Books
The Cherokee Syllabary: Writing the People's Perseverance
2011 "In this timely, vital work, Ellen Cushman shares a parable of indigenous ingenuity and adaptability that affirms Cherokee literacy as a central pillar in the tribe’s will to flourish as a people. She persuasively argues that Sequoyah’s writing system performs a primary role in Cherokee language, religion, land, and sacred history. This powerful book will reshape Cherokee studies as we know them.” — Sean Kicummah Teuton, Author of Red Land, Red Power: Grounding Knowledge in the American Indian Novel |
REVIEWS of The Cherokee Syllabary
American Indian Quarterly | Candessa Tehee. 40.1 (2016): 68-71. Journal of Anthropological Research | Nancy Shoemaker. 70.4 (2015): 605-606. Language | Brad Montgomery-Anderson. 90.2 (2014): 537-540. Ethnohistory | Rose Stremlau. 60.1 (2013): 162-164. College Composition and Communication | Asao Inoue. 64.3 (2013): 559-579. Indian Country Today, online | Roy Boney. March 25, 2012. New Books in Native American Studies | Andrew Epstein. March 19, 2012 RECOGNITIONS of The Cherokee Syllabary Honorable Mention, 2012 MLA Mina P. Shaughnessy Award, 2012 Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2012 |
Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook
2001 This collection of both landmark and current essays provides a comprehensive overview of the major themes and questions that shape literacy studies today. It is currently being revised and updated into a second edition with a 2017 release (Macmillan). |
The Struggle and the Tools: Oral and Literate Strategies in an Inner City Community
1996 Based on three-and-a-half years of fieldwork, this book presents the oral, literate, and analytical strategies (the "tools") inner city residents use to gain resources, access to social institutions, and respect (the "struggle"). |
Work in Progress
Literacies: A Critical Sourcebook with Chris Haas and Mike Rose. The 2001 edition of Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook is being revised and updated into a second edition (in press, Macmillan). Provides a comprehensive and updated view of the field of literacy studies.
Landmark Essays on Rhetorics of Difference. Baca, Damián, Ellen Cushman, Jonathan Osborne. Eds. New York, NY: Routledge. Under contract. Exploring the construction of difference in the field of rhetoric and writing, this book brings together seminal works from authors who first brought attention to questions of how difference is understood, challenged, and intervened in in classrooms, programs, and research.
Research in the Teaching of English co-Editor with Mary Juzwik. Stewardship of the flagship research journal of the National Council of Teachers of English has been a rewarding challenge. A refereed, scholarly journal, RTE encourages submissions of previously unpublished scholarly articles on topics of significance to those concerned with the teaching and learning of English and literacies, both in and beyond schools and universities. Our final issue is due to NCTE in December 2017.
Documenting Endangered Languages Initial analysis of Cherokee verbs has proven important to my thinking about how and why indigenous languages and people persevere in the face of social upheaval and detrimental educational and governmental policies. I'm currently working with a team in digital humanities, language translators and teachers, linguists, and librarians to create an online space for translating archived manuscripts. This project has been supported with a $25,000 Sparks! Ignition Grant for Libraries from the Institute of Museums and Library Services.
Landmark Essays on Rhetorics of Difference. Baca, Damián, Ellen Cushman, Jonathan Osborne. Eds. New York, NY: Routledge. Under contract. Exploring the construction of difference in the field of rhetoric and writing, this book brings together seminal works from authors who first brought attention to questions of how difference is understood, challenged, and intervened in in classrooms, programs, and research.
Research in the Teaching of English co-Editor with Mary Juzwik. Stewardship of the flagship research journal of the National Council of Teachers of English has been a rewarding challenge. A refereed, scholarly journal, RTE encourages submissions of previously unpublished scholarly articles on topics of significance to those concerned with the teaching and learning of English and literacies, both in and beyond schools and universities. Our final issue is due to NCTE in December 2017.
Documenting Endangered Languages Initial analysis of Cherokee verbs has proven important to my thinking about how and why indigenous languages and people persevere in the face of social upheaval and detrimental educational and governmental policies. I'm currently working with a team in digital humanities, language translators and teachers, linguists, and librarians to create an online space for translating archived manuscripts. This project has been supported with a $25,000 Sparks! Ignition Grant for Libraries from the Institute of Museums and Library Services.
