I’ll Write to You: A CHAT Perspective on Military Letters

​

Keefe explores the writing practices she employed when writing letters to her boyfriend, Mack, while he was completing basic training at the United States Air Force Academy. For six weeks, these letters were their only form of communication. Keefe applies the Illinois State University (ISU) model of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to break down this complicated genre of writing and understand what elements were crucial to her writing practice.

The Stretch of Holiday Decorations

​

Olson examines how holiday decorations are a genre and how that genre can affect people. By using an understanding of Illinois State University’s (ISU’s) version of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and trajectory to analyze this genre, the creation of holiday decorations can be viewed as a literate activity where the decorations take on a life of their own.

An Exploration of  CHAT in Pro Wrestling T-Shirts

 

Dundovich uses his uptake of pro wrestling fandom to consider the impact the texts we create and support have on those we encounter in various social settings. Specifically, he argues that the clothing we wear is a text that represents ourselves as well as those that create the said clothing.

Through the Looking Glass: Applying Makeup to Genre and Transfer

​

Capan explores her experiences as a makeup artist and her struggles associated with moving between genres. Transferring skills from one genre to another is not as easy as it would appear to be and requires practice and evaluation of uptake and antecedent knowledge.

The ESL Language Barrier: The Written Word vs. the Spoken Word

​

Abdelnour explores and reveals the challenges that ESL people face when learning English. She compares reading, writing, and speaking in English through a unique cultural lens.

Translingual Adventures

 

O’Leary explores the ways we can encounter translingualism within the English language. She looks to her own experiences in Australia and the UK to share some examples.

The Danger of  Filter Bubbles and Digital Isolation: Exploring Ethical Research Practices

 

Herman looks to Eli Pariser’s concept of filter bubbles to understand (un)ethical information- seeking behaviors and research habits. By drawing on her past experiences with academic research in relation to filter bubbles, Herman unpacks the ways in which we can consciously embrace ethical research and writing practices as responsible writing researchers.

Show What You Know: Trusting Yourself as a Credible Source

 

When working on a project of any kind, writers are often worried about finding just the right source to make their project magically come together. Larsen explores how that source could be you all along. Through fan fiction, she explains her process of gaining control of her own writing and finding her voice.

Writing Practices in a Life Filled with Death

 

Haskell takes a look at the writing practices performed in funeral homes through key ISU Writing Program concepts, discusses the steps she took to write her article, and explains how a funeral home functions as an activity system.

Try Not to Die: The Climbing Gym as a Death Prevention Activity System

 

What does writing have to do with climbing? Quite a lot, it turns out. The climbing gym is a system of activities that uses writing in all kinds of ways to keep climbers from plummeting to an untimely death. Sheaffer examines exactly how writing is used in the setting of a climbing gym to mitigate the risk of fall-related injury.

Writing the Role: Role-Playing Games as Literate Activity

 

Turman interviews her husband, Alex Beisel, about the writing he does for role-playing video games. Turman asks evocative questions about the tools and research Beisel uses in his work and provides a contextualized summary of writing in the world.

The Literacy of Teaching Literacy

 

Hauser interviews her mother, Leslie Hauser, about the literacy of teaching literacy and asks about the research practices, genres, and tools involved. Hauser questions the changes her mother has experienced in transferring her skills to new writing situations as a substitute teacher and thus depicts the complexity of writing and teaching writing.