Wednesday's colloquium set us up quite nicely to finish the semester with an investigation of whether and how writing studies (very broadly defined) can/do occupy a role in the transformation of the public university. For our final set of readings next week, we will all be reading:
- Kevin Spellmeyer's "Inventing the University Student" (CL)
- and the "Labor and Education" cluster (CL), to include Bronson, Bronson, Myers, and any 5 pages of Meisenhelder's article on MOOCs.
Spellmeyer makes a fairly explicit argument for state-delivered public education at the turn of the twenty-first century as too much involved in upholding the "nation-state"'s ideals. Our article cluster may show some evidence of this, but it may also show evidence of some other problems -- methodological, epistemological, or political. As well, your own experiences in higher education to this point may show evidence of completely different trends altogether.
As you read, please make note of how much or how little your experiences as writers in a higher education environment have changed in response to the social, economic, and disciplinary conditions that typically determine how individuals gain access to certain resources and privileges, or how individuals gain membership in certain communities or groups. In other words, how little or much have your experiences as writers depended upon fluctuating notions of social, economic, discipline, access, resource, membership, and privilege?
When we meet, we'll take up one of his claims to see how far it holds: that by and large, public education is "uncoercive" and unable to empower subjects to be masters of their own fate or future. This is a complicated positioning and invites some unpacking; it may be both supported and complicated by some of the other theories we have studied this semester, beginning with politics of "self vs. other."
Please remember to look ahead to TiRP 6 ("Current Issue Review" -- will take some time to complete!), to keep articulating your critical intervention, and to check our upcoming conferencing schedule. See you in conferences!
-Prof. Graban
