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| VOICES ON: The Role of the WPA in Rhetoric and Composition Theresa Enos is a professor of rhetoric at the University of Arizona in Tuscon, where she has helped to build the graduate program, Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English (RCTE). Before coming to Arizona, Enos taught for seven years at Southern Methodist University, where she started the publication Rhetoric Review, which she continues to edit. Enos received her PhD in rhetoric and composition from Texas Christian University.  How did you become involved in the Council of Writing Program Administrators Since I've been at Arizona, I have become very interested in professional issues in the field. I've found that even though we don't have horror stories such as revolving door policies, for example, where people come in and are soon let go, there are still some horror stories involving gender relations and expectations. My interests in administration led me to, among other things, a recent term as president of the Council of Writing Program Administrators. What challenges is the WPA currently facing?I hope that the WPA will continue to take a leading role in changing our graduate programs to prepare students for a market that may be shrinking in the coming years (though it has remained strong for some time). I am particularly interested in graduate programs that offer certifications or tracks in writing program administration. The WPA has taken an important step by ratifying a document that characterizes writing program administration as intellectual work. Resolutions such as these make it easier for graduate students to show that their administrative work — typically regarded as service — is indeed scholarly work within their disciplines. Another area that WPA takes a leadership position in is building undergraduate and masters programs in rhetoric and composition. Rather than concentrating only on first-year composition, the organization is moving toward larger discussions of the professional issues in the field. One of the most pressing of these issues is the number of adjuncts and academic professionals in writing programs today. Although their primary jobs may be outreach and teaching rather than scholarship, these instructors can also benefit from the WPA document on intellectual work. How has your view of teaching composition changed over the years?I do not teach undergraduate courses very much these days, but my perception of the field has not really changed that much in recent years. We talk about postmodernism, but I don't think it really translates into the classroom. We go about the business of teaching writing in the same way. One of my graduate students does service learning in her freshman composition and technical writing courses. This is what I was doing in the early 80s. We give new names to things that remain the same. Can you comment on some of the trends you've seen in composition theory?I must admit that I have grown a bit tired of the cultural studies focus that leads some of my graduate students to conclude that classical rhetoric is useless. Students often contend, for example, that Aristotle is all bad. Others ask, why read Aristotle? I would argue that although it is true that we cannot prevent reading through our own lenses and ideologies, we need to try to be more aware of the value of all of our theories. |
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