The WritingStudies-L listserv is intended to provide an inclusive space for scholars and educators of all backgrounds and rank to share information related to the field of writing studies.
WritingStudies-L was originally founded in 1991 as the Writing Program Administrator's Listserv (WPA-L). The space initially served as an informal bulletin board for WPAs to connect, but evolved into the main email distribution list for the discipline of rhetoric and composition.
For nearly two decades, the WPA-L operated without a formal institutional or organizational affiliation and without any moderation or community rules/guidelines.
In 2019, the WPA-L broke out into several extended and heated discussions about race and language prompted by Vershawn Ashanti Young's CCCC CFP "Performance-Rhetoric, Performance-Composition" and Asao B. Inoue's CCCC Chair Address "How Do We Language So People Stop Killing Each Other, Or What Do We Do About White Language Supremacy?" Within these discussions, members of marginalized group spoke out about years of being silenced, attacked, and undermined on the listserv. The conversations culminated in an anonymous poster using KKK-rhetoric.
From 2019-2021, a Working Group was organized to establish a moderation board and content guidelines for the WPA-L. The group solicited feedback from WPA-L users and those who had left the listserv and proposed changes to the listserv. You can view the work of the Working Group on their website.
In 2021, the WPA-L became the WritingStudies-L. In its current form, the WS-L moderates all posts and does not host discussions. The Advisory Board consistently meets to evaluate the needs of the discipline and methods to promote discussion.
The WS-L is currently hosted by the North Dakota University System and remains unaffiliated with any formal organization.
Baniya, Sweta, et al. "Coalitional Literacies of Digital Safety and Solidarity: A White Paper on nextGEN International Listserv." Computers and Composition, vol. 62, 2021, pp. 1-14. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S875546152100058X?via%3Dihub
Beare, Zachary. Beare, Zachary, "Apologies for Cross-Posting: Composing Disciplinary Affects and Conflicts on the WPA Listserv" (2017). Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research: Department of English. 121. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishdiss/121
---. “Cross Postings: Disciplinary Knowledge-Making and the Affective Archive of the WPA Listserv.” Composition Studies, vol. 49, no. 1, 2021, pp. 42–59.
Flaherty, Colleen. "More Than Hateful Words." InsideHigherEd. 27 March 2019. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/28/racist-writing-instructors-listserv-post-prompts-debate-about-future-field-and-how
Grue, Michelle Nicole Petty. Walking the Walk: How Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Doctoral Programs Prepare Their Graduate Students for Intersectional Writing Studies Research. 2020. University of California, Santa Barbara, PhD dissertation
Laughner, Caitlyn. Throwing Pots and Pans: Exploring Silence and Marginalization in the Field of Rhetoric and Composition. Diss. Ball State University, 2019.
Olejnik, Mandy, and Cara Marta Messina. "On the Front Lines: Graduate Student Roles in Shaping Discourse in Digital Spaces." Xchanges, vol. 15, no. 1, 2020, https://xchanges.org/on-the-front-lines-15-1.
Pantelides, Kate. "Metagenre on the WPA-L: Transitional Threads as Nexus for Micro/Macro-Level Discourse on the Dissertation." Composition Forum, vol. 31, Spring 2015.
Ruiz, Iris, et al. “Help, I Posted”: Race, Power, and Disciplinary Shifts, and The #WPAListservFeministRevolution." In Systems Shift: Creating and Navigating Change in Rhetoric and Composition Administration. Eds. Genesea Carter and Aurora Matzke. Perspectives on Writing Series through WAC Clearinghouse. 2023.
Sicari, Anna. “Centering the Conversation: Patriarchy, Academic Culture, and #MeToo.” Composition Studies, vol. 46, no. 2, 2018, pp. 200–02. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26642486. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.
Smith, Erec. "Critiquing the “Networked Subject” of Anti-racism: Toward a More Empowered and Inclusive “We” in Rhetoric and Composition." In Systems Shift: Creating and Navigating Change in Rhetoric and Composition Administration. Eds. Genesea Carter and Aurora Matzke. Perspectives on Writing Series through WAC Clearinghouse. 2023.
WPA- L Working Group and nextGEN. “Dialogue and Disciplinary Space.” Composition Studies, vol. 47, no. 2, 2019, pp. 203–10. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26900440. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.
*know a source you would like to see added? Email hjhassel@mtu.edu.