BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE

Writing Across the Curriculum

Links to WAC E-Books

The following books, all landmark texts in Writing Across the Curriculum, are made available by the WAC Clearinghouse:

 

Bazerman, Charles, Joseph Little, Lisa Bethel, Teri Chavkin, Danielle Fouquette, and Janet Garufis.  Reference Guide to Writing Across the Curriculum.  Parlor Press and WAC Clearinghouse, 2005. 

 

This book is an excellent entry point for those curious about WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum). The book is split up into three sections, “The WAC Movement,” “Approaches to Theory and Research,” and “Practical Guidelines.” Part I, “The WAC Movement,” focuses on the history and development of WAC. There is a section on key terms, followed by sections detailing the history and early programs of WAC worldwide. Part II, “Approaches to Theory and Research,” centers around the abstract concepts of WAC, detailing not only what it means in K-12 teaching, but also to higher education. There are also chapters focusing on concerns about WAC and writing in the disciplines. The third and final section, “Practical Guidelines,” is about putting WAC into practice, showing the multitude of directions that the movement is heading in. Another section is devoted to WAC techniques and guidelines that teachers of various disciplines can put into their classrooms. There is also an extremely comprehensive bibliography included for further WAC research.

 

Fulwiler, Toby and Art Young, ed.  Language Connections: Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum.  Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1982. 

 

This work is made up of 13 different pieces by people who use WAC in their classroom. Each section is devoted to a different aspect of reading and writing across the curriculum. The topics range from journal writing and writing programs to audience, purpose and responding to writing  The final section is an annotated bibliography for those with interest in WAC and WID programs.

 

McLeod, Susan H., ed.   Strengthening Programs for Writing Across the Curriculum.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988.

 

This book focuses less on the theories behind WAC, and more on creating and maintaining programs that will thrive. The nine chapters each center around developing WAC programs that can be successful immediately, and are also amendable over time, to create long-lasting success. Topics include creating programs at both community colleges and large universities, funding, and evaluating programs, among other things. There is also an appendix included which lists (from 1988) WAC programs, their directors, and their methods. While the list itself is outdated, it is still a good tool to cross-reference what methods are most popular in bringing WAC programs to fruition.

 

McLeod, Susan H. and Margot Soven, ed.  Writing Across the Curriculum: A Guide to Developing Programs.  Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1992. 

 

This guide is a very clear and concise tool for those looking to create and develop WAC programs. This book is useful, in that it goes beyond theory and into practice, using examples from several American universities. The authors discuss faculty workshops, administrating/starting WAC programs, and writing centers. There are also chapters on WAC and freshman writing, and WAC and general education courses. Finally, there is an appendix with a list of suggested readings for those interested in starting their own WAC program.

 

Young, Art.  Teaching Writing Across the Curriculum, 3rd Ed.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.

 

Young writes, “I expect this booklet to be useful to writing program directors in English departments who often coordinate writing across the curriculum programs or who are responsible for integrating writing across the curriculum with a required first -year composition course”(1). This extremely short (63 pages) booklet is an easy-to-understand entry point to WAC. The book has several sections, none of which are more than 4-5 pages in length. However, Young manages to condense both theory and practice, as well as some ideas about communication, into chunks that are manageable, useful, and understandable.

 

 

 

List compiled and annotated by Benjamin Hogan, WAC Graduate Assistant, 2006-2007.

Last Modified: March 5, 2007