• Skip Navigation •
LiteracyStudies@OSU.
about us
initiatives
news items
academics
resources
archive

newsletter | past newsletters



Summer 2008 | Newsletter

Mark you calendar now for these...

Upcoming Meetings, Seminars, and Special Events

Autumn 2008

Friday, July 25, 2008 11:30-1:00 p.m. ICRPH Knight House 104 E. 15th Av Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Seminar on Literacy Studies: Prying Open / Into Primary Texts; organized and moderated by Julia Voss (English)

Friday, September 26, 2008 11:30-1:00 p.m. ICRPH Knight House 104 E. 15th Av Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Seminar on Literacy Studies: Writing and Reviewing Conference Proposals in Literacy Studies; organized and moderated by Shawn Casey (English)

Thursday, October 2, 2008 4:00-5:30 p.m. 311 Denney 164 W. 17th Av Michael Wilson (University of Texas at Dallas): "The Freemasonry of Pederasts"; Sexuality Studies lecture, co-sponsored by LiteracyStudies@OSU

Thursday, October 16, 2008 4:00-5:30 p.m. ICRPH Knight House 104 E. 15th Av LiteracyStudies@OSU Autumn Lecture: Jerry Zaslove (Institute for the Humanities, Simon Fraser University): "What Can Walter Benjamin's "Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproducibility" Teach Us about Literacy as a Labyrinthine and Protean Concept?"

Friday, October, 2008 11:30-1:00 p.m. ICRPH Knight House 104 E. 15th Av Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Seminar on Literacy Studies: Making, Communicating, and Understanding Meaning in the Sciences; organized and moderated AUDRA SLOCUM (Teaching & Learning)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:00-5:30 p.m. ICRPH Knight House 104 E. 15th Av LiteracyStudies@OSU Autumn Program: New Literacy Studies @ OSU: Sandy Cornett (Health Sciences), "Health Literacies; Susan Fisher (Biological Sciences), "Scientific Literacies"; Carol Gill (Design), "Visual Literacies"; and Kay Bea Jones (Architecture), "Spatial Literacies"

Winter 2009

Thursday, January 29, 2009 4:00-5:30 p.m. ICRPH Knight House 104 E. 15th Av The Ohio State University Lecture on Literacy Studies: Lesley Bartlett (Teachers College, Columbia University), "The Word and the World: The Cultural Politics of Literacy in Brazil"

Spring 2009

April 3 – 5, 2009 Expanding Literacy Studies, an International, Interdisciplinary Conference for Graduate and Professional Students, sponsored by LiteracyStudies@OSU

Thursday, May 14, 2009 4:00-5:30 p.m. 311 Denney 164 W. 17th Av LiteracyStudies@OSU Spring Lecture: Ira Shore (City University of New York): "Can Critical Literacy Change the World?"

We invite submissions to the LiteracyStudies@OSU Quarterly Newsletter and Midterm News.
News and announcements may be submitted to literacystudies@osu.edu.

Literacy Studies GradSem: Disciplined Interdisciplinarity

The Graduate Interdisciplinary Seminar in Literacy Studies, or GradSem, has come to play an important role in the interdisciplinary experiences of graduate students across the Ohio State campus. The group meets monthly, typically the final Friday, for lunch and a student-organized program or presentation and discussion.

Ph.D. candidate Kate White (English), who organized and chaired the group's meetings during 2006-2008, stepped down in June to concentrate on her dissertation. As a part of the maturation of the GradSem, it is taking two chairs to fill her shoes: Ph.D. students Shawn Casey (English) and Audra Slocum (Teaching & Learning) announced at the June meeting that they agreed to serve as co-chairs during 2008-2009.

Casey and Slocum met recently to begin working on the schedule. Their goals for the Grad Sem include continuing to
1) Increase the interdisciplinary content of and participation in the monthly seminars,
2) Provide graduate students with leadership and professional growth opportunities, and
3) Forge strong and lasting interdisciplinary relationships across campus.

