The WritingStudies-L listserv is a distribution list for educators in writing and rhetoric studies to distribute information of interest within the field. It 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 Administrators 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. Another set of messages on the list focused on what was dubbed on social media as the #wpalistservfeministrevolution (see LaFrance and Wardle).
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.
In its previous incarnation as the WPA list, there were no administrative or moderation functions. Any email sent to the WPA list was disseminated without review or administrative holds. It was a true discussion list (albeit with nearly 4000 people on it). When the WPA-list was transfered from Barry Maid at Arizona to Samuel Stinson and Holly Hassel as faculty members at North Dakota University institutions, all of the list's functions and subscribers were moved. The archives from the past list were also moved to the new servers/university host so that members of the profession could have access to them for research in the field of writing studies. However,several changes were made.
Changes included the following:
Addition of listserv admins (meaning that every post that is submitted is "held" and then disseminated after review by the admin team)
The addition of hashtags to help subscribers filter and sort messages that are of interest to them
Creation of an advisory board (an open-invitation was circulated to the list and members joined to participate in discussions about list coordination, problems and possible solutions, etc). This advisory board meets twice per year. Members are listed on this page.
In other words, WS-L is the old WPA technologically with new administrative, moderation, and community leadership practices.
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.
LaFrance, Michelle and Elizabeth Wardle, eds. "Building a Twenty-First Century Feminist Ethos: Three Dialogues for WPAs." Writing Program Administration, vol. 42, no. 2, 2019, pp. 13-36.
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.