College English - Volume 71, Issue 4, 2009

Because hybrid first-year college writing programs are an emerging phenomenon, it is important for composition specialists to identify their potential strengths and possible disadvantages. The author reviews the various forms that such programs have taken so far, and she engages in an extended critique of one particular institution’s model, questioning especially its claims to objectivity.

The author explains how principles of cognitive science can help teachers of literature use texts as a means of increasing students’ commitment to social justice. Applying these principles to a particular work, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, he calls particular attention to the relationship between cognitive science and literary schemes for building reader empathy.

When scholars write about their research into writing programs’ archives,they often face the ethical question of whether to name the administrators who were involved in documents. The author identifies and provides examples of three basic orientations to this issue, which he calls overt-historical, covert-qualitative, and hybrid-institutional. Referring to his own research experience, he ultimately endorses the third approach.