Books
Landmark Essays on Rhetorics of Difference challenges the Eurocentric perspective from which the field of rhetoric is traditionally viewed. Taking a step beyond the creation of alternative rhetorics that maintain the centrality of the European and Greco-Roman tradition, this volume argues on behalf of pluriversal rhetorics that coexist as equally important on their own terms. A timely addition to the respected Landmark Essays series, it will be invaluable to students of history of rhetoric, literacy, composition, and writing studies.
Literacies: A Critical Sourcebook, 2nd ed.
provides a comprehensive overview of the major themes and questions foundational to literacy studies today. Deeply revised, the collection features essays that are representative of diverse perspectives and research methodologies that, taken together, offer a rich and layered understanding of literacy. |
The Cherokee Syllabary: Writing the People's Perseverance
"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 REVIEWED IN:
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 AWARDS MLA Mina P. Shaughnessy Award (Honorable Mention) 2012 Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2012 |
The Struggle and the Tools: Oral and Literate Strategies in an Inner City Community
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").
REVIEWS
Mind, Culture, and Activity. By Kristin Cortes. 10.3 (2003): 250-253.
College Composition and Communication. By Deborah Brandt. 52.2 (2000): 297-99.
Families in Society: the Journal of Contemporary Human Services. By Paul Newcomb. 82 (2001): 110-11.
American Ethnologist. By Steven Gregory. 26.4 (Nov. 1999): 1024.
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").
REVIEWS
Mind, Culture, and Activity. By Kristin Cortes. 10.3 (2003): 250-253.
College Composition and Communication. By Deborah Brandt. 52.2 (2000): 297-99.
Families in Society: the Journal of Contemporary Human Services. By Paul Newcomb. 82 (2001): 110-11.
American Ethnologist. By Steven Gregory. 26.4 (Nov. 1999): 1024.
Work in Progress
Digital Archive of American Indian Languages Perseverance and Preservation Initial analysis of Cherokee language manuscripts 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 of digital humanities scholars, 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 and a Tier 1 grant from Northeastern University. Articles and book chapters about this project have appeared in College English and in Afterlives of Indigenous Archives. Initial analysis of manuscripts has helped to create the basis for my next sole-authored book project: Cherokees Writing Resilience: Everyday Literacies of Resilience.
My co-edited work continues to take up diverse and inclusive perspectives and methodologies to advance literacy studies research with my collaborators Damián Baca and Romeo García. The first project is a special issue of College English slated for publication in September 2021 which explores the nature of knowledge across sites and with various media. The second project is a co-edited book, Literacies of/from the Pluriversal: Tools for Perseverance and Livable Futures, will be completed in late 2021 for publication in 2022.
My co-edited work continues to take up diverse and inclusive perspectives and methodologies to advance literacy studies research with my collaborators Damián Baca and Romeo García. The first project is a special issue of College English slated for publication in September 2021 which explores the nature of knowledge across sites and with various media. The second project is a co-edited book, Literacies of/from the Pluriversal: Tools for Perseverance and Livable Futures, will be completed in late 2021 for publication in 2022.
Past Projects
Research in the Teaching of English, 2012-2017 co-edited with Mary Juzwik the flagship research journal of the National Council of Teachers of English. 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 was published in June 2018 with an impact factor of 1.61 (up from .91 in 2011) and an H Index 33.
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. With co-authors Yunjeong Choi and Joyce Meier "Learning to Teach Diverse Learners Together: Results of an Innovative Placement Structure on Preservice Teacher Efficacy and Reflective Practices has been conditionally accepted for publication in English Education.
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. With co-authors Yunjeong Choi and Joyce Meier "Learning to Teach Diverse Learners Together: Results of an Innovative Placement Structure on Preservice Teacher Efficacy and Reflective Practices has been conditionally accepted for publication in English Education.