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Winter 2009 | Newsletter | Volume 5:2

Upcoming Meetings, Seminars, and Special Events


Friday, January 16, 2009 3:30-5:00 p.m. Denney Hall 262, 164 W 17th Av
History of the Book: Graduate student Sarah Shippy (History) will discuss her work on "Henry Bellingham his booke."

Friday, January 23, 2009 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. ICRPH Knight House, 104 E. 15th Av
Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Seminar on Literacy Studies: A student-led discussion of works by Lesley Bartlett in anticipation of the Annual Lecture in Literacy Studies on January 29, organized and moderated by Shawn Casey (English).

Thursday, January 29, 2009 2:30-3:30 p.m. ICRPH Knight House, 104 E. 15th Av
Coffee and Conversation with Lesley Bartlett.

Thursday, January 29, 2009 4:00-5:30 p.m. ICRPH Knight House, 104 E. 15th Av
Annual 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."

Friday, February 13, 2009 3:30-5:00 p.m. Location to be announced
History of the Book: Daniel Hobbins (History) will lead a discussion of a chapter from his forthcoming book on Jean Gershon (1363-1429).

Thursday, February 26, 2009 4:00-5:30 p.m. Denney Hall 311, 164 W 17th Av
LiteracyStudies@OSU Winter Program: New Literacy Studies Research: Daniel Keller (OSU Newark), Valerie Kinloch (Education), Jonathan Buehl (English), and Cassandra Parente (OSU Marion) will discuss their research projects in literacy studies; moderated by Beverly Moss (English).

Friday, February 27, 2009 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. ICRPH Knight House, 104 E. 15th Av
Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Seminar on Literacy Studies: Expanding Literacy Studies Conference Prequel.


SPRING 2009

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

Friday, April 24, 2009 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. ICRPH Knight House, 104 E. 15th Av
Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Seminar on Literacy Studies: A student-led discussion of works by Ira Shor in anticipation of the Spring Lecture on May 14, organized and moderated by Audra Slocum (Teaching & Learning).

Thursday, May 14, 2009 4:00-5:30 p.m. ICRPH Knight House, 104 E. 15th Av
LiteracyStudies@OSU Spring Lecture: Ira Shor (City University of New York): "Can Critical Literacy Change the World?"

Friday, May 29, 2009 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m. ICRPH Knight House, 104 E. 15th Av
Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Seminar on Literacy Studies: Career Opportunities in Literacy Studies, organized and moderated by Karin Hooks (English).


Annual OSU Lecture on Literacy Studies:


"The Word and the World: The Cultural Politics of Literacy in Brazil"

The Ohio State University Lecture on Literacy Studies established OSU as the place for both well-established and younger scholars to preview major studies and present significant new works. This year's lecture will be presented byLesley Bartlett.

Lesley Bartlett.
Lesley Bartlett is a faculty member in the Department of International and Transcultural Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is affiliated with the Programs in Comparative and International Education and International Educational Development, as well as the Program in Anthropology and Education. Her ethnographic research examines communication, multilingual literacies, popular education, race and class inequality, and schooling across the Americas.

Literacy learning is a complex, historically situated and socially mediated process that relies upon the cultural resources provided inside and outside the classroom community. According to Bartlett, "the potential impact of education on social change depends, to a great extent, not only on students' and teachers' cultural interpretations of schooling but also on political-economic and social structures."

The Word and the World, Bartlett's forthcoming book, provides a rare ethnographic analysis of Freirean-style "critical" or "popular" adult literacy programs in educational theorist Paulo Freire's native country. The book examines the introduction, circulation, interpretation, and implementation of Freire's ideas in the field of literacy over the past forty years, focusing in particular on the period from 1995 to the present.

Freire asserted that learning to read "the word," and education more generally, can and should empower learners to develop and act upon their own critiques of power relations in "the world." This bold redefinition of the purpose of education has motivated and continues to galvanize progressive educators around the world. Despite Freire's unparalleled influence in the fields of education and development, few studies have pushed beyond his inspiring ideas to examine the challenges popular education initiatives face when re-inventing his theory in practice. The Word and the World provides a rare ethnographic analysis of Freirean-style "critical" or "popular" adult literacy programs.

The Ohio State University Lecture on Literacy Studies series is supported with funding from the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences, matched by the College of Dentistry, the College of Art, the College of Biological Sciences, the University Libraries, and the Department of Entomology.

Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization: Revisited and Revised

Revisions to the curriculum for the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Literacy Studies were approved in December. The changes reflect feedback and suggestions from administrators, faculty, and students, as well as new course offerings from across campus. According to Harvey J. Graff, the specialization's principal advisor, the revisions should make it easy for students and their advisors to understand the opportunities and plan an approach that extends the student's primary course of study.

The Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Literacy Studies requires 21 – 23 hours of coursework in 5 courses, based on 3 core courses and 2 electives. The first two core courses cover the foundations of literacy studies, including the central questions, theories, approaches, methods, and history. The third core course provides an interdisciplinary perspective.

The electives are organized into four clusters. The first two-Language, Reading, and Writing Studies, and Social, Cultural, Historical Studies-may be considered foundational both in their attention to the basics of literacy studies, especially with respect to language and history, theory and practice, and their relationship to compelling questions about reading and writing across different modes of communication, time, place, and other distinctions. They also underscore the significance of specific contexts for the acquisition, practice, and impact of literacy.

The third and fourth clusters-Science, Technology, Health and Medicine Studies, and Visual, Spatial, Arts and Performance Studies-move into newer domains for the exploration of literacy and raise significant issues about multiple literacies and, equally importantly, the relationships of "new" literacies to literacy's foundations in familiar modes of reading and writing. Crossing these domains are enormously consequential matters of human understanding, expression, and communication across media and other domains.

Students may recognize a focus for their elective coursework from the list of possibilities and then select courses for electives from those associated with that interest or direction. A second option is for students to develop a focus for their elective coursework in consultation with their faculty advisors that extends their main course of study or anticipates specific career goals.

Language, Reading, and Writing Studies Social, Cultural, Historical Studies Science, Technology, Health and Medicine Studies Visual, Spatial, Arts and Performance Studies The specialization's Web page includes a complete list of the core and elective courses and their descriptions, along with links to sample syllabi. For more information or to schedule a meeting, send a note to coordinating advisors Harvey J. Graff at graff.40@osu.edu or Marcia Farr at mfarr@ehe.osu.edu

News and Announcements

Expanding Literacy Studies: Conference Update
This autumn the conference Call for Proposals yielded more than 180 proposals from 66 institutions and 6 countries. The proposals include creative performances, workshops, roundtable, organized panels, individual papers, and poster presentations.

Program committee chair Kelly Bradbury and steering committee co-chair Caitlin Ryan developed and oversaw the blind-review process involving 31 reviewers. This was followed by an afternoon-long organizing session. Nine committee members, including Brie Owen from the University of Pittsburgh and Lauren Squires from the University of Michigan participated, helping to organize the proposals into sessions, and the sessions into a tentative schedule. According to the publicity committee co-chair Shawn Casey, the strength and diversity of the submissions and the program that is emerging suggests that "the conference is going to meet an objective shared by all of us: the creation of a space for conversation, exploration, and critical thinking about literacy studies."

Expanding Literacy Studies is the first international, interdisciplinary conference on literacy studies for graduate and professional students. It is being organized and hosted by graduate students at The Ohio State University and nine other major universities. The conference is sponsored by Literacy Studies at The Ohio State University. It will be held at The Ohio State University April 3-5, 2009.

The conference will feature plenary sessions with Harvey J. Graff, who will speak with a panel of students on the topic of "The Literacy Myth: 30 Years Later," Shirley Brice Heath, who will speak with a panel of students about ethnographic approaches to studying literacy, and participatory design pioneer Liz Sanders, who will lead an interactive workshop about literacy studies as a framework for the future.

For more information, visit The Literacy Studies Web site and click "conference."

Literacy Studies GradSem: Expanding Interdisciplinarity
On Friday, January 23rd, the Literacy Studies GradSem will host a discussion of Leslie Bartlett's ethnography of literacy in Brazil in anticipation of the Annual Lecture in Literacy Studies on Thursday, January 29th. Links to Bartlett's articles and a list of those that will be discussed during the GradSem are available online.If you would like to lead the discussion of one of the readings, contact Shawn Casey at casey.169@osu.edu.

On Friday, February 27th, the GradSem will meet to discuss and practice conference presentations for the upcoming Expanding Literacy Studies Graduate Student Conference that will be held at OSU, April 3-5. Thirty-five students from Ohio State submitted presentation proposals to the conference and we look forward to working with this group of diverse students to prepare and practice their presentations. Contact Audra Slocum at slocum.81@osu.edu to sign-up!

During Spring Quarter the GradSem will host a discussion of the work of the LiteracyStudies@OSU guest speaker Ira Shor. The session will be held April 24th. Contact Shawn at casey.169@osu.edu.

