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Derek Mueller - Extracurriculum (1:33)
In the beginning, one motive for EM-Journal was to establish a self-sponsored glue pieceóa
mild, strategically applied adhesive we could use to raise an integrated profile across
writing units like WAC, the first-year writing program, and the undergraduate major. By self-sponsored,
I mean it was a low budget undertaking which allowed us to build it entirely on our terms.
We committed to two issues each yearóone collected from first-year writing and another
from a writing intensive or WI designated course. With sponsorship from faculty or students,
other issues may take shapeóperhaps we'll even try out a rolling publishing model that
cares less for issues and is more freely distributed in time.
The surprise this year for me, the faculty sponsor, has been the role of EM-Journal in
promoting Written Communication program culture and extracurriculum. The five of us are enjoying
regular conversations with peers and colleagues in adjacent academic programs, both in the
English Department and in other units across campus. The most fascinating and promising
aspects of this: these are conversations about writing as it is taught and practiced, about
valuing student writing, taking pride in its qualities, about boosting its circulation.
And, of course, there's so much more to it: outside of classes, we are talking about marketing
and promotions, interface design and usability, and attitudes toward academic writing across
and beyond campus.