Publications & Dissertation
My research is in the sub disciplinary areas of writing centers, community literacy, and community engagement. Below you will find a brief summary of my dissertation focused on methodologies for community literacy projects and engagement. I also include two co-authored publications on writing center mentorship and institutional politics.
Methodological Grand Narratives of Community Writing Projects: Accessing Sustainability and Reciprocity Through Meta Analysis
Expected defense: May 2022
This dissertation synthesizes fifteen years of scholarship in Community Literacy Journal, accounting for 128 published pieces to understand how researchers name and frame methodologies used for community writing projects. As many community literacy publications describe small-scale projects and case studies, I uncover methodological grand narratives, or lore, that become easily unseen without persistent large scale-comparisons.
Who Mentors the Mentors?: How Writing Pedagogy, Labor, and Administration Status Impact Methodologies.
Geib, Elizabeth, & Towle, Beth. (Forthcoming, November 2021). In Mentorship and Methodology: Reflections, Praxis, and Futures. Leigh Gruwell and Charles Lesh (Eds).
In this chapter, we discuss how issues of labor and positionally have affected the development of methodologies within writing center studies. We demonstrate the advances made in writing center research over the last decade while also arguing for an increased focus on new methodologies for decolonizing writing center spaces.
"Writing Centers as Intersections of Controversy and Change”
Denny, Harry, & Geib, Elizabeth. (2019). University Press of Colorado & Utah State University Press.
In this web-based article, we argue that writing centers are institutional and academic sites for transformation and agency. Creating a workplace that is respectful of diversity means adapting discourse to mirror those values. Academic institutions however, often do not or can not offer sufficient support. We share a recent moment in writing centers that begs the question: how can writing centers prepare staff for moments that are deeply rooted in systemic oppression and institutional limitations?