One of the ways to meet the goals involves inviting GradSem participants to organize and moderate presentations and discussions at the monthly meetings. This strategy was initiated last year and quickly proved to expand the perspectives represented at the Grad Sem meetings and deepen the experience of many participants. As an example, the panel on publishing prospects and processes organized by Kate White for the November 2007 GradSem meeting featured faculty- and student-editors from five distinctly different, yet literacy-related, journals based at OSU. Merce Graell-Colas helped organize a similarly successful session on visual literacy/ies for the January 2008 GradSem. The panel featured graduate student presentations on approaches to and ideas about visual literacy from the perspectives of Art Education, Visual Communication Design, and Advanced Computing Center for Arts and Design.

GradSem participants are also invited to organize presentations about and discussion of works by LiteracyStudies@OSU speakers, as a way to support their own leadership development. As an example, Lindsay DiCuirci organized a seven-person panel the April 2008 meeting around African American history and literacy in anticipation of the LiteracyStudies@OSU Spring Lecture by historian Heather Williams (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Students also read and met to discuss works by Barbara Sicherman before her lecture in the fall and John Duffy before the Ohio State University Lecture in Literacy Studies.

The dates, topics, and opportunities for involvement for upcoming meetings include:

Friday, July 25, 2008

Prying Open / into Primary Texts; organized and moderated by Julie Voss (English).

The July GradSem will focus on primary texts, to give panelists an opportunity to share work on a particular primary text with their peers and to give all participants the opportunity to discuss the many ways to approach research in literacy studies. Opportunities for involvement include:

Sharing a primary text with the group
Recommending a participant or panelist
Bringing a colleague to the meeting

Contact Shawn Casey at casey.169@osu.edu or Julie Voss at voss.58@osu.edu

Friday, September 26, 2008

Writing and Reviewing Conference Proposals in Literacy Studies

In an effort to encourage and support submissions to Expanding Literacy Studies, the international, interdisciplinary graduate student conference that will take place at OSU in April 2009, the September GradSem will feature a conference proposal workshop. Co-chairs Casey and Slocum are inviting an interdisciplinary panel of professors to discuss the conference proposal writing and workshop several student proposals. Opportunities for involvement include:

Helping organize the session
Suggesting questions for the panelists
Contributing a draft of your proposal (or recommending a contributor)

Contact Shawn Casey at casey.169@osu.edu

Friday, October 31, 2008

Making, Communicating, and Understanding Meaning in the Sciences

The October GradSem will focus on scientific literacy/ies, from the perspectives of graduate students working from a variety of science and science-related disciplines. Opportunities for involvement include:

Helping organize the session
Participating on the panel (or suggesting possible panelists)
Serving as a discussant or moderator

Contact Audra Slocum at slocum.81@osu.edu

—Shawn Casey and Audra Slocum

Expanding Literacy Studies: Conference Planning Progress

It has been a year since Harvey J. Graff asked OSU graduate students who had taken courses in Literacy Studies or were otherwise involved in LiteracyStudies@OSU activities and groups if they would like to organize a conference for graduate students, as a way to explore the multiple meanings and methods of understanding literacy, share their research, and participate in larger conversations about this developing field. Their response to his invitation was overwhelmingly enthusiastic and they promptly formed a steering committee. The co-chairs are OSU doctoral candidates Vicki Daiello (Art Education), Michael Harker (English), and Caitlin Ryan (Teaching & Learning).

During the fall 2008 a secondary committee structure was created to address the programming, promotion, and arrangements for the conference. At least 40 students, including nine from other major Midwestern universities, are now actively involved in Expanding Literacy Studies, the first major international, interdisciplinary conference for graduate and professional students. Committee member Andrea Davis (Michigan State University) "marvels" at what she refers to as "the kairotic moment" that the conference represents. According to Davis, "The work in Literacy Studies and related fields continues to expand our notions of what counts as literacy: visual, digital, cultural, computer games, procedural, and many other types of literacy have come to the fore."

