Welcome to Issue 7.2 of Xchanges!
In this issue, we are excited to feature new research scholarship by four graduate-student writers. These scholars (from University of Pennsylvania, University of South Florida, Old Dominion University, and Georgia State University) consider many topics relevant to students, faculty, and professionals in writing, rhetoric, and technical communication fields. The works contained in this issue represent a wide array of topics, ranging from the potential value of formal rhetorical training for military officers to the effects of online essay mills on our understanding of the “role of the author.” All share a common interest in studying the development of rhetorical awareness and pursuing questions related to communication-as-empowerment.
In her essay “Beyond Economics: Intersections and Opportunities with Adam Smith in the Writing and Rhetoric Classroom,” Lara Smith-Sitton (Georgia State University) explores the writing of Adam Smith, arguing that careful study of a broader array of Smith’s texts in business-writing and -communication courses can serve to support other critical thinking and close analysis exercises. By examining Smith carefully, and in a manner engaged with sound rhetorical practices, students can learn to question the ways in which Smith has been used frequently in our “sound-bite” culture.
The essay “Cogito Ergo Scribo: Applying Self-Schema Theory to the Composition Classroom," by Joshua Cruz (University of Pennsylvania), explores strategies of teaching students to conceive of themselves as “writers” in the composition classroom (and, more importantly, beyond it). Cruz argues that using “self-schema theory,” as a self-schema is one’s identity, might help to move in this direction in our writing courses. He offers in his essay both research on self-schema theory as well as specific pedagogical suggestions that might lead “students to adopt an identity as ‘writer.’”
Megan McIntyre (University of South Florida), in her essay “Persuasion Beyond Logic: The Importance of Rhetorical Training for Military Officers,” argues that intercultural communication strategies are of critical importance to military officers. To bridge cultural differences in military contexts, specifically in counterinsurgency situations, it would be helpful to offer military officers “formal rhetorical training,” McIntyre argues. Such formal rhetorical training would focus on “the importance of discourse, communication, and persuasion to the counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy,” thereby assisting with the critical work of “winning hearts and minds” that is so central in the very changed landscape of modern warfare.
Finally, “For Sale by ‘Author’: Online Essay Mills and Authorship in the Academy,” by Danielle Roney Roach (Old Dominion University), examines the rhetoric of online essay mill (OEM) sites. Roach encourages scholars to carefully inquire into the tactics these sites use to address the two issues of originality and authorship. Her central question concerns how we define “plagiarism and authorship in digital spaces.” She asks, what it the “role of the author” today, given these technological changes?
All together, this group of four articles presents us with new insights into the multiple ways we can conceive of ourselves as writers and rhetors. In reading these research-driven proposals of news ways to teach and understand rhetorical awareness, we hope you will find yourself engaged and your assumptions challenged.
—Julianne Newmark, Xchanges Editor