Working with Faculty Writers

15. Experiencing the Benefits of Difference within Multidisciplinary Graduate Writing Groups

DOI: 10.7330/9780874219029.c015 15 E x p e r i e n c i n g t h e B e n e f i t s o f D i ff e r e n c e w i t h i n M u lt i d i s c i p l i n a ry G r a d u at e W r i t i n g G r o u p s Elena Marie-Adkins Garcia, Seung hee Eum, and Lorna Watt This chapter explores the experiences of three participants in Michigan State University’s (MSU) Graduate Writing Groups (GWGs). We were involved in one writing group for two semesters in the 2009–2010 academic year. This group provided us with a unique space for learning new ways of being graduate students and what it will mean for us to become faculty—experts in our own fields and professors who will teach and mentor graduate students. Much of what we gained aligns with existing research on writing groups—that conversations with other writers about our work aids in developing stronger written products and that frequently meeting with the same people can foster a sense of community and belonging. We observed that the combination of peer-to-peer collaborative conversation and cross-disciplinary interaction were essential to the particular learning outcomes of our group. In this chapter, we argue that multidisciplinary graduate writing groups in higher education provide a unique professional and personal development space, the kind of academic space that should be a more explicit component to graduate education. Based on our personal experiences, offered here as individual testimonials and reflections, and using a collective voice that contextualizes, situates, and makes arguments about our individual stories by drawing on existing scholarship on collaborative learning, mentoring , and multi/interdisciplinary interaction as connected to graduate student education and professional development, we make two main claims: (1) Graduate student-only writing groups offer the potential for peer-mentoring, which we believe is one way students can feel the sense Experiencing the Benefits of Difference   261 of community, belongingness, and support necessary to move successfully through the degree process; and (2) They provide the opportunity to engage in multidisciplinary discussions that can help combat disciplinary entrenchment, can help participants develop enthusiasm for approaching writing with a multidisciplinary consideration and become teachers of writing in their varied disciplines, and, perhaps most important , can help participants grow as confident disciplinary experts. We conclude with advice regarding GWGs for graduate students, writing program administrators, and chairs and deans, arguing that such groups can and should be implemented at any college with graduate programs. Elena: I am a PhD candidate in Michigan State University’s Rhetoric and Writing program. In my second year, I decided to facilitate a graduate writing group. Seung hee and Lorna were two of the three members who made up this group. My academic, research, and teaching interests all involve writing, and so the GWGs seemed like an interesting new arena to work in. Facilitating a GWG has expanded my academic interests into the realm of graduate education and professionalization. The experiences I had sparked a desire to work toward more explicit writing instruction for graduate students across disciplines. Seung hee: I am a student in the PhD program for Music Therapy at Michigan State University. My main research interest is Multicultural Music Therapy. Within this broad research area I also focus on Community Music Therapy and Feminist Music Therapy. I have two reasons for participating in the GWGs. First, as an international student, I am able to learn more about and practice the American academic communication methods of my discipline. Second, I enjoy learning about diverse writing styles from others who are studying in different disciplines from my own. Lorna: I earned my MS in Michigan State University’s Department of Plant Biology and the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior Program. My studies focused on evolutionary ecology, in particular how new species evolve and how adaptation is involved in the steps that occur during speciation. My principle work in our GWG was on my writing process , and my experiences there surprisingly encouraged me to consider writing more for audiences outside my discipline. Starting at th e Beg i n n i n g : M i c hig an Stat e Universit y’s Gr ad uate Wri ti n g Group s The Writing Center at Michigan State University hosts graduate writing groups in...