Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

Abstract

This portfolio explores the reproduction of and challenges to dominant ideologies in popular culture and scholarly contexts and examines pedagogies for advancing social justice in the field of English studies through three distinct but interconnected projects. The first project considers pedagogy in the public sphere, examining the power of the meme genre to serve as “critical public pedagogy” within movements for social change. The second project focuses on the role of dominant norms in reproducing social injustices through classroom writing assessment, offering insights from antiracist, queer, feminist, decolonial, translingual, and disability justice scholars. The paper also reviews composition scholars’ strategies for transforming classroom grading practices and proposes a social justice- and trauma-informed approach to promoting equity and supporting student learning. The third project presents a unit plan and annotated bibliography of scholarly and pedagogical resources for teaching Moshin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist in a community college introductory literature course. The unit plan treats the genre of the counter-narrative as a heuristic for teaching critical thinking and literary analysis and for centering marginalized voices. Together, these projects illuminate opportunities for exploring and learning from diverse epistemologies and rhetorical and linguistic modes in the field of English studies and for re-imagining classroom grading practices to create meaningful learning experiences and promote social justice in the teaching of composition, rhetoric, and literature.

Specialization

English Teaching

First reader

Dr. Lee Nickoson

Second reader

Dr. Rachel Walsh

Publication Date

Summer 8-15-2023

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