Composition Forum 51, Spring 2023
http://compositionforum.com/issue/51/

From the Editors: Volume 51

Christian Weisser, Ashley Holmes, and Faith Kurtyka

Composition Forum’s central purpose is to publish articles and other forms of scholarship that engage the intersections of writing theory and pedagogy. Scholarly work addressing this intersection is vital, both in our understanding of writing as a subject and in the application of writing pedagogy across diverse contexts. We see writing theory and pedagogy as two sides of a coin; they cannot be split in our scholarly conversations any more than they could be divorced in what we do in our classrooms. Consequently, we are pleased to share the range of voices and perspectives merging theory and pedagogy in this volume. The articles, program profiles, and reviews published in Volume 51 all contribute to our understanding of how writing theory and pedagogy transpires in varied settings.

The volume features six articles that engage the intersections of theory and pedagogy in writing studies. Enrolling or Serving?: Interest Convergence in Institutional Support of Writing Programs at HSIs by Jamila M. Kareem draws on conversational interview methods and data to analyze the three Florida Hispanic-serving institutes through critical race theory’s interest convergence thesis. Lindsey Ives and Linnea Spitzer’s Student to Scholar: Mentorship, Recontextualization, and the Threshold of Scholarly Publication in Rhetoric and Composition draws on survey data to suggest that mentorship should help emerging scholars develop strategies for recontextualizing genre knowledge in response to diverse rhetorical situations. In Making Self, Making Context: Personal Meaning, Generative Dispositions, and Transfer in First-Year Composition, Jerry Stinnett explores the sources of student dispositions toward rhetorical approaches to first-year writing instruction through a case study, arguing that dispositions are attitudinal and affective expressions of identity formation. Composition Studies and Transdisciplinary Collaboration: An Overview, Analysis, and Framework for University Writing Programs by Justin K. Rademaekers offers a theoretical synthesis that brings transdisciplinary research theory into conversation with composition theory and pedagogy by providing an overview of the core principles of transdisciplinary research, offering an activity systems interpretation of transdisciplinary research, and outlining a framework for incorporating transdisciplinary collaboration into university composition programs. Tim Becker’s The Spatial Metaphors of Transfer identifies four dimensions of spatiality as transfer’s experiential bases, which supports the call to replace transfer with a more generative metaphor, turning needed attention to pragmatic issues of uptake and circulation. In Attention to Language in Composition, Laura Aull historicizes attention to language in composition in three traditions, then categorizes the main challenges to attention to language in the field, then offers two pedagogical interventions. If you have questions or comments about the articles in this volume, or wish to propose an article, contact Managing Editors Ashley Holmes and Faith Kurtyka.

This volume offers two program profiles addressing the intersection between writing theory and pedagogy. Drawing on Our Jesuit Mission to Make the Case for Rhetoric: A Profile of the Rhetoric and Composition Minor at Holy Cross by N. Claire Jackson and Sarah Klotz describes staffing challenges in their Rhetoric and Composition minor and the development of a gateway course that was deeply situated within a unique Jesuit small liberal arts context. In Localizing Curricula through Collective Actions: A Case of Aspirational Change at a Newly Designated Hispanic Serving Institution, Angela R. Rounsaville describes changes within a large writing program from default orientations of predominantly white institutions (PWI) to practices responsive to Hispanic-serving institution (HSI). The profile focuses on outcomes development and localizing curricula for students’ languages, and literacies. If you’d like to propose a profile of your institution’s program, please send a query to our program profile editors Crystal Fodrey and Christopher Shosted.

The Reviews section includes three timely and interesting reviews, including a Review of Jessie Borgman and Casey McArdle’s PARS in Practice: More Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Instructors by Jennifer Burke Reifman; a Review of Estee Beck and Les Hutchinson Campos’ edited collection Privacy Matters: Conversations about Surveillance within and beyond the Classroom by Sidney Turner; and a Review of Ellen C. Carillo’s Reading and Writing Instruction in the Twenty-First Century: Recovering and Transforming the Pedagogy by Jess Vázquez Hernández. Please send review queries—not unsolicited manuscripts—to our review editors Rachel Daugherty and Jacquelyn Hoermann-Elliott.

Please follow us on Twitter @Comp_Forum for news and updates about the journal. We will continue to use Composition Forum’s Weblog as another source of information about the journal, and we encourage readers to contribute timely and pertinent information to our Twitter feed and to our blog. Add our feed to your newsreader to receive alerts about new volumes of Composition Forum and other news from the field of rhetoric and composition.

As a final note, we are seeking a new Web Editor (or co-editors) to manage the journal’s website. You don’t have to be an expert web designer, and we are considering various Content Management Systems like Wordpress or Drupal to streamline the process. The incoming Web Editor would work with the current Web Editor (Kevin Brock) for several volumes as they learn and transition into the role. Teams of two or three Web Editors working together are welcome. To apply for the position, send a brief email outlining your qualifications and experience to Web Editor Kevin Brock and Editor Christian Weisser.