Composition Studies
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compstudiesjrnl.bsky.social
Composition Studies
@compstudiesjrnl.bsky.social
An academic journal dedicated to the range of professional practices associated with rhetoric and composition.
Conferences build our field, but they don’t have to build barriers.

Read Adisa & Condon in Composition Studies 53.1: bit.ly/www-future

💬 What’s one thing you love about conferences—and one thing you’d change to make them more equitable?
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October 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Freestanding conferencing could happen right where we already gather:
YouTube, Substack, Bluesky.

It’s time to meet audiences where they are and keep ideas circulating beyond the convention hall.
October 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Or regional and pop-up conferences expand reach while lowering barriers.

They’re quick, nimble, and grounded in community needs—a return to conferencing as conversation, not competition.
October 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Imagine a one-day, co-sponsored conference between nearby colleges—recorded talks, shared workshops, open access to ideas.

That’s professional validation without the price tag.
October 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
They propose four ways to rethink conferencing:
1️⃣ Sponsor local, campus-based gatherings.
2️⃣ Go regional to go further.
3️⃣ Think small, move fast with pop-ups.
4️⃣ Meet where we already are—on digital platforms.
October 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Right now, national conferences too often privilege who can afford to travel, take time off, or navigate inaccessible spaces.

Adisa and Condon ask: what if professional validation didn’t depend on boarding a plane?
October 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
If we want equitable writing classrooms, we must rethink how and why we regulate behavior — not just what we grade.

🔗 Read Gomes’s full piece: bit.ly/CS53-1
💬 What expectations—spoken or unspoken—shape how students show up in your classroom?
October 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
He invites us to imagine culturally sustaining pedagogies that:
✨ Center plural literacies
✨ Value diverse linguistic practices
✨ Challenge how schools define ‘good behavior’
October 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Gomes argues that these “behavioral” expectations aren’t neutral. They often reflect White, able-bodied, middle-class norms that don’t align with all students’ realities.
October 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Contract grading doesn’t just assess writing. It regulates behavior—how students act, participate, and even think about writing.”
October 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Kinkead closes by reflecting on what these preferences mean for teaching and for how we think about writing itself.

So—where do you stand: #TeamPilotG2 or #TeamInkJoy?

🔗 Read the full post here: bit.ly/Zen-Pen-Blog
October 2, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Kinkead’s students overwhelmingly favored analog implements for reasons tied to aesthetics, creativity, nostalgia, and pleasure.

From the Pilot G2’s perfect point to PaperMate InkJoy’s smear-proof flair, students described tools as central to their writerly identity.
October 2, 2025 at 4:16 PM
“Pilot G2 or nothing—a hill I’m willing to die on.”

Turns out, even so-called digital natives have strong feelings about analog writing tools.
October 2, 2025 at 4:16 PM
In a moment when “fast” feels like the only tempo higher ed allows, ACT reminds us that slowing down is radical.

🔗 Read the full Course Design: bit.ly/ACT-FYW
💬 How have you built small pauses into your teaching?
The ACT Model in First-Year Writing
by Casie Fedukovich and Brooke Mulhollem
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September 24, 2025 at 2:02 PM
The model draws on neuroscience—slowing down helps cultivate relaxed alertness, an “optimal state for learning.”

“Create a decision point… eliminate decision fatigue… use momentum to fight procrastination.”
September 24, 2025 at 2:02 PM
The benefits run deeper than productivity hacks: ACT builds confidence and rewires habits.

“Helping students fight procrastination and decision fatigue and improve the writing process.”
September 24, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Why ACT? Students were rushing through, fragmenting assignments, and “short-circuiting the long writing process.”

“Writing happened quickly, incompletely, and often without regard to expectations.”
September 24, 2025 at 2:02 PM
So, what’s ACT? A one-minute metacognitive routine:

✨ Abide & Assess → pause and notice what’s actually been done
✨ Choose & Concrete → map out the next doable step
✨ Takeaway & Transition → name one insight, breathe, move forward
September 24, 2025 at 2:02 PM
It’s time to reimagine conferences and volunteerism. What would it take to make them more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable?

🔗 Read Giaimo’s full piece in Composition Studies 53.1: bit.ly/42sukt6
bit.ly
September 17, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Giaimo’s storytelling highlights the divide between the “center” and the “periphery.”

“This is what COVID-19, my stint at MLA, and all my service work has made me realize: academic conferences are experienced very differently from those in the center and those on the periphery.
September 17, 2025 at 2:31 PM