"When I visited The Ohio State University in April," said committee member Patrick Berry (University of Illinois), "I realized that the Expanding Literacy Studies conference would provide graduate students with a much-needed forum to discuss competing views and understandings of literacy." Berry said, "Issues of definition remain a critical challenge for researchers and teachers alike. Speaking across disciplinary boundaries is not without its difficulties. I am reminded of a senior librarian who recently confessed, 'I don't even know what literacy is.' Others, of course, have strong ideas about what literacy is—and is not."

"The conference will provide a place for the many and disparate voices to share, connect, and collaborate," added Davis. It also represents a significant opportunity for students involved in the planning and preparations to learn about academic service, administrative structures and systems, event planning and organization, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The Call for Proposals was unveiled on April 25 at the LiteracyStudies@OSU Open House. The system for electronic submission is under construction. The programming committee will begin reviewing proposals September 1, 2008. The deadline for submissions is October 15.

The steering committee shifted its attention in May to fundraising by seeking support from the colleges, departments, and programs at Ohio State that have an interest in literacy and Literacy Studies. More than twenty units have pledged their support thus far: Conference co-chairs and committee members are increasing their efforts to promote the scholarly and professional opportunities of the conference locally and to students beyond OSU. "Some graduate students with whom I've spoken question whether it is appropriate to even speak out about literacy," said Berry. "They wonder whether their ideas will be welcomed." He added that one of his goals in promoting the conference at the University of Illinois "has been to emphasize that it will be a safe place for dialogue."

According to Harker, "The perspectives from graduate students working to promote the conference at institutions outside of Ohio State demonstrate a range of expectations for the conference itself. They also highlight the importance of promoting the Expanding Literacy Studies conference to graduate students across the country."

The Call for Proposals stresses the conference's interdisciplinary scope and the range of unique opportunities available to graduate students for the presentation of their work. Enthusiasm for and support is growing at OSU and at the nine participating universities who are working to make this conference an interdisciplinary event. In addition, as evidenced by recent inquiries from graduate students in Nigeria and Canada, interest in the conference is traveling around the globe.

"The only lament, said Davis, "is from the faculty members passing on the word for us who wish they, too, could present."

Graduate students interested in literacy who would want to gain experience helping to plan, promote, and host a major interdisciplinary conference should send a note to expandingls@osu.edu.

— Vicki Daiello, Caitlin Ryan, Michael Harker

News and Announcements


Health Literacy Makes the Master Schedule

ARTS&SCI 709 Health Literacy G 3, which was developed by Sandy Cornett (Health Sciences) to support the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Literacy Studies curriculum, will be offered for the first time in Spring 2009. The three-hour graduate course will examine the issues and challenges of low health literacy, including research; development and testing of information in plain language; health communication techniques; and organizational approaches to meet these challenges. Arts&Sci 709 will be cross-listed as Allied Med 709, Med Col 710, Nursing 710, and Pharmacy 709. NOTE: This course is one of several that fulfill the "Third Core Course" requirement for the GIS in Literacy Studies.

Fall Quarter Course Ops

Three courses that fulfill the "Third Core Course" requirement for the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Literacy Studies still have space available:

Speical Sessions Set

Kelly Bradbury (English), co-chair with Shari Savage (Art Education) of the Expanding Literacy Studies Program Committee, recently announced that the conference program will feature three special sessions. The conference is slated for April 3-5, 2009, on the Ohio State campus.

Keynote Panel: The Literacy Myth, 30 Years Later
Social historian Harvey J. Graff accepted the program committee's invitation to respond to a trio of presentations by graduate students on The Literacy Myth: Literacy and Social Structure in the Nineteenth Century, in honor of the 30th anniversary of its publication. Graff is Ohio Eminent Scholar in Literacy Studies and Professor of English and History at The Ohio State University.

