Disciplinary Literacy Research
WRA 150 Writing: The Evolution of American Thought
Fall 2014 – Literacy, Identity, Society
Michigan State University
We begin this semester by considering the various meanings of ‘literacy,’ thinking about what we know, of what it means to know what we know, and of how we know and use what we know. Our readings have included an examination of learning and literacy both as ideas and in context with cultural values. We read and wrote about these concepts, looking for ways in which human ideas and understandings of self and self-definition have grown and developed over time, both within individual lives in a narrative essay and in greater societal trends by considering learning and social values though an object analysis. We are seeing that at least part of the ways that we define self are culturally connected and expressed, and we’ve looked a bit at the continual development of these basic ideas and ideals. In addition, through our course materials, we have explored what it means to gain skills and abilities, and how we change as what we learn changes us and our perceptions.
Participation in professional activities also involves acquiring new ways of thinking and communicating, and often, new conceptions of self and identity. To say, “I am a doctor” or “I am an engineer” can mean much more than to simply state what you do to earn a paycheck—these statements also mean, in some sense, that not only do you identify with a professional identity, you also operate within it—that is, you ‘are’ an engineer, but you also ‘do engineering.’
Much like the nature of changing literacies we have already studied, in every discipline of study or work, the nature of learning, communication, and even literacy itself is different. That is, each discipline you might study and each career field you may enter has its own ideas of literacy—its own ways of presenting and analyzing information, its own ways of building knowledge, its own ways of presenting knowledge in written forms. What counts as knowledge and knowing, what rhetorical traditions are used, and what sort of written products are produced within each field vary widely and wildly. Upon entering college (or a profession), you may have no idea what your field’s particular methods and traditions might be, no clue of what it means to become a participating member of that field, no sense of how to ‘do engineering.’ So, now that you know something of how literacy and cultural analysis work in general, we’ll begin to explore how they work in the world of a specific professional field.
Project 3 will focus on building your own understanding of how literacy (again, broadly taken as reading, writing, and production/use of information) is created and operates within a discipline (or profession) of interest to you. By synthesizing information which already exists about your discipline of choice and your insights, (research!) you will also develop experience with research writing in an academic context. The essence of research is to learn. It can seem natural to approach research from a dispiriting angle: “What do I need to do to complete the assignment?” rather than the productive “What do I want to discover?” but virtually all actual, ‘real-world’ research derives from the latter question, no matter the field.
What can you learn about the literacy of your discipline?
I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?
THE PROJECT:
In this project, ask yourself that question: what can you learn about how literacy works in your specific field?
First, decide on a field. Then, collect informative materials. Research your discipline and how literacies work within it. Last, write a source-based essay which combines and presents what you’ve discovered. Your aim will be to share your discoveries with a specific audience—other freshmen who might be interested in that same field. You will learn through your research, and your
Last Completed Projects
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