Resources: A Bibliography

Resources for Instructors in the Disciplines

This selective bibliography will orient those who are not writing specialists to key concepts within the extensive literature on writing across the curriculum and writing centers.

Underlying Issues Pertaining to Students

Students, especially undergraduates, have to negotiate the varying writing expectations of the multiple academic disciplines in which they study. The following resources discuss this issue in some detail.

Geisler, Cheryl. Academic Literacy and the Nature of Expertise: Reading, Writing, and Knowing in Academic Philosophy. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994.

McCarthy, Lucille Parkinson. "A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing Across the Curriculum." Research in the Teaching of English 21.3 (1987): 233-265.

Walvoord, Barbara E., and Lucille McCarthy. Thinking and Writing in College: A Naturalistic Study of Students in Four Disciplines. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1990.

 

Underlying Issues Pertaining to Faculty

Discipline-specific faculty often embrace the use of writing, but frequently need orientation and support to take full advantage of its potential in the classroom. The following resources offer some direction for maximizing this potential.

Bullock, Richard. The St. Martin's Manual for Writing in the Disciplines: A Guide for Faculty. New York: St. Martin's, 1994.

Fulwiler, Toby. Teaching with Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1987.

Gere, Anne, ed. Roots in the Sawdust: Writing to Learn Across the Disciplines. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1985.

Howard, Rebecca Moore, and Sandra Jamieson. The Bedford Guide to Teaching Writing in the Disciplines: An Instructor's Desk Reference. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's P, 1995.

Rich, Carole. Writing and Reporting News: A Coaching Method. 2nd ed. Belmont: Wadsworth CA, 1997.

Walvoord, Barbara E. Helping Students Write Well: A Guide for Teachers in All Disciplines. 2nd ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 1986. (a more recent edition may be available)

Walvoord, Barbara E., Linda Lawrence, Hunt, H. Fil Dowling, Jr., and Joan D. McMahon. In the Long Run: A Study of Faculty in Three Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Programs. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997.

HISTORY

Studying the history of the writing-across-the-curriculum movement helps individuals understand the rationale for writing permeating the disciplines and the political challenges of such an effort.

Russel, David R., "The Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Movement." Writing in the Academic Disciplines, 1870-1990: A Curricular History. Carbondale: Southern Illinois P, 1991, 271-307.

THEORY

Both WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) and writing centers have been accused of being practices without theoretical grounding. Not so. The following readings are representative of theoretical stances in these writing fields. See also the Practice section.

WAC

Bazerman, Charles, and David Russell, eds. Landmark Essays in Writing Across the Curriculum. Davis, CA: Hermagoras P, 1994.

Jones, Robert, and Joseph J. Comprone. "Where Do We Go Next in Writing Across the Curriculum?" College Composition and Communication 44 (1993): 59-68.

McLeod, Susan. "WAC: The Second Stage and Beyond." College Composition and Communication 40 (1989): 337-43.

Miraglia, Eric, and Susan H. McLeod. "Whither WAC? Interpreting the Stories/Histories of Mature WAC Programs." WPA: Writing Program Administration 20.3 (1997): 46-65.

Walvoord, Barbara. "The Future of WAC." College English 58 (1996): 58-79.

Writing Centers

Mullin, Joan A., and Ray Wallace, eds. Intersections: Theory-Practice in the Writing Center. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1994.

Murphy, Christina, and Joe Law, eds. Landmark Essays on Writing Centers. Davis, CA: Hermagoras P, 1995.

PROGRAMS

These readings summarize models of WAC and writing centers. Although some are dated, they illustrate the potential of such programs.

WAC

Fulwiler, Toby, and Art Young, eds. Programs That Work: Models and Methods for Writing Across the Curriculum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann-Boynton/Cook, 1990.

Writing Centers

Kinkead, Joyce A., and Jeanette G. Harris, eds. Writing Centers in Context: Twelve Case Studies. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1993.

Hobson, Eric H., ed. Wiring the Writing Center. Logan: Utah State UP, 1998.

PRACTICE

These selections describe what WAC and writing center programs do. Many of these readings move into the theoretical groundings for practice.

WAC

Herrington, Anne, and Charles Moran, eds. Writing, Teaching, and Learning in the Disciplines. Research and Scholarship in Composition 1. New York: Modern Language Association, 1992.

McLeod, Susan H., and Margot Soven, eds. Writing Across the Curriculum: A Guide to Developing Programs. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE P, 1992.

Thaiss, Christopher. The Harcourt Brace Guide to Writing Across the Curriculum. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1998.

Writing Centers

Silk, Bobbie Bayliss, ed. The Writing Center Resource Manual. Emmitsburg, MD: National Writing Centers Association P, 1998.

Writing Programs

Hilgers, Thomas L., and Joy Marsella. Making Your Writing Program Work: A Guide to Good Practices. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, P, 1992.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment is essential for the survival and growth of writing programs, even though writing presents several unique assessment challenges.

WAC

Yancey, Kathleen Blake and Brian Huot. Assessing Writing Across the Curriculum: Diverse Approaches and Practices. Perspectives on Writing: Theory, Research, Practice 1. Greenwich: Ablex P, 1997.

Writing Programs

McLeod, Susan. "Requesting a Consultant-Evaluator Visit." WPA: Writing Program Administration 14.3 (1991): 69-77.

White, Edward M., William D. Lutz, and Sandra Kamusikiri, eds. Assessment of Writing: Politics, Policies, Practices. New York: Modern Language Association, 1997.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

Assignments

World Lecture Hall is a collection of classroom materials developed by teachers using the world wide web for instructions.

WAC

The WAC Clearinghouse
Colorado State University maintains an excellent clearinghouse for WAC resources.

http://wac.gmu.edu/index.html
Terry Myers Zawacki at George Mason includes links to WAC sites as well as links to the National WAC Network.

WPA-L: http://lists.asu.edu/archives/wpa-l.html
The Writing Program Administration listserv often includes WAC discussions.

Writing Centers

International Writing Centers Association
The comprehensive site for writing centers is the International Writing Centers Association site. Besides information about the Writing Lab Newsletter and Writing Center Journal, the site includes links to numerous writing centers and information about conferences.

WCenter
WCenter has become a major forum for discussion of writing center theory and practice and an important clearinghouse for writing center resources.