Details
 

July 15, 2021
11:00AM - 1:00PM

Institute: Fostering Undergraduate Research in Writing Studies at the Student and Institutional Levels

Facilitators:

Dominic DelliCarpini, York College of PA, dcarpini@ycp.edu

Michael Mattison, Wittenberg University, mmattison@wittenberg.edu

Megan Titus, Rider University, metitus@rider.edu

Undergraduate Research has been clearly acknowledged as a high-impact educational practice.  While the bulk of this activity has been in STEM fields, Writing Studies is beginning to find itself as a leading edge for this work in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Due to the efforts of Jessie Moore (CCCCs poster sessions), Joyce Kinkead (with her recent book on the topic), Laurie Grobman, Jane Greer, and Doug Downs (Young Scholars in Writing and the CCCCs Committee on UR), and Dominic DelliCarpini (Naylor Workshop on Undergraduate Research in Writing Studies)--as well as many others--the field has an important chance to advance its disciplinary work, and to define new ways to engage students in this important practice in ways that are well-suited to our broad areas of research. Join us to learn more about this growing area of work, and to plan ways to advance its impact in your own institution and the discipline. This institute invites WPAs with an interest in undergraduate research to create a plan to bring undergraduate research programs to their institutions. We also invite WPAs whose institutions already have undergraduate research programs to participate, especially if they are interested in creating new strategies for helping undergraduates pursue avenues of research. 

This institute draws on current scholarship and aims to provide WPAs with strategies to secure funding, cultivate university allies, and encourage students (whether in their first or final year) to participate in undergraduate research. To accomplish these goals, we will divide this institute into two parts. In the morning, we will focus on how to obtain institutional support for undergraduate research. In the afternoon, we will address how to engage students in undergraduate research, inspired by our morning workshop and the methods currently employed in the field. By the end of the institute, each participant will have a document that will provide them with the framework for how to create an undergraduate research program at their institution, and how to engage students in that research. Beyond the action plan, we envision the social networking that occurs during the institute will benefit participants as well--and will advance calls for a Undergraduate Research in Writing Studies network that can support the work being done on campuses around the country.

Dominic DelliCarpini is the Naylor Endowed Professor of Writing Studies and Dean of the Center for Community Engagement at York College of Pennsylvania, where he also has served as WPA and Dean of Academic Affairs.  He currently serves as Immediate Past President of the CWPA. His recent publications and presentations are focused on writing as civic engagement, writing program administration, and undergraduate research. He also founded and leads the annual Naylor Workshop on Undergraduate Research in Writing Studies, which has hosted for the past 5 years over 135 undergraduate researchers and over 40 mentors from 39 states and three countries.  With co-editors Jane Greer and Jenn Fishman, he has a forthcoming volume on the role of undergraduate research in the discipline, which will be published by Parlor Press in March 2020.

Mike Mattison is the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Curricular Development and Academic Support Services at Wittenberg University, as well as an Associate Professor of English and the Director of the Writing Center. He has collaborated with dozens of undergraduates on research projects through the Writing Center and through Wittenberg's First-Year Research Award program; their work has been presented at regional and national conferences, and published in journals such as WLN. Currently, he is president of the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW), which provides another opportunity for supporting undergraduates and their explorations of writing studies.

Megan Titus is the Coordinator of the Composition Program at Rider University, as well as an Associate Professor of English. She has recently completed a curricular revision of Rider’s Composition Program, which entails integrating writing tutors into composition classes and a new First-Year Writing Symposium, which will feature undergraduate student research. She has collaborated with undergraduate students on various research projects; these works have been presented at local and regional conferences, and published in journals such as Praxis: A Writing Center Journal. She is also on the faculty of Rider’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program and helps to coordinate their yearly undergraduate student research Colloquium. 

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