[ATTW-L] CFP: Unlimited Players: The Intersections of Writing Center and Game Scholarship

Thu Aug 9 19:56:30 UTC 2018

Please see the below CFP for a co-edited collection on game studies and writing center scholarship. Please contact me with questions and I look forward to your proposals.

Call for Papers: Unlimited Players: The Intersections of Writing Center and Game Scholarship

We invite contributions for an edited collection on games and writing centers tentatively titled Unlimited Players: The Intersections of Writing Center and Game Scholarship. This edited collection puts the disciplines of writing center studies and game studies in direct conversation with one another so as to generate rich theoretical and pedagogical scholarship. We are committed to moving this project through the review process in an expeditious manner, both because of the timeliness of research on games as well as our collective interest in seeing this book in print as soon as possible. We are interested in publishing work from professionals (e.g., writing center administrators/scholars, graduate student tutors, game studies professionals, etc.) in the field as well as undergraduate peer tutors; the latter may particularly be interested in contributing to the “Staff Development Activities” section of the collection, although undergraduate tutors may propose for any section of the manuscript.

Writing center studies and game studies have only gently engaged one another in the past. Thirty years ago, Daniel Lochman used the words “play” and “games” as metaphors for writing center pedagogies, likening writers to players in the academic game and encouraging tutors to play with language in unstructured ways, finding opportunities for exploration (“Play and Game: Implications For the Writing Center,” 1986). Writing center scholars have continued to use play and games, both literally and figuratively, as a way to conceptualize writing center work. For example, Beth Boquet (Noise from the Writing Center, 2002) uses improvisation as a central metaphor for tutoring, and Lisa Zimmerelli (“A Play about Play,” 2008) advocates for learning games in tutor training courses. While these pieces are a good start, there is much more to be said about the role games play in the writing center and how gaming terminology and theory can inform our practice around various topics such as audience, transfer, collaboration, authority, identity, tutoring modalities, etc.

In contrast, the field of rhetoric and composition studies has engaged with game studies more substantially. Rhetoric and composition scholars such as Richard Colby, Rebekah Shultz Colby, Douglas Eyman, Wendi Sierra, and others have already engaged gaming scholarship to theorize writing pedagogy, but that work hasn’t yet extended to writing center praxis. Scholars have examined games and their place within the culture industry (McAllister, 2004; Thompson & Ouelette, 2013), the use of both games broadly (J. Alexander, 2009; Colby, Johnson, & Shultz Colby, 2013; Shultz Colby, 2017) as well as the use of particular games in the writing classroom (P. Alexander, 2017; Colby & Colby, 2008; Sierra, 2016), and intersections between games and fields like technical communication (deWinter & Moeller, 2014; deWinter & Vie, 2016; Eyman, 2008). Of note, too, these scholars have not only focused on digital games—although these are widely popular for classroom use and scholarly analysis—but have also considered analog games like board and card games, among others.

Contributors are encouraged to consider the following possible topics (however, other areas are welcome):
●       How might writing center theories overlap with game studies concepts and theories? (Please see below for a list of suggested, but not exhaustive, terms.) What can each field learn from the other and how can their work become stronger as a result of collaborative efforts?
●       How do tutors and writers use and/or resist play in their centers?
●       How can playing games (physical or online) be used to enhance writing center work? How might games and play inform the work (both day-to-day and the scholarly output) of the writing center? What games are you using in your center? How can they be used to tackle challenging subjects?
●       How does the language of gaming or play obscure/hide material or cultural workplace inequities?
●       What rules govern your center and how do those (in)visible restrictions manifest themselves in tutoring or administration? How do the rules for tutoring or administration constrain (positively or negatively) writing center work?
●       In what ways have technologies changed the academic game and how has that affected our work in writing centers?
●       What about the physical characteristics of the writing center: How should we construct writing center spaces? Should they function like makerspaces? Be full of humor and playfulness? Strike a balance between working hard and playing hard? What does this look like?
●       What productive ways can professionals adopt a “trickster” mindset to infuse playfulness into academic/writing center labor issues?

Contributors to the collection are asked to submit in one of three categories outlined below (and describe in their proposal which area they see their submission best fitting). We see the list of questions above as potentially informing work that might appear in either the theoretical engagements section, or the definitions, theories, and concepts in practice section—e.g., a proposal might take on the idea of how technologies inform writing center and games-focused work in a case study or in a theoretical chapter.

Theoretical Engagements
This section of longer chapters (6-8K words) will explore the intersection of writing center theories and practices. Submissions may put key terms in conversation with one another in order to deeply explore writing.  For example, how might two or more of these terms inform one another?

                WC Terms                                            Game Terms
                Authority                                              Serious games
                Hierarchy                                              Casual or hardcore
                Peerness                                               Magic circle
                Dialogue                                               Interactivity
                Collaboration                                       Ludus and paidia
                WC management software              Data mining and game development
                New media/technologies Procedural rhetoric

Definitions, Theories, and Concepts in Practice
This section of shorter chapters (3-5K words) is meant to provide innovative case studies, researched effective practices, and instructional texts related to games and writing center pedagogy. These pieces may explore why and how games were used in staff development, tutoring, or community outreach.

Staff Development Activities
These 2-3 page submissions should be written in the form of player directions for other writing center tutors or professionals (think: the instructions you receive when you buy a new board game).  These submissions should describe a game, its objectives, and explain to the reader how to play. These technical writing documents should look like instructions. This section of the book will provide practical, hands-on ways to incorporate games into your staff development, tutoring sessions, or community outreach. While we invite undergraduate tutors to submit in all sections of the collection, this section in particular would be an ideal undergraduate publication opportunity.

Please send abstracts of 250-500 words to Holly Ryan (holly.ryan at psu.edu) and Stephanie Vie (Stephanie.Vie at ucf.edu) by October 1, 2018. Submissions should include full contact information and a brief biographical statement (including institutional affiliation) for all proposed authors. Indicate which of the three sections (Theoretical Engagements, Concepts in Practice, or Staff Development Activities) where you see your chapter best fitting. Decisions will be made and acceptances will be emailed to authors by October 31, 2018.

Initial queries are welcome. The editors will be in attendance at the International Writing Centers Association conference (October 2018) and the Southwest Popular and American Culture Association conference (February 2019) and would be happy to meet to talk over proposals/chapter drafts at IWCA or chapter drafts at SWPACA.

Proposed Timeline:
●       Deadline for abstracts: October 1, 2018
●       Notification of acceptance to authors: October 31, 2018
●       Deadline for first draft of accepted chapters: January 15, 2019
●       Editors’ feedback on first drafts: March 25, 2019
●       Deadline for revised chapters: May 29, 2019

Holly Ryan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor  of English  and Writing Center Coordinator, Professional Writing Program
Pennsylvania State University, Berks
holly.ryan at psu.edu

Stephanie Vie, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Writing and Rhetoric
University of Central Florida
Stephanie.Vie at ucf.edu
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