WAW classrooms.
➢
➢
➢
➢
❖ Writing Program Administration and WAW.​
Because there are unique
challenges to explaining and implementing a pedagogical approach that makes
writing, writers, literacy, discourse, and rhetoric the studied subject matter of the
first year writing course—what the field is calling “writing about writing”—this
section of the book will address Writing Program Administrators (WPAs) at a
variety of institutions. We are seeking in-depth explorations (final submission of
2500-3500 words). Proposals for this section might focus on issues faced in
➢ WAW-based writing programs,
➢ writing programs built around other foci, and/or
➢ writing programs which incorporate multiple approaches, including WAW.
We are particularly interested in proposals that focus on the role of WPAs as WAW
advocates and educators within programs and across campuses as well as
assessment plans and approaches focused on WAW.
Please send any queries and proposals—500-word proposals for full-length submissions
and 200-word proposals for vignettes—by ​
11:59 pm on May 15, 2015​
to
NextStepsWAW@gmail.com​
. PDFs preferred.
When submitting a proposal, please include names, email addresses, and institutional
affiliations for all contributors. Please also indicate the section of the collection to which
your proposed chapter would contribute. Working bibliographies are welcome but not
required. We welcome and encourage a range of approaches and views.
The editors will contact contributors to request full drafts by the end of June, with initial
drafts due by late September 2015.