Members of the Rocky Mountain Writing Centers Association (RMWCA) have selected Dr. Laura Greenfield’s new book Radical Writing Center Praxis: A Paradigm for Ethical Political Engagement from Utah State University Press for their upcoming 2019 RMWCA Summer Book Club. According to USU Press Dr. Greenfield’s book “...calls for a paradigm change in writing centers, imagining a field whose very reason for being is to facilitate justice and peace.” Clint Gardner, President of RMWCA, stated that Greenfield’s book has been “highly anticipated, and will undoubtedly be influential on writing center theory and practice for years to come. I’m really excited that RMWCA members selected such a ground-breaking book to discuss.”
Jamaica Ritcher, RMWCA Outreach Coordinator explained the purpose of the Summer Book Club: "It's not uncommon for writing center administrators to feel somewhat isolated within their larger institutions, perhaps especially so during the quiet summer months. The Summer Book Club is proving to be an easy and really enjoyable way for us to stay connected with each other and with the latest in writing center scholarship." The RMWCA Summer Book Club began in 2018 with a discussion of R. Mark Hall’s Around the Texts of Writing Center Work. RMWCA members gathered online to discuss the book during the summer of 2018, culminating with a session with Mark Hall to discuss the work. Dr. Greenfield will also be taking part in the culminating session for 2019, where she will discuss the book with Summer Book Club participants. Gardner hopes to expand the number of discussions in 2019, but notes that RMWCA has not finalized the schedule yet. The final schedule will be determined shortly, and will be found at www.rmwca.org.
Dr. Laura Greenfield, (Ph.D. in English from Washington University in St. Louis) is the founding Director of the Transformative Speaking Program and Faculty Associate at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. According to her Hampshire College website, Dr. Greenfield’s “research and teaching interests include speaking and writing program administration, with a particular focus on social justice frameworks; critical pedagogy and anti-oppression education, with a particular focus on race and gender; public speaking, composition, and rhetoric; sociolinguistics, with a particular focus on ESOL and racially stigmatized language use in the United States; and contemporary multicultural American literatures, with a particular focus on ‘hybrid’ or borderland identities.” Dr. Greenfield’s previous publications include International Writing Centers Association Outstanding Book Award winning Writing Centers and the Racism: A Call for Sustainable Dialogue and Change--co-edited with R. Karen Rowan (USU Press, 2011).
RMWCA is a regional chapter (covering Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah & Wyoming ) of the International Writing Centers Association. This regional network acts as a support and resource for administrators and tutors and gathers at the Rocky Mountain Writing Centers Conference to celebrate and learn from those who tutor writing. More information about RMWCA and the Summer Book Club may be found at www.rmwca.org.