Plenary Session: Shirley Brice Heath
Linguistic anthropologist Shirley Brice Heath, author of the prize-winning Ways with Words: Language, Life, and Work in Communities and Classrooms, accepted the program committee's invitation to participate in a plenary session with graduate students on the organizational structures and cultural values and behaviors that surround the learning and use of language. Heath is the Margery Bailey Professor of English and Dramatic Literature at Stanford and Professor at Large for the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

Interactive Workshop: Participatory Design, facilitated by Liz Sanders
Applied psychologist Liz Sanders, a pioneer in the use of "generative tools" and participatory design research, will lead conference participants in an interactive workshop about literacy and literacy studies. Sanders is President of MakeTools, an international design research firm, and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Design at Ohio State.

We invite submissions to the LiteracyStudies@OSU Quarterly Newsletter and Midterm News.
News and announcements may be submitted to literacystudies@osu.edu.

Locating LiteracyStudies@OSU

George Wells Knight House
104 E. 15th Ave
Columbus, OH 43201
PH: (614) 247-6539
FAX: (614) 247-6336
literacystudies@osu.edu

LiteracyStudies@OSU: An Initiative

LiteracyStudies@OSU is fostering a critical, cross-campus conversation and investigation into the nature of literacy, bringing historical, contextual, comparative, and critical perspectives and modes of understanding together to stimulate new institutional and intellectual relationships. We are building a sense of collaboration among different disciplinary clusters and their constituents, from the social and natural sciences to the arts and humanities, education, medicine, and law.

2007-2008 Executive Group

Harvey J. Graff, English; History graff.40@osu.edu
Steve Acker, TELR; Communications/Journalism acker.1@osu.edu
Mollie Blackburn, Education blackburn.99@osu.edu
Sandy Cornett, Health Sciences cornett.3@osu.edu
Marcia Farr, Education; English farr.18@osu.edu
Anne Fields, University Libraries fields.179@osu.edu
Henry Fields, Dentistry cornett.3@osu.edu
Susan Fisher, Biology fisher.14@osu.edu
Carolina Gill, Industrial, Interior, & Visual Comm. Design gill.175@osu.edu
Terry Gustafson, Chemistry gustafson@chemistry.ohio-state.edu
Kay Halasek, English halasek.1@osu.edu
Kay Bea Jones Architecture jones.76@osu.edu
Alan Kalish, Teaching & Learning Center kalish.3@osu.edu
Jeffery K. McKee, Anthropology mckee.95@osu.edu
Beverly Moss, English moss.1@osu.edu
Leslie Moore, Education moore.1817@osu.edu
Amy Pope-Harman, Pulmonary & Critical Care harman-1@medctr.osu.edu
Doug Post, Medicine doug.post@osumc.edu
Marcy Raymond, Principal, Metro High School raymond@themetroschool.com
Cindy Selfe, English selfe.2@osu.edu
Peter Shane, Law shane.29@osu.edu
Amy Shuman, English; Folklore shuman.1@osu.edu
David Staley, History; Goldberg Center staley.3@osu.edu
Kevin Tavin, Art Education tavin.1@osu.edu
Andy Thomas, Medicine thomas@osumc.edu
Lewis Ulman, Humanities; English ulman.1@osu.edu
Mindy Wright, Director, Community Partnerships in ASC wright.7@osu.edu

Shawn Casey, Doctoral Student, English casey.169@osu.edu
Lindsay Dicuirci, Doctoral Student, English dicuirci.2@osu.edu
Susan Hanson, Academic Program Coordinator, LiteracyStudies@OSU hanson.94@osu.edu
Edward Adelson, Executive Dean, ASC adelson.3@osu.edu
Randy Smith, Vice Provost smith.70@osu.edu
Chris Zacher, Director, ICRPH zacher.1@osu.edu

LiteracyStudies@OSU is supported by the College of Humanities,
Department of English, Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities (ICRPH), and the Arts and Science Colleges at The Ohio State University.