This article contests the prevailing assumption that composition scholarship has only recently begun to theorize the role of the writing program administrator. While many contemporary scholars accept the idea that the field mainly offered practical "how-to" articles early on in its history, the author rereads work from past decades to show…

Walter Ong tells us that the noetic--the rhetorical characteristics of feeling, sensation, and intuition applied to a given communicative situation or act--stems from the oral tradition. The noetic contrasts with the print legacy of argument in which "teaching something is the same as 'proving' it'" ("Ramus" 156). Ong's sense of the noetic…

The author of this article laments the gap in knowledge that he sees in composition scholarship as it relates to teaching writing students how to be both analytical and subjective within an increasingly complex world. He observes that the theory behind teaching such critical skills often lags teaching practice by decades. Moreover he describes…

In an experimental writing course we taught at a northeastern state university, we explored "queer" and "writing," hoping to discover what students could create by merging these terms. How might queer theory help students use writing to reimagine and rearticulate various identity categories in ways that allowed them to reconfigure the mental map…

Presents a course design for a graduate level seminar in writing for students concentrating in either composition and rhetoric or TESOL for the Master of Arts in English at Wright State University. Notes that the course focuses on curriculum design and integrates the practices of teacher lore with the disciplined, critical thought expected in a…

Describes and discusses "Rhetoric 2001," the author's essay written in 1974 asserting that teachers of writing underestimate their role in the discursive construction and reconstruction of cultural structures and processes--and therefore underestimate the crucial, powerful role they can play. Notes that because of significant advances in theory…

Presents a conversation that is designed to get at the differences in definitions of basic writing across institutional boundaries, divergences in placement procedures and assessment mechanisms, and problems theoretical work has had historically in tackling the issues of central importance to educators and their students. Concludes with…

Presents a story that illustrates attempts to conflate theory and practice, enact critical pedagogy, and dissolve traditional boundaries. Demonstrates the axiom that the personal is always political. Argues that personal relationships as teachers and students help both parties to confront and act within the politics of the academy. (SC)

Discusses "teacher-texts" written by composition specialists who identify themselves as teacher/researchers for, presumably, a similar audience. States these texts-model approaches to the literacy classroom are based on reflection, practice, and analysis, but also are a way of representing the classroom in terms of theoretical and/or…

Argues that the relationship between writer and reader (or audience) must be reimagined in writing theory so as to recognize that neither is knowable or static. Suggests that Thomas Kent's theory of paralogic hermeneutics could help teachers advance a theory of audience that would act as a bridge between actual writing and theories of language.…

Reflects on the relationship between swimming and writing; between learning to swim and learning to write; and between the relevance of pedagogical theory and practice. Suggests that graduate students in writing should learn from historical and contemporary theorists but must have their own theories, the codification of their experiences as…

Presents a transcript of an extensive interview with composition theorist and textbook author Charles Bazerman. Considers aspects of Bazerman's work, including the rhetoric of science. (HB)

Presents a transcript of an extensive interview with composition theorist and On-Line Writing Lab director Muriel Harris. Includes discussion of Harris's research, such as her work with online writing centers. (HB)

Uses French feminist theory and the imagery of hands to explore what has been called the hidden or atrophied essence of feminism. Explains how pedagogy derived from such a conjunction enables students to write critically, break bonds of domination, and celebrate choice. Shows how to transfer these theories into classroom practice. (HB)

Presents a transcript of an extensive interview with composition theorist and historian Winifred Bryan Horner. (HB)