Composition Colloquia

CHRISTOPHER THAISS, UC DAVIS, AT SFSU

Thursday, February 26, 4-5:30 p.m. HUM 587

2-4, Consultation with Faculty

4:00 pm – 5:30 pm, Presentation, HUM 587: The International WAC/WID Mapping Survey: Implications for WAC

CHRISTOPHER THAISS is Clark Kerr Presidential Chair and Director of the University Writing Program at the University of California at Davis. Active in the development of cross-curricular writing in colleges and universities since 1978, Thaiss coordinates the International Network of WAC Programs (INWAC) and works with teachers in the elementary, middle, and high schools through sites of the National Writing Project. He frequently consults on writing and conducts workshops on teaching and program development for schools and colleges. He has authored or co-authored eight books and edited three others; he serves on the editorial boards of Across the Disciplines, Inventio, and Writing on the Edge.

His talk will focus on writing-across-the-curriculum and writing-in-the-disciplines (WAC/WID), featuring results from the International WAC/WID Mapping Project. This survey has produced data from more than 1,300 U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities on an array of questions regarding program growth, features, and change. Respondents' answers and comments provide the fullest picture of WAC/WID in the U.S. since the only previous survey, in 1987. How alive and well is WAC? What are the most common features of WAC/WID programs? What factors sustain WAC? Preliminary indications are that the most successful WAC programs are those that cooperate with other pertinent offices and services, have continuity of and support for program leadership, and have built expectations for student writing into the disciplines.