A Minefield of Dreams: Triumphs and Travails of Independent Writing Programs
- writing program, reform, self-advocacy, faculty development, WAC
Edited by Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch
Copy edited by Don Donahue. Designed by Mike Palmquist.
In A Minefield of Dreams: Triumphs and Travails of Independent Writing Programs, Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch highlight both cautionary tales and stories of resounding success that can inspire and provide paths toward addressing the challenges faced by faculty who lead independent writing programs (IWPs). More than a decade after O'Neill, Crow, and Burton's survey of IWPs—and with attention to some of the same programs addressed in that collection—the contributors to this collection assess the state of IWPs at a variety of American and Canadian institutions. The four sections in the book address key issues faced by IWPs: the quest for independence; disciplinarity, labor, and professionalization; curricular reforms, program design, and faculty training and empowerment; and rhetorics of transformation and justice.
Table of Contents
Open the entire book: In PDF Format 
In ePub Format 
Foreword, Barry Maid
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.1.2
Introduction. Toward a Schema of Independent Writing Programs, Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.1.3
Part I. Mythos: The Stories We Tell
Chapter 1. Coming into Being: The Writing Department at Grand Valley State University in its 13th Year, Dan Royer and Ellen Schendel
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.01
Chapter 2. An Outsider's Perspective: Curriculum Design and Strategies for Sustainability in a Canadian IWP, Judith Kearns and Brian Turner
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.02
Chapter 3. An Alternative History of an Interdependent Writing Program, Keith Hjortshoj
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.03
Part II. Topoi: The Places We Inhabit
Chapter 4. TA Training in an Independent Writing Program: Revisiting the Old Comp./Lit. Split in a New Venue, Jennifer K. Johnson
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.04
Chapter 5. Integrating Writing into the Disciplines: Risks and Rewards of an Alternative Independent Writing Program, W. Brock MacDonald, Margaret Procter, and Andrea L. William
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.05
Chapter 6. Still Trying to Break Our Bonds: Contingent Faculty, Independence, and Rhetorics from Below and Above, Georgia Rhoades, Kim Gunter, and Elizabeth Carroll
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.06
Chapter 7. Part of the Fabric of the University: From First Year through Graduate School and Across the Disciplines, Chris Thaiss, Sarah Perrault, Katharine Rodger, Eric Schroeder, and Carl Whithaus
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.07
Part III. Techne: The Methods We Employ
Chapter 8. Inscribing Justice: IWPs and Inclusivity Education, Michelle Filling-Brown and Seth Frechie
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.08
Chapter 9. Quo Vadis, Independent Writing Programs? Writing about Writing and Rhetorical Education, Cristina Hanganu-Bresch
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.09
Chapter 10. Not Just Teachers: The Long-Term Effects of Placing Instructors in Administrative Roles in an Independent Writing Program, Laura J. Davies
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.10
Part IV. Praxis: The Transformations We Enact
Chapter 11. Managing Change in an IWP: Identity, Leadership Style and Communication Strategies, Valerie C. Ross
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.11
Chapter 12. Navigating the Minefield of Dreams: Branding and Strategic Planning as Conceptual Core for Independent Programs, Justin Everett
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.12
Chapter 13. The Five Equities: How to Achieve a Progressive Writing Program within a Department of English, William B. Lalicker
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.2.13
Afterword. Between Smoke and Crystal: Accomplishing In(ter)dependent Writing Programs, Louise Wetherbee Phelps
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.1.2
Epilogue. Marginalization on the Home Front: The Curious Sibling Relationship between English Studies and Composition Studies. A Personal Account, George D. Gopen
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810.1.3
About the Editors
Justin Everett is Director of Writing Programs at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, where he was instrumental in the formation of the university's independent writing program. With Robert Lamm, he is author of Dynamic Argument (Houghton Mifflin 2007 and Cengage 2012) and, with Jeffrey Shanks The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales: The Evolution of Modern Fantasy and Horror (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015). His research interests include writing program administration and popular culture.
Cristina Hanganu-Bresch is Assistant Professor in Writing and Rhetoric and Assistant Director of Writing Programs at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, where she helped establish a Writing Minor and Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives. She has a strong pedagogical interest in scientific writing and medical rhetoric and has published articles and chapters on psychopharmaceutical advertising, asylum genres, and patient memoirs. Her work (with Carol Berkenkotter) has appeared in Written Communication and Literature and Medicine.
Publication Information: Everett, Justin, & Cristina Hanganu-Bresch (Eds.). (2016). A Minefield of Dreams: Triumphs and Travails of Independent Writing Programs. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810
Web Publication Date: September 18, 2016
Print Publication Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-64215-081-0 (pdf) | 978-1-64215-082-7 | 978-1-60732-651-9 (pbk.)
DOI: 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810
Contact Information:
Justin Everett: j.everet@usciences.edu
Cristina Hanganu-Bresch: c.hanganu-bresch@usciences.edu
Perspectives on Writing
Series Editors: Susan H. McLeod, University of California, Santa Barbara, and Rich Rice, Texas Tech University
This book is available in whole and in part in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). It is also available in a low-cost print edition from our publishing partner, the University Press of Colorado.
Copyright © 2016 Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License. 400 pages, with notes, illustrations, and bibliographies. Available in print from University Press of Colorado as well as from any online or brick-and-mortar bookstore. Available in digital format for no charge on this page at the WAC Clearinghouse. You may view this book. You may print personal copies of this book. You may link to this page. You may not reproduce this book on another website. For permission requests and other questions, such as creating a translation, please contact the copyright holder.