GradSem participant Karin Hooks will organize a session for May 29th on career opportunities in Literacy Studies. Contact Karin at hooks.28@osu.edu to get involved.
-Shawn Casey and Audra Slocum, Co-Chairs

History of the Book: Winter Quarter Schedule
Sarah Shippy, a graduate student in the History Department, will lead a discussion of her work on "Henry Bellingham his booke," a seventeenth-century manuscript commonplace book on Friday, January 16th, 3:30-5:00 p.m. in 262 Denney Hall. Shippy has created an impressive Web site with the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library.

Daniel Hobbins, an assistant professor in the History Department, will be leading a discussion of a chapter from his forthcoming book on Jean Gershon (1363-1429) on Friday, February 13th, 3:30-5:00 p.m., location TBA. A theologian and chancellor of the University of Paris, Gershon achieved the status of a great modern doctor within the space of a lifetime, without any of the advantages of modern media. His works survive in thousands of copies--a precious but mostly overlooked body of evidence for the understanding of authorship in the fifteenth century. The last chapter of Hobbins' book attempts to uncover the mechanisms that launched one of the greatest manuscript distributions in European history. Ethan Knapp (English and Center for Medieval and Renassiance Studies) will contribute a response to Hobbins' chapter.

If you have a project you'd like to present to the group or if you have ideas for readings that the group might enjoy, contact me at farmer.109@osu.edu.
-Alan Farmer

Goldberg Teaching Colloquium: Advisor-Advisee Relationships
The topic for the first brown bag discussion this quarter is the Advisor-advisee Relationship. An effective adviser-advisee relationship is one of the most important ingredients to success in graduate school. Yet we often give it little attention. Instead, advising just "happens"-or does not happen. This colloquium is intended to help us reflect on the adviser-advisee relationship, to think about the expectations involved, and to come up with a list of best practices governing this relationship. Please join us on Friday, January 9 at 11:30 in 168 Dulles Hall. Pizza will be provided. Please RSVP to David Staley at staley.3@osu.edu by Thursday January 8 by 12:00 noon.
–David Staley

New Speaker Series: African and African American Diaspora Literacies
The Martha L. King Center for Language & Literacies and the School of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education and Human Ecology announce a new speaker series in the field of African and African American Diaspora Literacies. Scholarship in this area pays attention to ways that historical and contemporary cultural and social practices, processes, and places shape how people of African descent in the Americas and the African Diaspora create literacy. Another important focus of research in this area is language and literacy education.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009, 4:30 p.m. Ramseyer Hall 200
Keith Gilyard, Distinguished Professor of English, Pennsylvania State University
"Reconsidering the Code-Switching Paradigm"

Friday, March 6, 2009, 11:30 a.m. Ramseyer Hall 200
David Kirkland, Asst. Professor of Education, Steinhardt School, New York University
"Literate Lives of Young Black Women in Online Social Networking Communities"

Thursday, April 23 2009, 4:30 p.m. Ramseyer Hall 200
Shondel Nero, Assoc. Professor of Education, Steinhardt School, New York University
"Language, Literacy, and Pedagogy of Caribbean Creole English Speakers"

Monday, May 11, 2009, 4:30 p.m. Ramseyer Hall 200
Carmen Kynard-Asst. Professor of English, St. John's University
"Poetics and Counter-Storytelling When Young Black Women Right/Write The Wor(l)d"
–Elaine Richardson

Memorial Scholarship Winner
To remember and honor the Chairs of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), the CCCC Executive Committee created four scholarships of $750 for graduate students who are presenting at the association's annual conference. Ph.D. candidate Michael Harker (English) was recently named a recipient of the 2009 CCCC Chairs' Memorial Scholarship, based in part on his presentation proposal, "In This Spirit: Historicizing the Ebb and Flow of a Current and Traditional Complaint."

Send news items and announcements 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.

EXECUTIVE GROUP
Harvey J. Graff, English; History graff.40@osu.edu
Steve Acker, OhioLink; The Learning Center acker.1@osu.edu
Mollie Blackburn, Education blackburn.99@osu.edu

Ginny Bumgardner, Medicine Ginny.Bumgardner@osumc.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 fields.31@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
Jeffrey K. McKee, Anthropology mckee.95@osu.edu

Beverly Moss, English moss.1@osu.edu
Leslie Moore, Education moore.1817@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; Andrew.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
Karin Hooks, Doctoral Student, English; hooks.28@osu.edu
Susan Hanson, Assistant Program Director, Literacy Studies hanson.94@osu.edu

Edward Adelson, Music; adelson.3@osu.edu
Randy Smith, Vice Provost; smith.70@osu.edu
Chris Zacher, Director, ICRPH; zacher.1@osu.edu

Literacy Studies is supported by the College of Humanities, Department of English, Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities, and the Arts and Sciences Colleges at The Ohio State University.

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.