This week, we interviewed Dr. Susan "George" Schorn. Dr. Schorn is the Senior Program Coordinator and Curriculum Specialist for Writing at the Center for Skills and Experience Flags at UT Austin, where she works with faculty across campus to strengthen undergraduate writing instruction. She is also a writer, martial artist, self-defense advocate, and author of the book "Smile at Strangers and Other Lessons in the Art of Living Fearlessly."
Read MoreToday in the academy we are writing lesson plans and finalizing syllabi, writing e-mails to students and finishing novels and bracing ourselves for the start of the spring semester, which at UT Austin begins tomorrow.
Today in the United States, we honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement, and we think seriously about their legacy. In what ways is the current moment a continuation of slavery and colonialism, of civil war and civil rights? In what ways have we broken with that history, and to what ends
Read MoreI am just finishing the semester with ENG 408B: Tutoring Student Writers. In that class, I try to not only provide students with sound theoretical footing and practical experience but also engagement with real discussions within the field. Early on, when we were working to get a handle on the broad-stroke roles and practices of writing center consultants, I asked them to read Trimbur’s “Peer Tutoring: A Contradiction in Terms?” paired with Brooks’ “Minimalist Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work” because, together, these pieces provoke questions about writing consultant authority, which I played against nondirectivity and Socratic dialogue. These have been consistently provocative and engaging conversations with these concepts and sources because there is no simple or single right answer.
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