• what writing has meant and how it has been studied historically in the field

• where the study of writing is headed or should be headed

• new methods for studying writing: challenges and potential outcomes

• activist understandings of writing

Process:

1. Small group discussion around issues of interest (40 minutes); post 1 or 2 takeaways from discussion at https://padlet.com/miccichel/what-is-writing-r10ki5qzg3po00fj 

2. Reconvene as large group and share insights, observations, questions, research ideas, etc. (30 minutes

-Students will practice writing synthesis/literature; they will need to write a paper/publication; but often without explicit instruction on how to do so or focusing on the broader activities of publication

-Writing a paper vs writing for publication--students might need to bridge the two. It's possible for me to write a paper but I don't feel confident publishing.

-Explicit teaching vs apprenticeship model

Considered the question of permanence in tandem with the question of what writing is. Slipperiness of this at the moment, as well as historically

Revisited questions of orality and literacy, especially updated via applications of various technologies (recording audio, producing audio, audio-to-text, captioning, metadata, etc)

Where should study of writing be headed?

Shift in AI from composing to editing

Unique aspects of AI ethics from the profession

What is our role in regards to AI? Student overreliance on AI for research.

AI as an opportunity: tool for creation, analysis of impact of machine learning on composing practices.

Social media as a data source for social memory: memes, cultural symbols, speech.

1. What does "good writing" look like? What is "good writing" supposed to look like in the context of our composition programs? What do policymakers in this current political climate think "good writing is" and what our job is?

2. How can we conduct writing in the disciplines research? Why is there a lack of this research?