Teaching Diverse Learners, 2012-2015 With over 1300 participants, this study traced the results of innovations in a pre-service secondary teacher education program and in preparation for college writing classrooms. Mentor teachers were paired with preservice teachers and received training in inclusive pedagogies for diverse learners. Our team detailed a multifaceted model of reflective practice, a model for mentoring pre-service secondary teachers, and received $45,000 from the Michigan State University Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives to support this work.
Recent Articles and Chapters
2016
Cushman, Ellen. “Decolonizing Validity.” Journal of Writing Assessment. 9.1 (2016).
Cushman, Ellen. "Translingual and Decolonial Approaches to Meaning Making." College English 78.3 (2016): 234.
2015
Cushman, Ellen. “Cherokee Writing: Mediating Traditions, Codifying Nation.” Mediating Indianness. Ed. Cathy Covell Wagner. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. 2015. 97-107.
2014
Joyce Meier, Ellen Cushman, and Yun Choi. “Learning to Teach Diverse Learners in a Writing Pedagogies Class.” Reclaiming English Language Arts Methods Courses: Critical Issues and Challenges for Teacher Educators in Top-Down Times. Eds. Jory Brass and Allen Webb. Routledge. 2014. 214-236.
Cushman, Ellen and Lorelei Blackburn. “Sustainability at a Distance: Service Learning Relationships across Time and Place.” Service Learning in Literacy Education. Eds. Valerie Kinloch and Peter Smagorinsky, 2014. 202-34.
Cushman, Ellen. “Elias Boudinot and The Cherokee Phoenix: The sponsors of literacy they were and were not.” Literacy, Economy, and Power. Eds. John Duffy, Julie Christoph, Eli Goldblatt, Nelson Graff, Rebecca Nowacek, and Bryan Trabold. Southern Illinois Press, 2014. 13-30.
2013
“Wampum, Sequoyan, and Story: Decolonizing the Digital Archive.” College English. 76.2 (Nov 2013): 115-135.
“The Cherokee Syllabary: The Evolution of Writing in Sequoyan.” Literacy as Translingual Practice: Between Communities and Classrooms. Ed. Suresh Canagarajah. New York, NY: Routledge, 2013. 83-96.
Cushman, Ellen. “Decolonizing Validity.” Journal of Writing Assessment. 9.1 (2016).
Cushman, Ellen. "Translingual and Decolonial Approaches to Meaning Making." College English 78.3 (2016): 234.
2015
Cushman, Ellen. “Cherokee Writing: Mediating Traditions, Codifying Nation.” Mediating Indianness. Ed. Cathy Covell Wagner. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. 2015. 97-107.
2014
Joyce Meier, Ellen Cushman, and Yun Choi. “Learning to Teach Diverse Learners in a Writing Pedagogies Class.” Reclaiming English Language Arts Methods Courses: Critical Issues and Challenges for Teacher Educators in Top-Down Times. Eds. Jory Brass and Allen Webb. Routledge. 2014. 214-236.
Cushman, Ellen and Lorelei Blackburn. “Sustainability at a Distance: Service Learning Relationships across Time and Place.” Service Learning in Literacy Education. Eds. Valerie Kinloch and Peter Smagorinsky, 2014. 202-34.
Cushman, Ellen. “Elias Boudinot and The Cherokee Phoenix: The sponsors of literacy they were and were not.” Literacy, Economy, and Power. Eds. John Duffy, Julie Christoph, Eli Goldblatt, Nelson Graff, Rebecca Nowacek, and Bryan Trabold. Southern Illinois Press, 2014. 13-30.
2013
“Wampum, Sequoyan, and Story: Decolonizing the Digital Archive.” College English. 76.2 (Nov 2013): 115-135.
“The Cherokee Syllabary: The Evolution of Writing in Sequoyan.” Literacy as Translingual Practice: Between Communities and Classrooms. Ed. Suresh Canagarajah. New York, NY: Routledge, 2013. 83-96.
