Call for papers

The Writing Studio approach was designed by Rhonda Grego and Nancy Thompson in the 1990s as an alternative method for teaching, supporting, and studying developmental writers in higher education.   Early studio programs, such as Grego and Thompson’s at the University of South Carolina, used “outside but alongside” practices to help students write within academic discourses, and to provide mentored initiation to academic identities.  Writing Studio is present and growing in institutions across the country - from community colleges and four-year colleges through teaching schools and research universities.  In addition to providing continued leadership in student-centered learning for basic writing courses, the model has been extended to include formats linked to capstone research courses (Donath, Spray, Thompson, Craig, and Matthews, 2005), academic support in summer bridge programs (Kean Academy EEO program), and writing experiences and feedback for WAC programs (Gresham and Yancy, 2004).  

  

To date, researchers and practitioners of the Studio model have drawn theory and practice primarily from Grego and Thompson’s  Teaching/Writing in Third Spaces: The Studio model.   Since this book was written, Studio programs have grown and changed in ways that build on, but were not fully anticipated by, this foundational text.  While individual publications, along with the College Conference of Composition and Communication’s Studio Special Interest Group and listserv have served as a clearinghouse for on-going change in Writing Studio theory and practice , no formal collection of essays currently exists to explore and respond to some of the common questions and concerns faced by new and emerging programs.  To fill this gap, and in the spirit of interactional inquiry, we invite Writing Studio practitioners to contribute essays for an edited collection which will: report on Writing Studio programs, explore new ideas and applications for Writing Studio, and pose questions raised by collective and individual experiences with 21^st century Studio work.  

We invite contributors to share observations and theories associated with both traditional and/or emerging Studio models;  we are particularly interested in practical aspects associated with creating and maintaining Writing Studio programs. We invite essays that may include but that are not necessarily limited to the following areas of interest.

•   Sustaining, revitalizing, or reconfiguring existing studio programs
•   Explorations of studio programs at institutions with diverse student learners
•   New areas of study/disciplinary niches where studio presents effective support for student learning
•   Physical/conceptual spaces for studio work
•   Methods to gain and maintain buy-in from constituents (e.g. communication strategies, organizational structures, etc)
•   Strategies for recruiting, training, and offering on-going professional development for studio personnel
•   Established and emerging ideas for the design and use of studio protocols
•   Uses for digital technologies in studio practice and administration
•   Opportunities for and reports on action research in studio spaces
•   Design and implementation of assessments to help studio programs  reflect and grow
•   Descriptions and designs for chains of communication
•   Commonly encountered pitfalls and methods for responding to them
•   Relationships between studio programs and social justice issues

We invite proposals that explore these and other issues associated with the conception, design, maintenance, practice, and renovation of Studio programs.  Proposals should be one page, single-spaced (approximately 500 words) with a separate page for references. 

Deadline for proposals is April 1, 2013.  Authors will be notified of acceptance by May 1, 2013.  Complete manuscripts will be due December 1, 2013.  Send proposals by email to Mark Sutton (masutton@kean.edu).