JT Will Get Over It

Hello fellow CRGers. Well, the verdict's in: we're packing it in and calling it a semster :-(. I know, I know...We're all concerned that John Trimbur's virtual feelings will be hurt because we will not be discussing his article, "Composition and the Circulation of Writing" this semester. But just look at him...he doesn't seem to be too upset. I think he'll understand. JT can rest assured that his article will be first on the agenda for our next meeting--either this summer or next fall.

All in all, I'd say we've had a pretty good inaugural year of our little CRG. Yup. I don't know about you, but the CRG has been one of the highlights of the year for me. Our discussions have helped nurture our burgeoning little intellectual community in the department...and I hope they have also provided another venue for (re)thinking what we teach, why we teach what we teach, and some of the broader issues that impact how we think about literacy.

Thanks for a great year all! And, JT, thanks for understanding :-).

CRG Y2

Yeah, I know, I already posted to the blog today...I guess my earlier post has given me the blog bug again. After posting earlier today, I started thinking about post-spring 06 semester.

This past year, we've had some good discussions in our CRG meetings and I am beginning to think about this summer and next fall. Like last year, I'll put together a list of possible readings for next year. However, I thought I would ask everyone if they have any ideas about what to read. Are there certain articles or books that you have been dying to read? Are there particular issues that you'd like to get into?

Looking back at this past year, it seems we had a Critical Discourse Analysis arc in our readings. I am curious where Trimbur's piece will take us. In any case, if anyone has suggestions for next year, post your ideas or email me suggestions. I'd love to get a head start on putting articles up on eReserve. I was also thinking that if people will be around, we could continue our readings and discussions over the summer. I'm certainly game.

Anyway, just some thoughts as the rain begins to fall. Have a good weekend all!

Where'd I Go? Where We Goin'?

It's been ages, ages I tell you, since I've written. Yes, folks, the semester hit full stride a while back and I've neglected our little space in the blogosphere. The worst part of not writing is that I didn't post a summary of our last meeting. Last time, way back in early March, I believe, we read "Composition Studies and Critical Discourse Analysis: A Study of Presidential Discourse and Campus Discord," by Pegeen Reichert Powell.

The worst part about allowing so much time to elapse is that the details of our last meeting are not as sharp, the tenor of our conversation not as vivid, and the joy of intellectual community mediated by the end of the semester duties of paper grading. But alas, I will take a moment to recall some of what I remember and leave it up to the group to collectively rebuild our memories.

One of the things that we all seemed quite intrigued by was Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and its use in the composition classroom. Similar to our discussion of Micciche's "Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar," many of those present seemed very interested in how CDA allowed a different approach to the analysis of language and student texts. What seemed to stand out in our discussion, was also the ways in which Reichert Powell's text provided some language for looking closely at some of the rhetorical/discursive features of texts and connected those features to broader social, political, and ideological functions of the text. All in all...CDA seems to be a direction that many of us are interested in exploring further next year.

Anyway, I'll keep this post short...CRG will meet one more time before the semester is out. We will be reading John Trimbur's, "Composition and the Circulation of Writing." The article will be available in the CRG binder in the mailroom for copying. Keep your eyes on this space for the specific date and time!