A Quarter Century of “Social-Ism” in Writing Studies

Abstract

Looking back on the ways writing studies has developed as a discipline in the 25 years since he guest edited an issue of The Clearing House, Pemberton discusses how the “social constructionist” movement in writing research has evolved and expanded over time. He focuses on three aspects of that evolution: (1) understanding writing as a complex social and cultural practice, as reflected in WAC/WID programs and recent research in identity rhetorics, (2) incorporating social media into our writing classes as objects of study and genres of production, and (3) revising our pedagogies and practices to accommodate social distancing in the midst of a global pandemic.