The AWAC Mentoring Committee is excited to announce its newest program: AWAC Reads!
What is AWAC Reads?
Keeping up-to-date on scholarship is often challenging for busy academics. Additionally, it can be a lonely endeavor, with few opportunities to dig into and discuss publications with colleagues.
AWAC Reads, a hybrid reading group, aims to create a space for collegial conversation about WAC and writing scholarship (while hopefully encouraging all of us to squeeze some of that reading into our schedules!). Both AWAC members and non-members are welcome to participate! (Not yet an AWAC member? Click here to learn more.)
How does AWAC Reads work?
- Twice in the Fall semester and twice in the Winter/Spring semester, AWAC’s Mentoring Committee will announce a scholarly article that we will be reading.
- A version of the article will be made available on Perusall, an online social annotation platform. Interested individuals will be able to sign into Perusall, read the article at their leisure, and leave asynchronous comments and points of conversation that other readers can see and engage with on their own time.
- Several weeks to a month after the article is made available on Perusall, there will also be a synchronous Zoom meeting, where readers can join a live conversation about the article that is facilitated by members of AWAC’s Mentoring Committee.
- AWAC Reads participants are welcome to take part on Perusall only, on Zoom only, or on both platforms.
Interested? Continue reading below for more specific information about our first AWAC Reads:
What is our first article?
In February 2024, we’ll read "A Dual Mission: Antiracist Writing Instruction and Instructor Attitudes about Student Language" by Adrienne Jankens, Clay Walker, Linda Jimenez, Mariel Krupansky, Anna E. Lindner, Anita Mixon, and Nichole Guinot Varty. This article was published in 2023 in Across the Disciplines (vol. 20, no. 1/2).
This article was selected by AWAC Reads facilitators Sara Austin (AdventHealth University), Lauren Garskie (Gannon University), and Michele Zugnoni (Northwestern University).
How to join AWAC Reads on Perusall:
You can join the AWAC Reads Perusall here: https://app.perusall.com/join/martin-mm2r3
Due to Perusall limitations, we had to set deadlines for "assignments." These readings will continue to be available for your reading past the due date.
Sign in to Perusall at any time to read the article and engage in asynchronous conversation with your fellow WAC and writing studies colleagues! (New to Perusall? Check out this introduction to the platform from Dawson College.)
How to join AWAC Reads on Zoom:
Our synchronous conversation on Zoom will take place on Friday, February 16, at 2pm ET (1pm CT, 12pm MT, 11am PT). If you are interested in participating in a live dialogue about our article, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/G9AyJ3tAPSK8LMfc7
Whether you have time to read the article deeply or simply give it a skim, please join us regardless! We welcome your contributions and conversation.
Links for the Zoom meeting will be distributed via email a few days in advance of the meeting date.
Questions about AWAC Reads?
Contact Jackie Kauza (jkauza) or Caitlin Martin (martc148).
And stay tuned for more information at the end of the semester about our companion program: AWAC Summer Reads!
We look forward to reading and discussing with you!
Jackie Kauza
AWAC Mentoring Committee Chair
Caitlin Martin
AWAC Reads Lead